Author: Miles Schmidt-Scheuber

Basketball journalist and play by play commentator

Michael Thompson(Fraport Skyliners): The Most Important Thing Is To Win Games

Michael Thompson is a 22 year old 177cm point guard from Chicago, Illinois that is playing his first season with the Fraport Skyliners. He played at Northwestern from 2007-2011. In his senior year, he played : 34 games: 16.3ppg, 2.2rpg, 4.3apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 45.2%, 3PT: 39.3%, FT: 82.5%. Awards/Achievements in his career have been HS: Chicago Public League All-Academic Team -07, All-Big Ten Honorable Mention -10, All-Big Ten 3rd Team -11, Big Ten All-Tournament Team -11, and NIT Elite Eight -11. He took some time to talk to German Hoops about his rookie season with the Fraport Skyliners.

Does Muli Katzurin pull a lever when he wants Justin Gray to take control?

No coach doesn´t pull a lever when he wants Gray to take control. Gray has a lot of experience and a great understanding of the game and always knows when its time to step up.

You played four years at Northwestern and now had a three week try out phase with the Fraport Skyliners. What kind of experience was that for you?

It was a great experience, because I had the chance to play for a great team that has great players. I gave 100% each day and am very happy that my contract was extended.

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Mario Kasun(KK Zagreb): Gordon Herbert Is My Favorite Coach Of All

Mario Kasun is a 31 year old 213cm Croatian that is playing his second season with KK Zagreb. He has a phenomenal body for the position, and knows how to use it inside. Also, has fighting spirit, isn’ t afraid of contact and likes to dunk. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers (NBA,2rd(41) in 2002. He then played for the Frankfurt Opel Skyliners from 2002-2004 winning the Beko BBL title in2004. He played in the NBA from 2004-2006 playing for the Orlando Magic playing a total of 73 games. He then played two seasons for FC Barcelona and two years for Efes Pilsen before going home to Croatia to play for KK Zagreb. Last season he played Croatian League: 9 games: 8.4ppg, 2.9rpg, FGP: 64.4%, FT: 78.3%; Croatian League: EuroChallenge: 2 games: 17.5ppg, 6.0rpg, 1.0bpg; injured in Nov.’10 and was off for 1 month: EuroCup Qualifying Round: 2 games: 11.5ppg, 5.5rpg; Adriatic League: 21 games: 13.3ppg, Reb-5(6.4rpg), FGP: 63.3%, FT: 67.5%. He has played for the Croatian national team playing at the 2005, 2007 and 2009 European championships. He also has won the Spanish and Turkish cups. He is returning back to Germany to play Euroleague against The Brose Baskets Bamberg and spoke to German Hoops.

You are playing your second season for KK Zagreb. How does it feel playing in your country so late in your career?

Playing at home is good feeling and good for my wife to see where im from. Happy to be where I started my career, but it but I would still like to play out of Croatia, now reason is to stay home because my wife if pregnant.

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A Conversation with Josh Young (Walter Tigers Tuebingen)

Josh Young is a 23 year old 185cm guard from Saginaw, Michigan. He played at Drake from 2006-2010. In his senior year, he played 32 games: 14.4ppg, 3.9rpg, 2.7apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 44.0%, 3PT: 35.8%, FT: 73.0%. Last season he came to Germany and played for Bayer Giants Leverkusen (Germany-ProB, starting five): 11 games: 26.7ppg, 6.4rpg, 3.0apg, 2.3spg, FGP: 45.2%, 3PT: 45.3%, FT: 79.0%. He spoke to German Hoops recently about his new team The Walter Tigers Tuebingen.

How was your summer Josh? Was there anything you could do this summer which you were unable to do the last summers?

The summer was great. I got to spend a lot of time with my family while being able to work out. I also took a mission trip to Africa this summer. It was awesome

How does a typical Josh Young off season workout day look like?

offTypical season workout involves a morning run. I like to lift weights and then do some cardio. After that, I do shooting, skill workouts, and hopefully play some 5 on 5.

