Author: Miles Schmidt-Scheuber

Basketball journalist and play by play commentator

Rilwan Bakare (Fraport Skyliners Juniors) I Will Never Forget Practicing With The BBL Team and being treated like Family

Rilwan Bakare is a 26 year 201cm forward from Chicago,Illinois playing his third professional season and first with the Fraport Skyliners Juniors after starting the season with Pernion Urheilijat Basket (Finland-1st Division) and then moving to Union de Santa Fe (Argentina-TNA). Last season he played for BK Iskra Svit (Slovakia-SBL) playing 18 games averaging 11.2ppg, 6.8rpg, FGP: 57.8%, FT: 58.5%. As a rookie he played for TuS Breckerfeld (Germany-2.Regionalliga) playing 18 games averaging 19.9ppg, 10.5rpg. He played his college ball at four schools including Columbus State Community College (NJCAA), Danville Area Community College (NJCAA), Campbellsville (NAIA) and Texas Wesleyan (NAIA): He spoke to German Hoops after the game 3 loss to Lok Bernau ending his third professional season.

A tough loss to Lok Bernau ending the season. How much of a basketball culture shock was it coming from the big beautiful Mercedes arena to the tiny Bernau gym for game 3?

It was a difference I just had to adjust very quick.

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors took only 8 players. Did this already put some pressure on the players knowing that total aggressive defense could have put guys in early foul trouble?

Just felt a little pressure but we had to just work harder and play as a team.

How key was the quick 9-0 Lok Bernau start for the rest of the game? They jumped on the Fraport Skyliners Juniors right off the bat. Did this fast start already have an effect on the team mentally for the rest of the game?

I will say yes or no we knew they were going come out strong we just didn’t adjust fast enough to stop the run.

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Dallas Anglin (Hannover Korbjäger) I’m A Student Of The Game And I Take Bits And Pieces Of Guys Games

Dallas Anglin is a 23 year old 185cm guard from Mountclair, New Jersey that played his rookie season as a professional in Germany for the Hannover Korbjaeger (Germany-Regionalliga). He started his basketball career at Hofstra (NCAA) in 2012 playing 6 games averaging 3.2ppg, 1.2apg. In the next three years he would play at three schools starting with S.Idaho JC (JUCO) playing 32 games averaging 13.4ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.9apg, FGP: 44.6%, 3PT: 34.3%, FT: 77.8%, S.Mississippi (NCAA) playing 6 games averaging 6.0ppg, 1.0rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 28.6%, 3PT: 46.2%, FT: 93.3%, and N.Colorado (NCAA) playing 20 games averaging 13.2ppg, 2.9rpg, 2.2apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 52.6%, 3PT: 31.3%, FT: 79.6%. He spoke to German Hoops recently before the club announced it had to withdraw from the Regionaliga before the end of the season.

Dallas welcome to Germany. Your last college game is almost a year old as you strapped on your N Colorado(NCAA) shirt against Portland State. Did you ever lose doubt that you might not sign your first professional contract?

A little, as time went by I was preparing for the worst and hoping for the best and then New Years Eve came and before I went to celebrate my agent called me and said I had an offer out in Germany.

Talk a little about the last 10-11 months. How did you experience your first time in the shark infested waters world of having to try to find that first professional team. How rough was it and how did you stay positive?

It wasn’t as rough as people would think, during that time I was home in New Jersey around family and loved ones that kind of took my mind away from the negatives, believe me I had my days though. I stayed positive by having positive people around me.

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Eric Kibi (Randers Cimbria Basketball) Reaching The BBL After Starting In The Regionalliga Has Been A Huge Goal Of Mine

