Author: Miles Schmidt-Scheuber

Basketball journalist and play by play commentator

Evan McGaughey´s Biggest Step As A Rookie Was Understanding The European Game

Evan McGaughey is a 24 year old 203cm forward from Carthage, Illinois that completed his rookie season in Germany with the MLP Academics Heielberg averaging 11.8ppg, 6,4rpg and 2,1apg while shooting 41% from outside. The American played an illustrious career at Quincy(NCAA”) where he averaged double figures in scoring average each season. As a senior he played 25 games averaging 16.6ppg, 8.3rpg, 2.0apg, 1.2spg, 1.4bpg, FGP: 58.2%, 3PT: 50.6%, FT: 77.8%. He spoke to German Hoops after his rookie season in Germany.

Evan thanks for talking to German Hoops. Congrats on a solid rookie season in Germany. However your season ended on a sour note losing to the Romerstrom Gladiators 3-2 after being up 2-1. How disappointing was ending the season like this?

Hey Miles! We had quite a season this year. It definitely ended on a sour note for us though. It’s hard to lose in the playoffs like that after you work so hard all season to get to that point. The day after a season ending loss is always the hardest, but I’m sure in a few weeks we will be able to look back on the season and be proud of what we did.

Was these the toughest two back to back loses in your young career? Did this compare to anything you witnessed in the NCAA?

Yes, I would say these are the toughest back to back loses I’ve ever experienced. It’s a little different in the college post season, because if you lose once then your out. In a playoff series you still have hope after each game. We just weren’t able to put the series away when we had our chances.

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Former German Pro A Player Cliff Tucker Passes Away At Age 29

The world wide basketball community is saddened by the loss of Cliff Tucker. Tucker tragically lost his life Monday morning in a car accident. Tucker was only 29 years old. He was a 198cm swing man that had a stellar career at Maryland (NCAA) and also was able to see the world as a professional basketball player as he played in numerous countries mostly in North and south america and his only stop in Europe was in Germany where he played with rent4office Nuernberg (Germany-ProA).

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Franz Wagner Leads Alba Berlin A Step Closer To Being Back On Top Of German Basketball Winning The 2018 NBBL Crown 77-68

With 10 minutes remaining in the semi-final contest between FC Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin, Germany´s most famous team had the five point lead an even if the game was a close affair, they seemed to have control of the game until Franz Wagner and Jonas Mattisek stepped up as both finished with 18 points. Wagner opened up the fourth quarter with back to back three´s as his attention to planting his feet and nailing that next shot were as ruthless as a jaguar on a safari tour in Africa when it´s hungry. That brought Alba Berlin to life and 2018 NBBL MVP Jonas Mattisek followed the Wagner three´s with his own arsenal of three´s after having had much misfortune with his shot. Both guys had that killer instinct on their mind and they wanted to continue that mind set and positive play in the final as they met the home team Young Rasta Dragons. It had been their overwhelming experience that had aided Alba Berlin getting over the hump against FC Bayern Mun ich and now they had to deal with a very feisty and creative Young Rasta Dragons team that was looking to win at home again after capturing the JBBL(u-16) title back in 2014 and head coach Florian Hartenstein was looking for his second title. Both teams entered the contest focused and battled hard for 40 minutes and in the fourth quarter it seemed like the Young Rasta Dragons would capture the title, but just like in the semi-final game where it looked like Alba Berlin were down and out again, but made an amazing comeback again showing impressive character and fighting mentality rallying to win the 2018 NBBL title 77-68. The day had started out superb fashion for Alba Berlin as they won the JBBL(U-16) title and now achieved the double and 2018 NBBL top 4 MVP Franz Wagner was all smiles after the win, but had his problems solving the riddle of what was still missing for Alba Berlin. After he learned that the only thing that was missing was the BBL team winning in the final and achieving the triple, he quickly understood that Alba Berlin is very close of reaching the peak of German basketball again.

“This was an unbelievable fight and one of the hardest games that I ever played in. We were behind, but our character showed that we can perform also in tough games. We did a good job playing under pressure and had a great team mentality”, stressed Alba Berlin forward Franz Wagner.