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The Fraport Skyliners Can´t Find Their Horse Shoe On The Rim As Bonn Display Fine Kochian Team Basketball Winning 79-64

Despite the strong 3-0 start by The Telekom Baskets Bonn this season, Michael Koch might have entered the Fraport arena with an eerie feeling, because 6 months ago, the last time he had set foot in the Skyliner living room, Bonn was on the verge of not making the playoffs for only the second time in their history and the club was closing out the miserable season with a 2-14 record and he was undergoing a personal basketball nightmare as sad as the attitude of Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon who was caught partying shortly after the most epic September slide in baseball history who had blown 18 of their last 24 games not reaching the playoffs, a fan who had nothing better to do then launch a hot dog straight at golf legend Tiger Woods, who was concentrating on a putt or actress Lindsay Lohan racking up a 90,000 Limo bill and not having the decency to pay it. In their last meeting last season, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners trounced Bonn 78-60 and Michael Koch had some revenge on his mind and left the Fraport arena with a very satisfying 79-64 victory. The difference between last years team and this years team is like night and day. “As a opponent you should always be happy to leave Frankfurt with a win. We started off well and I was happy with our play. It is obvious that not everything was working for Frankfurt. It is always nice in life when you can learn from your mistakes. We are playing team basketball and that is always best. We still have a long way to go, but am very happy with our play after four games”, stressed Telekom Baskets Bonn sport director Andreas Bottcher. Bonn not only is a totally new team from last season, but already has made big strides from their last meeting with Frankfurt in the Maritim Cup in September. “Bonn is a very good team that is coached well and has improved a lot. They had a very nice inside/out game, but we didn´t do a good job defending”, stressed Skyliner guard Michael Thompson. The eyes of Bonn quarterback Jared Jordan lit up when he described the Kochian team basketball of Bonn. “This style is so different from when I was here two years ago. It is more European style. It reminds me of the offense we had at Marist. I had two wings and athletic guys that I could just throw the ball up into the lane. It is funny, we were so awful in our first pre season game, but since then we have improved every day. I have never seen a team in my playing career improve in such a short time like this. We just want to always win and have a lot of fun playing together”, commented Jared Jordan.

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Can Michael Koch Lead The Telekom Baskets Bonn Return To The Playoffs With A New Trust And Less Mcdonalds?

Since head coach Michael Koch has had free reigns of gobbling up players each new season, his trust in American players and their abilities has been as strong as the Boston Bruins belief that their 2011 Stanley Cup win was no fluke and waiting another 39 years for the next one is out of the question, American singer Rihanna confident that her new album Talk Talk talk with hit single Take A Bow is a track that many people will rap about for years to come or Lindsay Lohan somehow not abruptly disappearing, but continuing to hang around in the news showing her support for legend Marilyn Monroe in her own essay for a new coffee book. In the last five years with 60 players on the roster, Koch has picked 35 Americans. It has been no secret that Michael Koch Has had faith in the Americans the last years as much as Skyliner fans have seeing Quantez Robertson take new athletic and breathtaking lift offs to the basket this season, Bastian Schweinsetiger doing some more trick shots with the basketball, or Dashaun Wood feeding Derrick Allen an ally-op pass, but being rejected from behind at the second from Super Tez Robertson. However after not reaching the playoffs last season for only the second time in their basketball existence, the German coach decided to go in another direction supplementing the roster with only three Americans which could give the few Mcdonalds in the Rhine city less business now with less of an influx of Americans playing there. For some Americans going to Mcdonalds is about as regular as Germans going to the beer garden, going to Mallorca for vacation for driving a Volkswagen and sometimes when your in a new country and are shy and see the big yellow arches, one just can´t resist. “I actually only visit Mcdonalds about once a month in Europe, but I think the Americans rather have a greasy Big Mac and French fries then good tasty Wiener Schnitzel”, smiled Steven Wright who is earning his bucks in Finland this season. With less Americans and players from other countries, there might be an influx to taste the real German classic food. “The Mcdonalds might be down, but the Wiener Schnitzel will be up”, laughed EnBW Ludwigsburg Mark Dorris.

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Justin Gray Hits A Buzzer Beater From Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1 As The Fraport Skyliners Shock The S. Oliver Baskets Wurzburg 80-78