Eric Kibi is a 26 year old 198cm forward from Ontario, Canada that is playing his fifth professional season and first with the Randers Cimbria Basketball (Denmark-Ligaen). Last season he played with the Hertener Loewen Basketball (Germany-ProB) playing 3 games averaging 4.7ppg, 8.0rpg, 1.3apg, 1.3spg, left in Oct.’15, in Jan.’16 moved to KK Strsljen Gusinje (Montenegro-Erste Liga): 4 games: 3.8ppg, 5.5rpg, in Mar.’16 signed at London Lightning (Canada-NBL Canada) playing 23 games averaging 1.7ppg, 2.5rpg. Two seasons ago he completed his second season in Germany and first with Basketball Club Rendsburg (Germany-Regionalliga) averaging 20,5ppg and 15,0rpg. He started his basketball career in 2008 with Jacksonville College (NJCAA) where he played until 2010. He then played a season with UALR (NCAA) playing 29 games: 4.4ppg, 4.2rpg. He finished his college career in 2012 with Abil.Christian (NCAA2) playing 20 games: 8.2ppg, 5.7rpg, FGP: 60.0%. In 2012 he started his professional basketball career with Abil.Christian (NCAA2) playing 20 games: 8.2ppg, 5.7rpg, FGP: 60.0% He then played with Ottawa SkyHawks (NBL Canada): 29 games: 4.4ppg, 4.7rpg. He spoke to German Hoops about his season in Denmark.

Eric thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how is basketball life treating you at the moment?

I’m in Randers, Denmark we are getting ready for our last regular season game against Naesved and then hopefully a successful playoff run.

2017 has come and already into it´s third month. Did you make any new years resolutions this year or aren´t you the type of guy that does that?

I came into the year just wanting to keep growing as a person but other than that my hunger or work ethic never changes just because the calendar flips year it’s always the same.

You were close last season to getting your first professional title with the London Lightning (Canada-NBL Canada). Does one feel more and more how close one was to getting a title after time when you realize just how close you actually were?

Yeah I mean losing in Game 7 of a championship series was really tough last season especially after we battled back from being down 3-1. That team was a special group and I’ll never forget going to war with those guys.

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Eintracht Frankfurt/Fraport Skyliners Cruise Past The Igeko Nurnberg Falcons BC 80-70 in NBBL Playoff Action

Now is a very special month in the States concerning college basketball as it is the time of the year where March Madness takes over and fans are transformed into a special world where players are made into hero´s, some unknown teams create their own special Cinderella stories and upsets are always present as Duke recently was kicked out with the winner being crowned at the start of April in Phoenix. But also in Germany is March a very special time for youth basketball as the NBBL playoffs begin and teams battle for the ticket to the Final 4 at the end of May in Frankfurt and where upsets are also not uncommon as defending champion Breitengussbach lost their first game getting hammered by ratiopharm Ulm 82-58. In Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurrt/Fraport Skyliners started their mission to reach the NBBL top 4 on their home base in the 5,004 seat Fraport arena as they came into the playoffs with a 11-3 record in third place while the Igeko Nurnberg Falcons finished with a record of 12-4. There are no real easy opponents in the NBBL playoffs and Eintracht Frankfurt knew that they would be facing a sound defensive team with Nurnberg as they had relinquished 70 points or less in 10 games while Frankfurt did 9 times. After an offensive first quarter, both teams settled down on the defensive end and the game was even for three quarters, but in the fourth quarter the Igeko Nurnberg Falcons BC ran out of gas as the depth and fire power of Comso Gruehn and Isaac Bonga was too much for the Bavarian team as Eintracht Frankfurt/Fraport Skyliners won 80-70.

“We knew that it wouldn´t be an easy task. We played very well and got the needed support from the bench. We know that whenever the clock is down and we need a basket, we can rely on Isaac Bonga to making the shot. He has improved his three pointer the last weeks. He has been practicing his shot extra hard the last weeks and is a motivation for all of us to want to get our chances and produce like he does”, stressed ex USC Freiburg forward Cosmo Gruehn.

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The Fraport Skyliners Heat Up In The 4th For Chris Williams Disposing BG Goettingen 81-67