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Alba Berlin Is At Close Range Of Reaching The Peak In German Basketball Again

When trying to fit these three terms At Close Range, Sean Penn and Alba Berlin together, the average observer born after 1990 most likely will be unable to piece together the similarities that they do have, but the older generation that follow movies and German basketball might just be so shrewd and be able to link it all together. Close Range was an 80´s movie and for many the only thing that will be remembered will be the theme song by Madonna “Live to tell” and that it featured up and coming actor Sean Penn. At that time in 1985, the American who was an up and coming actor was reeling off the critically acclaimed flick the Falcon and the snowman and followed that up with the next masterpiece “At Close Range”. The only problem, nobody noticed except for the critics as the movie theaters weren´t overflowing as it grossed only $2,347,000 at the North American box office during its theatrical run in 83 theaters, earning less than its production budget of $6.5 million which was a major disappointment. Ok so these three terms might not directly have too much in common with the famous German team Alba Berlin, but there is always a way how certain things can be linked. In the case of acclaimed actor Sean Penn, Close Range and Alba Berlin, it has to do more with success. At that time, Sean Penn was a big acting talent, but just hadn´t really had that big success at the box office, but they would occur later in his career. It isn´t much different for Alba Berlin either. The German basketball powerhouse have had a lot of talent over the last 10 years, but not had as much success as a Marco Baldi would have liked. Winning cup´s are nice, but not the same as going through the playoffs and standing at the top of the peak at the end of the successful run. Winning a cup translates in a successful weekend where you win two games and was able to play your best basketball in a short period of time. The fact of the matter is that Alba Berlin hasn´t won a league title in 10 years and the Alba Berlin drought has been as annoying for the traditional organization as it has been for the Boston Celtics who also won their last NBA title in 2008. Penn was looking for that box office success in 1985 while Alba Berlin is seeking that league title success after a long delay, but they are at close range. But not only is the Professional team Alba Berlin that is at close range this season of reaching the basketball peak, but also the two youth teams the JBBL(Under 16) team and NBBL(under 19) team that are battling this weekend in Quakenbruck for two titles. Alba Berlin is battling the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg for the ticket to the easyCredit BBL final as well. In a few days the German basketball world will know if the Alba Berlin organization will celebrate two youth titles and in a few weeks if Alba Berlin can finally win a league title again.

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Seth Clark Knows That Responding To Authority And Fulfilling His Role Is Something Professional Teams Will Like About Him

Seth Clark is a 190cm guard from Olentangy, Ohio that recently finished a 4 year career at Ohio Wesleyan (NCAA3). As a freshman he averaged 10.6ppg, 3.5rpg, 3.1apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 41.3%, 3PT: 35.2%, FT: 80.0%. In hiss econd season at Ohio Wesleyan (NCAA3) he played 30 games averaging 15.4ppg, 3.4rpg, 1.5apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 47.4%, 3PT: 39.8%, FT: 76.8%. In his junior season at Ohio Wesleyan (NCAA3), he played 28 games averaging 14.8ppg, 4.8rpg, 1.4apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 40.7%, 3PT: 32.1%, FT: 77.6%. In his senior year he averaged 19,0ppg, 5,0rpg and 3,0apg and reached two NCAC finals and one NCAA 3 Sweet 16. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball.

Seth thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how did you experience the NCAA Final 4?

At the moment I am at home in Powell, Ohio. I experienced the final 4 by watching on TV while helping the family prepare for Sundays Easter dinner during the many commercial breaks.

You just finished your college career at Ohio Wesleyan (NCAA3). What kind of experience was it for you playing 4 years at Ohio Wesleyan (NCAA3)?

Playing at OWU was a very positive experience for me. Over the years I was able to grow as a player and as a man. The Ohio Wesleyan basketball program is very different than many other NCAA3 schools. By that I mean the coaching staff is very laid back and trusts that we as players will do what it takes to get ready for each season. So, no there are no mandatory workouts, the coaches aren’t holding our hand through the off season. I learned as a freshman that we are expected as players to hold ourselves accountable. This allowed me to develop a very powerful work ethic and a love for the process leading up to a season. Since I was a starting point guard since my Freshman season, I was in a position to lead my team and developed skills in doing so year after year. Being in a leadership role for 4 years straight gave me great experience in leading different teammates as some graduated and new players came in.

