pic credit: Matthias Raith

It was 1,23 Am on Sunday January 18 when I got a link from Chris Diaz Maceo (TV Langen broadcaster) telling me to watch the last 3 minutes of the TV Langen-Dresden Titans game. I did and saw an incredible ending that had 3 baskets within 4 seconds and gave TV Langen the last laugh as Drago Crnjac (196-SG-2002) sent all Langen fans home in ecstasy as his last second shot saw nothing but net and gave them the roller coaster 90-88 victory. I had to watch it over and over just to enjoy the moment. A little more than 16 hours later, there was also a game winner in Frankfurt as the Skyliners Juniors upset BBC Coburg 74-70. It wasn´t a buzzer beater and as dramatic as what had happened in Langen, but the game winner was achieved by another Crnjac, the younger brother of Drago Ivan. I had the joy of doing the play by play with Drago as he watched in joy as his brother was the hero after 40 minutes. Having 2 Crnjac´s be the hero on one weekend probably won´t happen again and the only thing missing was a second buzzer beater. “Unfortunately I feel like a buzzer beater like mine and a game winner by my brother most likely won´t happen again. A second buzzer beater was missing but his game winner was nice. It felt good seeing him play so well at the end. I liked how he did those things well that he could control. That really needs to be commended. He didn´t have his best shooting day, but he did so many others well”, stressed Drago Crnjac. A really enriching thing was feeling the total support from Drago for his brother. There is absolutely no jealousy, but is the competitiveness between both high? “It is 100% competitiveness between us. It doesn´t matter if it´s basketball, soccer, handball or darts, we always want to beat each other. Ivan just asked me the other day if we could play 1-1 in basketball again”, smiled Drago Crnjac.

Drago Crnjac doing play by play with Miles Schmidt-Scheuber in Frankfurt

TV Langen arrived in the Dresden game having won 5 of their last 7 games and wanted to continue that upward swing and had big revenge on their brutal 72-60 loss to Dresden earlier in the season. “Beating them felt good. I feel like our first loss in Dresden was our worst game of the season. It was very disappointing. We had a massive chip on our shoulder to win. It felt extra good to win after the game going back and forth so much in crunch-time”, said Drago Crnjac. Fabian Baumgarten began the game something not so typical. One could see with this that head coach Tobias Jahn has trust in all 12 players. “It was actually his second start this season. He is getting more minutes and has some of the most experience on our team. He simply knows what to do on the court. I like that he is playing more”, stated Drago Crnjac. Alex Lagerman got going rapidly scoring 3 baskets in the first minutes. Would one have predicted a 30 + game that early from him? “I was actually a little surprised that he had scored so much at the end when I saw the stat sheet. He is still one of the most talented scorers in the Pro B. There are few guys that get to the rim as easily as he does. He doesn´t look so strong, but he is so effective”, warned Drago Crnjac. Duje Putnik was a scoring machine in the first quarter. What made it so difficult to control him? “He is a very good player and second best scorer on their team after Scottie Stone. I don´t think it was so much 1-1 with him, but moreover Dresden showed great team basketball and always found him in the right spots”, added Drago Crnjac. The contest was tied 19-19 after 10 minutes and in the second quarter. Dresden had the slim 41-36 lead after 20 minutes. TV Langen stayed strong always fighting back, but just couldn´t get over the hump. “Rebounding helped Dresden have the lead as well as our turnovers. We had many really bad turnovers”, said Drago Crnjac. Dresden led 65-60 after 3 quarters. TV Langen doesn´t have a true center and pride their game on small ball. Playing without a big man isn´t easy, but they always find a way to compensate that in other areas. “I think that we have learned to come to terms with the fact that we are a small team. Despite that, I feel like we rebound well. I think that we tend to have problems when we play against classic post up players, but Dresden doesn´t have a classic post up player”, warned Drago Crnjac.

Pic credit: Matthias Raith

The last minute couldn´t have been more dramatic as the TV Langen come back continued to shrink the Dresden lead. It was almost at it´s climax as TV Langen led 87-85 with 4 seconds to go after a dramatic Alex Lagerman dunk. Then Scottie Stone nailed a trey for the 88-87 lead with 1 second to go. “When I saw Dresden´s play for the Stone three pointer, It reminded me that Frankfurt had had that play when I played there. When I saw Stone open, I was annoyed, because I knew he would make the shot. The buzzer went off, but I knew that there was at least 1 second to play”, said Drago Crnjac. TV Langen had one last possession. TV Langen didn´t need a three and could have opted for a 2 point play. Was Drago Crnjac the main last option and was he surprised how open he was? “The play was drawn up for Alex Lagerman. The refs were discussing something. I saw that Dresden was set for zone and that Leon Fertig was guarded on the in bound. I went over to Leon and told him that I would run my route a little different. I will be free since the zone won´t give us an alley-op. I thought Leon waited to long and the contest was there, but all in all Henk Droste set a really good screen”, added Drago Crnjac. He had a good look and let the ball fly. “I felt nothing after the release. I just shot it and then saw Kevin Kollmar come at me. I thought that he would foul me. Then he flew by me and then I saw the ball sail through the net”, expressed Drago Crnjac. His buzzer beater was perhaps a once in a lifetime shot as buzzer beaters are so rare. Was that his biggest moment of the game? “I think that the complete last few minutes was my highlight. The Lagerman dunk, Stone three and my buzzer beater was an experience that I will never forget”, stressed Drago Crnjac.

Pic credit: Matthias Raith

TV Langen face Orange Academy on the road and want to keep their winning streak alive and get revenge for the ugly 105-75 loss at home almost 3 months ago. “We will be really fired up for this game. The team is a lot different now. Some of their players moved to the BBL team Ulm like Teo Millic who scored 26 points against us then. It will be a very long trip, but we are comfortable that we can beat them. I know the area there from my Ehingen days so it should be a nice trip”, smiled Drago Crnjac. Last season he averaged 12.0ppg, 2.1rpg, 1.6apg, FGP: 59.0%, 3PT: 31.6%, FT: 71.4% in the Regionalliga and this season is averaging 1 minute less while averaging 11,3ppg and 1,4apg. “I had start problems as we started poorly as a team. But I have been happy with my game in the last 10 games. I´m shooting over 50% from outside. Of course I would always like to play more”, said Drago Crnjac. He is averaging only 0,7rpg which is very uncommon, but 1,4apg. How vital is it for him to bring other facets of his game besides his shot? “I think that I have become a really solid passer. I´m not always getting the assist, but making the one more pass. But my rebounding is definitely something that I continue to work on”, commented Drago Crnjac. He is always working on becoming a better defender. He continues to gain new steps in his defensive game as he is playing in a system of Tobias Jahn that prides defense. “Coach Jahn really likes to play good defense. I have gained some weight this season and that has really helped me with the physicality and bumps. I feel more comfortable as a defender now”, stressed Drago Crnjac. 2026 has arrived. Did he set any special new years resolutions? “Outside of basketball my big focus is to finish my studies”, said Drago Crnjac. It will be interesting to see where the journey of TV Langen will go in the next months. The playoffs are a realistic goal. If Crnjac will hit another buzzer beater is unknown, but one thing is sure, he will continue to amaze Langen fans with his three pointer and other facets of his game that he will continue to display.