If one would have spontaneously asked Fraport Skyliner Quantez Robertson if the numbers 34 and 35 had any special mathematical meaning, the ex Auburn star would probably have given his typical Tez smirk and replied, “were those some of the most points that NCAA teams won by in the first round of March Madness”? Actually Robertson was involved with one of these numbers last weekend. Last weekend it was a story of two tales concerning the basketball fate of the Fraport Skyliners and BG Goettingen as one team destroyed their opponent while the other team stunk up the building. 2010 Eurochallenge winner BG Goettingen got severely rattled at home 101-66 to this season´s big surprise team medi Bayreuth as the Bavarian team had five players scoring in double figures and Americans Demon Brooks and Joseph Lewis combined for 43 points as the club won the rebound duel and dominated in the paint shooting at a high percentage. The Fraport Skyliners on the other hand rebounded from a bitter loss in Ludwigsburg manhandling the Basket Lowen Braunschweig 92-56 as they led from the get go never looked back as the club was led by Shawn Huff with 17 points and Quantez Robertson and Shavon Shields added 16 points apiece. Frankfurt dominated the rebounds and spread the ball around the way a team led by Gordon Herbert should. One hot team Frankfurt was meeting cold team BG Goettingen, and the Fraport Skyliners were able to get revenge from their loss in Goettingen earlier in the season as they had a strong fourth quarter disposing of BG Goettingen 81-67. After any game in Frankfurt it is customary for the players of Frankfurt to sign autographes for the fans and after 15 minutes the last two Americans left were Quantez Robertson and Mike Morrison who were joking around and were in such good spirits that they could easily moonlight with their own sitcom once their playing days are over. “Having a sitcom would be fun. I would be beating up Mike all the time. All Mike is doing on road trips is eating and drinking juice. Sometimes I just need to get away from him”, joked Quantez Robertson. However when talk came about the two numbers 35 and 34, the Ohio native joked that math wasn´t his strong suit in school. “I wasn´t good at math. From those two numbers you mentioned, I remember 34 being my old baseball jersey in school and 35 was just out there”, smiled Quantez Robertson.

Basketball BL, FRAPORT SKYLINERS - BG GÖTTINGEN DIE VEILCHEN

19.03.2017 / Basketball BBL / -4- Kwame Vaughn / FRAPORT SKYLINERS / -11- Darius Carter / BG GÖTTINGEN

Even if there was a game to be played, Skyliner fans of old had one thing on their mind and that was Skyliner legend Chris Williams who had surprisingly passed away four days ago at only the age of 36 due to blood clotting to the heart. Williams played only two years with the Skyliners, but in those two years was instrumental in the team winning a their only league title to date in 2004 and reaching a league final in 2005. He belonged to the top power forwards in the BBL and was named league MVP. He also will be remembered as possibly being the best player in the history of the organization. The club organized a minute of silence before the tip off and there was one person who was extremely sad and probably had millions of thoughts flowing through his mind in that minute which probably felt like 10 minutes. That person was Skyliners head coach Gordon Herbert who had coached Williams for one season and remembered the Alabama native very well despite having coached him 13 years ago. “I was thinking about the kind of person he was. He was a great teammate and was very sociable. His death really shocked me. His death made me realize just how short life can be. I still remember exactly where he was on the floor when he made that amazing cross over dribble and dunked the ball in the final. Tyrone Ellis helped him become a better professional and taught him how to build his career better”, stressed head coach Gordon Herbert. Fraport Skyliner guard AJ English was pleased about the win knowing that coach Herbert wanted a better performance in the second half, but at the same time shocked how quickly a life can end when confronted with the Chris Williams death. “Alex Ruoff kept them in the game. He hit some difficult shots. I remember watching him as a kid when he was at West Virginia. We stepped it up in the fourth quarter, got defensive stops and kept moving the ball and made shots. We started slow, but picked it up in the fourth quarter. I saw Williams face the last days as there was a lot of talk, but didn´t know who he was. It is very sad how he died. I know the feeling as I have lost guys like that. For BG Goettingen it has been a tough season and after being destroyed at home by medi Bayreuth last weekend, they stayed with Frankfurt for 30 minutes, but lost control of their energy in the fourth quarter. “We ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Frankfurt made a big run and on defense they pressured us much and we turned the ball over too much and made everything uncomfortable for us. That was a very sad story with Chris Williams. His sudden death puts life and basketball in perspective. It´s not always about winning and losing”, stressed BG Goettingen forward Adam Waleskowski.