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Mike Taylor (Hamburg Towers) There Is A High Ceiling In Hamburg And Am Fired Up To Help Make Basketball Dreams A Reality

Mike Taylor is in his 18th season as a professional coach and was anmed head coach of the Hamburg Towers and also currently head coach of the Polish national team and preparing the team for the World Cup 2019 qualifying round. He is the son of Dick Taylor who was an NCAA coach and assistant with the New York Knicks. Mike Taylor started his coaching career in 2001 with Chemnitz (Germany-2.Bundesliga). In 2002-2003, he got valuable experience in the UK with the Essex Leopards London (United Kingdom). In 2003, he started to coach for ratiopharm Ulm leading them into the Beko BBL in 2006 and Beko BBL playoffs in 2009 before leaving in 2011. He had a record of 101-15 in four years of second Bundesliga basketball. He also has coached Kansas Cagerz (USBL) in the summer time as well as being an assistant for the Czech national team. In 2011 he made the jump back to the states and was an assistant for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers(D-League). He then was head coach of the Boston Celtics D League team Maine Red Claws and they reached the playoffs for the first time in team history. He spoke to German Hoops after getting the Hamburg Towers job.

: Miles Schmidt-Scheuber visiting coach Mike Taylor in Maine when he was head coach for the Boston Celtics D-League team Maine Red Claws in 2013

Mike thanks for talking to German Hoops. Welcome back to Germany and congrats on signing with the Hamburg Towers. 14 years ago you went into your first second Bundesliga season with ratiopharm Ulm. How good does it feel to be coaching in Germany again?

Thank you Miles! 14 years has been a long time filled with a lot of different basketball experiences from all over the world and I am thankful for the opportunities! I feel like I am arriving in Hamburg at an excellent time. The Towers organization has tremendous potential and I believe there is a foundation for success. I hope with a lot of hard-work and team-work we can write a similar success story to my time in Ulm. It feels great because I think Hamburg is a good fit for coaching and for family off the floor.

You probably selected the prettiest city in Germany to work in. What is your early feeling about where you will be hanging out more to watch videos and do scouting more on the Alster lake or at the harbor and Elbe river.

Hamburg is a great city with big potential. I will try to keep things simple and stick to the gym or the Towers team offices at Inselpark for video work but there is no debate that Hamburg has a lot to offer. During my visit, I was able to see the Hafen Geburtstag and there was so much action. I loved it! My hope is we can bring high level basketball into this fun city.

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The Fraport Skyliners Fairytale Playoff Run Was Fun But Unrewarded

Basketball will most likely never match the interest level of football in Germany as old footage of the 2018 Eintracht Frankfurt cup win will show as the entire Romer place in downtown Frankfurt was covered in a sea of Eintracht Frankfurt colors and estimated 25,000 fans with about as much room left for an undernourished fly while in 2016 as the Fraport Skyliners celebrated their third club title Fiba Europe Cup, only 400 fans showed up while innocent bystanders were wondering who the tall dudes up on the balcony who were celebrating as hard like little kids who had been told school had been cancelled for a whole year. Who cares how many people show up, because a title is a title and for both clubs to come together one season and win a title together is dream material. When you have a club like FC Bayern Munich dominating football, then dreaming is always the norm for any other club. It might not have occurred to each Fraport Skyliner fan on the day of the do or die game against the big mighty FC Bayern Munich that there could have been the possibility that within 48 hours the cosmopolitan city Frankfurt could have two historic wins against Germany´s most famous sports team from Bavaria in basketball and football as on Saturday was the German cup final where Eintracht Frankfurt had surprisingly reached the final for the second consecutive year. But dreaming in this sense is a better choice than actual reality occurring because the odds of something like that happening was more likely than pigs flying over the Fraport arena and Lebron James joining them. Ok Lebron is the best player on the planet and can do the most amazing things, but in all respect to the king, let´s keep Michael Jordan doing the flying to the rim, because he was the first one to really make flying basketball acceptable. Granted it would not have been a title for the Fraport Skyliners had they been victorious in Munich in game five and been only the ticket to the BBL semi-final and a clash with the next annoying opponent Brose Bamberg, but anytime you beat FC Bayern Munich, it has to always feel like something extremely special almost like celebrating a holiday. All the Fraport Skyliners had to have done was win game five, because Eintracht Frankfurt did the seemingly impossible in Berlin beating FC Bayern Munich 3-1, so at least Frankfurt will be celebrating for weeks after that. The Fraport Skyliners came a lot farther than most expected forcing FC Bayern Munich to five games and pulling off two wins in a row something they had never done before against them. It was another interesting season for the Fraport Skyliners with many highs and lows, but in the end their instant high against FC Bayern Munich was brutally brushed off by the Bavarian squad as they ended Frankfurt´s season with two swift blows in game four and game five. The fantastic and magical Fraport Skyliners fairytale playoff run was fun, but unrewarded.