The last time Americans Ben Jacobson, Jason Boone and John Little were on the floor together before this season, they were celebrating immense success with BG Goettingen winning the Eurochalenge and reaching the Beko BBL playoffs on a regular basis. It seems that they could be successful at many things besides basketball like putting on aprons and baking delicious cookies for a late afternoon snack for president Obama, doing a slick basketball trick routine on American Idol ala Globetrotters style and getting Simon Cowell to utter a smile and thumbs up or being able to kick a soccer ball off a beer mug through the goal wall hole at the Aktuelles Sport Studio at ZDF the way German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer did because it seems like whatever they do on the court can also turn to gold in other activities. With the aid of John Patrick, the BG Goettingen connection has helped the s. Oliver baskets Wurzburg get out of the gates to a 2-0 record, but against the Fraport Skyliners there was no trick up the sleeve of the American coach or his players that was able to stop Justin Gray as he dropped a buzzer beater bomb in ala Eric Chadfield(2006 buzzer beater to beat ratiopharm Ulm) style as the Fraport Skyliners shocked the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg 80-78. Despite the disheartening loss, John Patrick knows that his three ex Goettingen players have many talents and will help lead the team to many more wins in the future. “All three guys know what it takes to get a winning team going. They know when to have fun, but when we are in practice they are all business. Jason Boone can eat a hamburger in one bite, Ben Jacobson is an Iowa guy and is the best golfer on the team and eats more dairy queen meals than anyone I know and John Little is simply indestructible and has run through more walls than anyone I know”, stressed s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg head coach John Patrick. “We have helped with the leadership and helped the other players translate over to the style of John Patrick. The Goettingen guys have a very close bond”, stressed Ben Jacobsen. Skyliner center Marius Nolte also noticed how important the ex Goettingen guys have been for the Wurzburg team. “I think everybody saw tonight how much Goettingen is sticking in the Wurzburg system on the court”, warned Marius Nolte.

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Does The Blond In Dirk Nowitzki And John Patrick Guarantee New Instant Success With The S.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg?

Who could forget the tantalizing breathtaking scenes in Wurzburg last summer as 2011 NBA NBA champion Dirk Nowitzki returned home to his old basketball battle ground receiving a heros welcome looking more like a sea of fans at a soccer winners presentation than that of a basketball jubilation. With Beko BBL basketball back in Wurzburg for the first time in six years, it seems like the Nowitzki festivities was just the start of better things to come to the Bayern city where German basketball names like Dirk Nowitzki, Demond Greene, Robert Garrett and Marvin Willoughby were successfully selling the brand name basketball in the late 90s in fine style. New s. Oliver Baskets Wurzburg head coach John Patrick may have blond hair with a spray touch of orange and blue eyes like Nowitzki and never get the hero status of the NBA superstar, but the American coach could continue to use his magic hidden wand which he must have hidden in his pocket at each game and continue to somehow transform his incredible success from BG Goettingen where he led the club to three of four playoffs and won the Eurochallenge in 2010 and possibly become the second most famous basketball blond in Wurzburg that has given the world the tasty Franken wine. Its is no secret that Dirk Nowitzki was a tennis ace before he played basketball and John Patrick has blond hair with a touch of orange just like 1985 17 year old Wimbeldon winner Boris Becker. Patrick might not have that big serve on the court, but surely had the right stimulating successful boom boom words that has inspired his players the last years in Goettingen. “Well John Patrick is a great coach and will do a great job in Wurzburg. If they continue to win games then I think that he could become a very well known Basketball name in Wurzburg”, commented TBB Trier guard John Bynum. It doesn´t really matter where Patrick is, his basketball philosophy seems to stand for success as he also won a title in Japan and seems to know how to reach his players. “I think he just gets the best out of his players and they always play hard. His style differs from most coaches in the BBL and it is fun to play against and I am sure its fun for his players as well”, stressed John Bynum.

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A Conversation With Mike Smith (Eisbaeren Bremerhaven)

Mike Smith is a 24 year old 198cm forward from Vandalia, Missouri that is playing his first season with the Eisbaeren Bremerhaven. He played at E. Tennessee from 2007-2011. In his senior year, he played 35 games: 17.9ppg, 6.8rpg, 1.9apg, FGP: 46.9%, 3PT: 36.7%, FT: 78.9%. This past summer, he took part at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (Pre-NBA Draft): 3 games: 10.0ppg, 8.3rpg, 1.7apg, 1.3spg, 1.0bpg. He was a A-Sun Tournament Winner -09, 10, and All-A-Sun Player of the Year -11. He spoke to eurobasket this summer about his basketball career.

You were in Bremen this summer and watched Dirk Nowitzki and Germany play Bosnia. What kind of experience was it watching Dirk in Bremen? What amazed you most about Dirk being in Germany?

Just the fan support that he has over here, the fans really love the guy and is a proven super star. Has proven himself in the best league in the world and he is well deserving of everything he has accomplished

You are starting your professional basketball career in the German beko BBL. What were the main reasons for choosing the Eisbaeren Bremerhaven?

Eisbaeren have made the playoffs the last two years and that made an impression on me, hoping that the returning guys and me could take this team to the next level.