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The Fraport Skyliners Juniors Live Another Day Forcing Another Do Or Die Game Beating Lok Bernau 76-61

Even if they don´t want to admit it, guys like Travis Thompson, Garai Zeeb or Konstantin Schubert will never forget the massive one sided drubbing they got last season in the playoffs as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors got hammered by Weissenhorn in game one by 69 points, but for some reason, the club has had a knack of rebounding back from tough situations as they came back strong rebounding from that massacre and winning two do or die games in a row and advancing to the pro B finals where they were swept by Ehingen. This season, they had a do or die game on the last game day beating the Giants Nordlingen in fine fashion as they were led by Isaac Bonga who celebrated his first professional triple double. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors slid into the Pro B playoffs with a 4 game winning streak and a lot of momentum, but that came to a crushing halt as they were brought down to reality as they faced top Pro B north team Lok Bernau losing 75-64. German wunderkind Isaac Bonga was close to another triple double as he finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, but the overall team carelessness with taking care of the ball in the second half set their doom as they coughed up the ball 22 times while Lok Bernau has only 10 turnovers thus giving them 12 extra possessions. It was time for the Fraport Skyliners Juniors to rebound back again as they had another do or die situation, but they were at home in their own Basketball City Mainhatten living room and still had the memory of their big do or die win against the Giants Nordlingen two weeks ago and wanted to force another do or die game in Bernau and did setting the tone of the game early and breaking away in the second quarter and never looked back as the Frankfurt depth was too much for the Lok Bernau depth as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors brushed aside Lok Bernau 76-61. After the match, a content top scorer Travis Thompson was all smiles reminiscing about the big do or die win. “We came out good early and rebounded well. We moved ball better and Isaac Bonga hit some three´s. We were able to stop their run and were able to make our own run. We also hit many timely shots that helped us get this win”, stressed Alaska native Travis Thompson. After the loss, 31 year old BBL veteran Robert Kulawick who played 294 games in the BBL showed his role model style carrying the water bottles to the locker room something that usually is reserved for the kids was very disappointed with the performance of his team. “We slept at the start and didn´t have the needed intensity which punished us to the end. I have to compliment my team for the comeback, but it came down to not getting stops and then Frankfurt coming back and hitting a three. I have to compliment Frankfurt for holding us to 61 points. They did a very good job”, stressed 2010 Eurochallenge winner Robert Kulawick.

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Jordan Talbert (PS Karlsruhe) Making Those Little Plays That Don’t Show Up In the Box Score Is What I’ve Been Proud Of Most This Season

Jordan Talbert is a 26 year old 198cm forward from Little Rock, Arkansas that is playing his third professional season and first with the PS Karlsruhe Lions. He came to Germany as a rookie in 2014 and played with the Giants TSV 1861 Noerdlingen (Germany-Regionalliga) playing 26 games: 21.6ppg, 9.6rpg, 3.2apg, 2.0spg, Blocks-4(1.5bpg), FGP: 51.7%, 3PT: 28.9%, FT: 78.4%. He played his college career at Missouri SO(NCAA2) from 2010-2014 and as a senior played 31 games averaging 11.7ppg, 7.4rpg, 2.9apg, 1.1spg, 1.7bpg, FGP: 44.8%, 3PT: 37.0%, FT: 70.1%. Last season with Nordlingen he tore up the Pro B averaging 17.5ppg, Reb-1(11.0rpg), 2.4apg, 1.7spg, Blocks-5(1.5bpg), FGP: 48.5%, 3PT: 27.5%, FT: 73.4%. He spoke to German Hoops before the start of the 2017 playoff series.

Jordan thanks for talking to German Hoops. 2017 is now in its third month. Did you make any news year resolutions or are you more the guy that doesn´t believe in that?

No I didn’t make any resolutions. I’m not big on those things. I think if there’s any change that I feel is necessary then it should be made at the moment of realization. No reason to wait until the start of the year.

How long did it take to digest the bitter 76-49 loss against the kids of FC Bayern Munich? How can a loss like that occur shortly before the playoffs?

Not long at all. We locked up the number 1 seed for the playoffs which really took the motivation out of the team going into the game. We got caught looking forward to playoffs, it came back and punched us in the mouth.

Teams want to roll into the playoffs or playdowns with some force. Do you feel like PS Karlsruhe will be ready when game one with the Rostock SeaWolves comes around?

We’ve all been looking forward to the playoffs for a long time. I think we’re hungrier right now than any other point in the season. Our goal was not to finish the regular season number 1 but to end the post season in that position.

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Timajh Parker Rivera (Lok Bernau) We Are Capable Of Raising Our Game In Every New Playoff Game

Timajh Parker Rivera is a 23 year old 203cm forward from Milford, Conneticut playing his professional basketball career with SSV Lok Bernau. He played four years at Towson(NCAA) playing a total of 128 NCAA games and as a senior played 33 games averaging 6.5ppg, 6.5rpg, 1.2apg, 1.2bpg, FGP: 58.1%, FT: 50.4%. He spoke to German Hoops before game two of the playoffs against the Fraport Skyliners Juniors.