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Elijah Allen (Walter Tigers Tuebingen) When Tough Times Came I Handled It Better Than I Would In The Past

Allen Elijah Allen is a 28 year old 195cm swing man from Columbus, Ohio that completed his sixth professional season and first season with Kirchheim in the Pro A averaging 9,8ppg, 5,0rpg and 1,6apg. He will be suiting up next season with Pro A team Walter Tigers Tuebingen. In the 2016-2017 season he helped Gotha move up to the easyCredit BBL averaging 5,7ppg, 2,0rpg and shot 42,3% from outside. He is one of the few guys that has gone from the German Regionaliga to the BBL He played two seasons for Lich and in his last season there played 27 games averaging 13.0ppg, 5.0rpg, 1.9apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 49.5%, 3PT: 36.2%, FT: 69.3%. He started his basketball career at NW Missouri St. (NCAA2) in 2007 where he played until 2011 playing a total of 103 NCAA games and as a senior played 26 games: 14.9ppg, 6.5rpg, 1.1apg, FG: 44.8%, 3Pts: 23.1%, FT: 74.8%. He came to Germany in 2012 and played his first two seasons for the VfB 1900 Giessen Pointers (Germany-Regionalliga) and in the 2013-2014 season played 26 games averaging 20.0ppg, 6.4rpg, 1.3apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 58.7%, 3PT: 30.7%, FT: 68.4%. In the 2014-2015 season for the Licher Basket Baeren he played 28 games: 10.4ppg, 4.1rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 54.9%, 3PT: 20.0%, FT: 72.2% He spoke to German Hopps after his season with Kirchheim.

Elijah, thanks for talking to German Hoops. After remembering how long your season went last season with Gotha how strange was it for you this year to have summer break on March 31st?

It hurt not making the playoffs. That was a big goal for me this season.

Last season you played in the playoffs and had 11 more games. I remember you saying you had something like 5 heart attacks in the Chemnitz series. The playoffs is what every professional player plays for. How disappointing is it that Kirchheim didn´t make it to the promised land this season? lokal

It’s was a bit disappointing. We had a talented group of guys. Good enough to have made a good run in the playoffs against the better teams. We lost a few games to the lower ranked teams and that ended up hurting us in the end.

You split the season series against Phoenix Hagen, but the 96-71 loss in Hagen cost you the playoffs, because they had a better point difference that gave them the eighth spot. This obviously hurt, but how disappointing is it remembering that the loss to last placed team Orange Academy a week earlier cost you the playoffs?

Losing to Orange Academy two times really hurt us in the end. We then were not able to execute our game plan in Hagen. We had a lot of open looks on offense but unfortunately we didn’t make them. A tough way to miss the playoffs.

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EasyCredit BBL Playoff Preview 2018: FC Bayern Munich-Brose Bamberg 3-2

A week ago the Fc Bayern Munich basketball club had woken up not in high spirits, but unnerved and distraught most likely totally ruining for some players their traditional Bavarian Sunday breakfast of Weiss Wurst and soft scrumptious pretzels as they weren´t staring at a commanding 2-1 series lead against the ambitious and annoying Fraport Skyliners, but instead were reeling on the tight rope down two games to one with their season on the line. One of the biggest easyCRedit BBL playoff upsets was possible as the #8 seed Fraport Skyliners were close and on the verge of sending the #1 seed big mighty FC Bayern Munich packing and on their way into summer vacation. The 72 hours until game four must have been extremely brutal for everyone in the FC Bayern Munich organization as no one there had expected anything but an easy series win, but not having to experience such a pest like the Fraport Skyliners making their basketball lives very excruciating. The thoughts of the players for those 72 hours must have been wandering like crazy day and night. A Danilo Barthel might have thought was I not aggressive enough or was my beard not scary enough, A Jared Cunningham might have looked back to his NBA days and wondered what tips a Lebron James had given him when he experienced tough times that he could use now in this time of need in Germany or big tough German national player Maik Zirbes remembered what it took to win 5 titles in two seasons with Crvena Zvezda Telekom Beograd as everyone knew now there was no time for screwing around any longer on the court, but it was time for big business and bring some pride and clutch wins back to Germany´s most famous sports brand. A week later FC Bayern Munich is back in the Audi Dome not with disappointed and embarrassed faces saying farewell to their faithful fans and coming up with excuses why they stunk up the house against the Fraport Skyliners, but instead are the big mighty FC Bayern Munich again and on top of the world as they are in the easyCredit BBL semi-finals having to now battle reigning champion Brose Bamberg. The question now is can FC Bayern Munich use this high and momentum and play a better and less nerve wracking series against Brose Bamberg or will they panic and let the leagues big surprise team the last two months march into the BBL final? They have pure motivation to get Munich a title even more after the football department couldn´t overcome Eintracht Frankfurt in the cup final losing 3-1.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing ex NBA player Jared Cunningham after the 87-83 FC Bayern Munich win in Frankfurt