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When The Going Gets Tough, Justin Gray Gets Going As He Leads The Fraport Skyliners Past The Walter Tigers Tuebingen 73-67

The last time that German national player Johannes Herber played in the Paul Horn arena, Bane Ratkovica was still performing his playmaking magic, Dane Watts was flying to the hoop with his long hair like surfer dude Jeff Spicolli, Chris Oliver was displaying his quick first step from the baseline and Kenny Wiliams was inserting fear with his harsh demeanour despite not moving a face muscle and still having that lovable smooth going Miami character, but when the Darmstadt native Herber walked on the court during warm-ups, he had to look around for a while before seeing some recognizable faces like Nicolai Simon or Ruben Spoeden. After a less than satisfactory showing against Oldenburg, the German wanted to return back to his old stomping ground and help delay the transformation of the Tiger NCAA babies of Duggins, Nash and Hodzic as his shot still wasn´t falling consistently, but his defense was strong as he helped the Fraport Skyliners secure their first win of the season in a hard fought 73-67 victory in the pink jungle of Tuebingen. “I was happy to be back and get a win here. It is never easy to win in Tuebingen. It was nice to see that Ruben Spoden is playing well as well as Akeem Vargas getting minutes. As for my self, I seem to have my lost my rhythm a bit, but I am not worrying. I contributed with good plays”, stressed Johannes Herber. The game featured four NCAA rookies with Skyliner Jon Leuer being the most known of the bunch. “I played against Nash in the NCAA. I don´t remember him hitting three pointers like that. He will help them a lot this season”, added 2011 NBA pick Jon Leuer. It was the first professional game of ex Wright State guard Vaughn Duggins and he was amazed with the crowd input. “The atmosphere was amazing and the fans really touched my heart. They gave us unconditional love and you want to feed off that and give back. It was too bad we couldn´t reward them with a win”, stressed Vaughn Duggins. “Their youngs guys played well. Nash hit big shots and Young showed he can run the team and play good defense. I was a cheerleader today. I really wanted to play, but I just try to stay positive and cheer the guys on”, commented Beko BBL rookie Michael Thompson.

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Can The Fraport Skyliners Delay The Birth Of The Walter Tigers Tuebingen NCAA Kids Into Professional Basketball Manhood October 8th?

The severe magnitude of disappointment can always be categorized from minimal to great depending how critical one looks at the picture. For Boston Redsox fans, the unbelievable, shocking and painful September slide in which they came into September with a 9 game lead in the Wildcard race, but a 7-20 September record and 4-3 loss in a do or die game in the last game in minor Bill Buckner fashion must of uttered a new famous phrase in Boston “not again”, great tennis player Ivan Lendl coming to Wimbeldon so many times, but never leaving the hallowed grass courts as a true Wimbeldon champion and possibly removing the word grass from his vocabulary which is difficult to do for him considering he is a passionate golfer or Paris Hilton after walking her little dog walking into a harmless kids food fight in a corner of Central Park west and getting her designer clothes dirty. These are all painful occurrences for these people, but what Walter Tigers Tuebingen fans recently endured with the sudden unannounced overnight disappearance of full bearded center Kenny Wiliams could be classified as deep unexpected hurt. This would have been the fourth season for the Miami native, but instead he is gone having left a very young and inexperienced Tiger team standing on brittle thin ice shortly before the start of the season. Ex teammate Steven Wright seemed concerned who is playing in Finland this season. “I was shocked when I heard that Kenny had left. I don´t know all the details, but knowing Kenny, it really wouldn´t seem like he would leave in the middle of the night if it wasn´t really urgent. Istill haven´t talked to him, but people have told me that he is ok. Kenny is a good player that always worked hard and is a good rebounder. We didn´t do too much off the court, but he was a cool guy and will be missed under the basket”, warned ex walter Tiger Tuebingen guard Steven Wright. Beko BBL players have noticed the void that has been left under the court even if experienced Velimir Radonovic was brought in, Wiliams had played in Tuebingen for years and knew the system well. “He will be missed obviously underneath the basket on both ends of the floor, his rebounding and just his presence is a key loss for the team. He was real active at both ends on the floor and we had to focus on keeping a body on him at all times. he can hurt you on the offensive glass”, stated TBB Trier guard John Bynum. “Kenny was one of our leaders and was going to play a huge role on our team. It definitely was a setback but I think we have grown closer as a team because of it.Kenny could always make me laugh so easily and his friendly personality was so contagious which is why so many people in Tübingen liked him”, remembered Vaughn Duggins.

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