Thanks Timajh for talking to German Hoops. Congrats on the big 75-64 win against the Fraport Skyliners Juniors. How did it feel playing your first professional playoff game?

Thank you and it was a great experience looking forward to many more .

The Pro B playoff game between the Fraport Skyliners Juniors and Lok Bernau was played in the giant Mercedes arena in Berlin. What did you enjoy most about playing in this state of the art arena?

I’ve been to many Alba games this year so go play on the court was extremely exciting I had a good time .

You played in many nice arenas in the NCAA with Towson, but where did the Berlin arena rank with your all-time nicest?

I would say Mercedes Bens was top five .

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Ricky Easterling (BG Karlsruhe) I Came Here With Team Goals Not Personal Goals And Want To Play For The Championship

Ricky Easterling is a 33 year old 190cm guard from Baltimore that is playing his 11^th professional season in Germany and first with BG Karlsruhe(Pro B). Over the years, he has been crowned Mr Regionaliga as he averaged over 30 points three times with TV Saarlouis belonged to the the top 3 players in the Pro B the last two seasons. Before moving to Saarlouis in 2007 he played at Bridgewater (NCAA3) and then as a rookie played with TSG Reutlingen (Germany-Oberliga and Bergheim Bandits (Germany-Regionalliga). Last season with TV Saarlouis, he played 28 games: Score-1(23.1ppg), 4.0rpg, 4.4apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 51.1%, 3PT: 18.2%, FT: 81.2%. He spoke to German Hoops before the start of the 2017 Pro B playoffs.

Rickey thanks for talking to German Hoops 2017 has come and we are already into 2017. Did you set any new years resolutions and if you did have to stayed faithful to them in the first two months?

I didn’t really have a new years resolution. I have the same mindset I did at the beginning of the season. Play my roll, be the good teammate and make a good run in the playoffs. Playoffs are here now so it is GO TIME!

How excited are you to be playing your first Pro B playoffs after having played the Playdowns two years in a row. With what kind of feelings are you going into these playoffs?

I am very excited to be a part of the playoffs for the first time. I feel my team has a good chance to make it deep into the playoffs. So I am going into the playoffs hungry and focused.

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Frankfurt Skyliner Legend Chris Williams With The Heart Of Gold Passes Away At Age 36

Chris Williams and Miles Schmidt-Scheuber, 2005

It didn’t really matter what you called Chris Williams (199-F/G-80, college: Virginia) some called him big smooth or chris cross, but one could have come up with thousands of names for his amazing athletic game as he owned the paint area as he was nearly unstopable, but today the former Frankfurt Skyliner passed away due to blood clotting to the heart at the age of 36. It didn’t matter where he played in school or in the pros, he was a winner putting up great stats everywhere he went and won titles in Australia, Germany and Korea in a 11 year professional career. In Germany, fans will remember him as not only one of the top power forwards in the BBL, but one of the best players in the league from 2003-2005. He was instrumental in the Opel Skyliners winning the 2004 BBL league title and reaching the final in 2005 as he formed the dangerous and very feared Bermuda triangle with American Tyrone Ellis and German national player Pascal Roller.

One guy that remembers him still is current Colgate assistant coach Michael Jordan who had a standout career in Europe and battled Williams with the Artland Dragons from 2003-2005. “Chris was a good player but an even better person. We had some good battles and good times in Europe. He will be missed”, stressed Michael Jordan. Williams wasn’t only top on the court, but was a genuine great guy that always wanted to help the best way he could and had a heart of gold. Ex Licher Basket Baeren guard Jermale Jones was best friends with Chris William’s brother, but remembers Chris in only the best way. “Chris was such a great guy. He was always willing to help people no matter what it was. He was a giver in all aspects. Chris is a guy you would want to be friends with because of his personality and the way he carried himself. Chris tried to help me in every way to help me sign my first deal overseas but it was hard for him to get me a job cause I had no experience at the time and just last summer he was trying to get me signed in the China league. He always wanted to help”, stressed Jermale Jones.

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