A sweep is a sweep, but for anyone who didn´t see a second of the series and only read the scores and neglected to gaze at the box scores might have thought that Brose Bamberg experienced a tasty cake walk with little interference against the Telekom Baskets Bonn, but that notion is deceiving because the series was a real battle and a lot closer than what the scores indicate. The Telekom Baskets Bonn can go into summer vacation with their heads held high because they have nothing to hide. The Telekom Baskets Bonn played well, had a little misfortune here and there and gave Brose Bamberg a real run for the money. In game one, Brose Bamberg won in Freak City 87-74. The Telekom Baskets Bonn did a great job securing the rebound duel for themselves and coughing up the ball only 7 times, but their three extra possessions didn´t help them further.

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EasyCredit BBL Playoff Preview 2018: Alba Berlin-MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 3-2

Never count out a John Patrick no matter what the circumstances are. The American experienced coach who has no difficulty having a sound conversation in German at anytime has shown it over and over in his career no matter where he has coached that he is capable of not only building a talented team, but also be able to mesh each player´s qualities together so they function properly on the court at a consistent rate. Not too mention not always having a sufficient budget to operate from, he consistently gets the most out of what he has to work with. The ex Stanford(NCAA) player displayed his coaching expertise bringing BG Goettingen to the BBL and reaching the playoffs at a consistent rate while topping his run off with the Eurochallnege title in 2010 and also discovering guys like John Little, Chris Oliver, Kyle Bailey and Taylor Rochestie and putting them on the basketball map. With s.Oliver Wurzburg he led the team into the playoffs and upset Alba Berlin in the 2012 playoffs. He came and saved the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in 2013 being a fireman and since then has led the organization into the playoffs five consecutive times. So when the 2018 Basketball Champions League Final 4 were completed and nobody witnessed the big smile of Thomas Walkup on the winner´s podium, but instead a dejected team escaping Athens with a disappointing fourth place finish, many might of thought that the club would return home and have difficulty erasing the weekend blues from Greece. Ok so my 3-0 FC Bayern Munich prediction over the Fraport Skyliners made me eat my words and now I´m officially going to eat my words again after my medi Bayreuth-MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg prediction of 3-2. I have to be honest, I always believed that John Patrick and co would beat the Bavarian squad 3-0, because I have always believed and respected Patrick´s work but wanted to be right had a medi Bayreuth upset occurred. Shame on me! How could that ever have happened. John Patrick is a coaching master and once again showed how quickly he could transform a dejected squad to a focused team. With the amazing 3-0 sweep of medi Bayreuth, Patrick was able to reach the semi-finals for only the second time in his career. The question now is can he keep the team momentum going and upset the mighty Alba Berlin that has a core of snipers that could possibly outgun the Golden State Warriors with them having a semi cold night. Never count out a John Patrick no matter what the circumstances are, because if you do then you will get bit in the butt quicker than a David Mccray reflex can lead to a steal and transition bucket.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and John Patrick in the Fraport arena in 2018

The road to the easyCredit BBL semi-finals wasn´t as easy for Alba Berlin and in no means a cake walk as they had to tough out an exciting 5 game series against the Ewe Baskets Oldenburg where each team won their home games. Alba Berlin went into the series with the EWE Baskets as the heavy favorite not only with their incredible regular season, but also because how the underdog had presented itself in the last weeks. But as one had seen last season, when you have a Rickey Paulding you always have a chance a she showed last season against Bayreuth and Ulm. The 2009 BBL champion didn´t hide their faces in the sand, but really came to play. In the first two games, Alba Berlin were far away from being a fourth best defensive team in the league as the EWE Baskets Oldenburg averaged 96 points per game 20 more than what Alba Berlin allowed all season. It was no secret that both teams can put up points quickly and both did. However Alba Berlin was able to make good adjustments after every loss and let up less points each home game while never really losing consistency on offense as they averaged 92 points in the high scoring series.

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