Author: Miles Schmidt-Scheuber

Basketball journalist and play by play commentator

Adam Baumann Career Ending Interview

Adam Baumann is a 28 year old 203cm power forward/center that recently announced his retirement from professional basketball to return home to Arizona to pursue a career as a fire fighter. He is from Scottsdale, Arizona and played at Yavapai and Youngstown in the NCAA.

He started his professional basketball career in 2004 in Germany and played overseas for five and half years. He played with Phoenix Hagen from 2004-2008 in the second Bundesliga. In three of four years, he had double double stats in points and rebounds. His best season with Phoenix Hagen was 2006-2007 as he played 29 games averaging 19.2ppg, Reb-2(11.2rpg), 1.2apg, 1.0spg, 2FGP: 62%, 3FGP: 28.9%, FT: 83.5%. Last season, he played for VFL Kirchheim in the PRO A playing 30 games averaging 16.5ppg, Reb-3(10.1rpg), 1.2spg, FGP: 53.7%, 3PT: 29.1%, FT: 78.6%. This season, he played 13 games with BBC Bayreuth averaging 14,2ppg, 4,7rpg, 1,6apg in 22 minutes per game.

He gave German Hoops a exclusive career ending interview.

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Kyle Bailey Reflects About EnBW Ludwigsburg

Kyle Bailey is a 27 year old 188 cm guard from Fairbanks Alaska that is a very smart player who handles the ball well, performs well under pressure and regularly is the first player at practice and the last to leave. He played at Santa Clara with Macabbi Tel Aviv guard Doron Perkins from 2000-2005. In his senior year, he played 31 games averaging 14.8ppg, 4.7rpg, 4.2apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 37.2%, 3Pts: 31.3%. In his first professional season in 2005-2006, he split time between the Florida Flame(NBDL) and BK Riga of the Latvian league.

In 2006-2007, he went to Germany to play for BG Goettingen playing 29 games and averaging 20.8ppg, 5.7rpg, 3.0apg, 2.8spg, 2FGP: 48.1%, 3FGP: 35.9%, FT: 77.0%. He led the team into the BBL winning the second league north. In 2007-2008, he played for Ratiopharm Ulm playing 18 games averaging 12.6ppg, 3.0rpg, 3.4apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 47.3%, 3PT: 31.0%, FT: 64.5%. Last season, he helped lead MEG Goettingen into the playoffs playing 23 games and averaging 14.4ppg, 4.3rpg, 3.3apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 43.5%, 3PT: 32.1%, FT: 74.2%. He sat down with German Hoops after leaving EnBW Ludwigsburg.

Kyle, your season ended a little early with EnBW Ludwigsburg. How disappointed are you with the termination of your contract?

I am pretty disappointed.

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Ade Dagunduro(MBC) Ready To Unleash Another Weapon In The Second Half Of The Season

Ade Dagunduro is a 23 year old 196cm guard from Inglewood, California that is playing his first season in the BEKO BBL fort he MBC Wolves. He grew up a few steps from the legendary Forum which was home to NBA legends like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jaabar and James Worthy. He started his career at Antelope Valley junior college before transfering to Nebraska. In the 2007-2008 season, he played 33 games averaging 8.9ppg, 3.6rpg, 1.7apg, FGP: 49.1%, 3Pts: 36.4%, FT: 60.6%. In his senior year, he played 31 games averaging 12.8ppg, 4.4rpg, 1.4apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 52.0%, 3Pts: 34.4%, FT: 69.7%. He took some time to talk to German Hoops about his rookie season with MBC recently

What kind of experience was it for you to take place at the 2010 BEKO BBL Allstar game slam dunk contest? What was your feeling going into the event? Did you think that you could win?

It was great experience to participate in the Beko dunk contest that was my first dunk contest ever and I had a lot of fun. I just didn’t want to embarass myself particpating. I felt that if I made it to the final round then I would be able to win it.

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Despite The Current 13th place Of Ratiopharm Ulm, The Team And Robin Benzing Are Fun To Watch

At this time last season, Ratiopharm Ulm with Jeff Gibbs, Romeo Travis, Dru Joyce and co were gleaming in the playoff range while 12 months later and on the eve of Superbowl 44, the club is toiling in 13th place, but coach Mike Taylor and the team can put their feet up and enjoy the game with a smile and be relatively happy with the current fortune of the team. The team was unable to keep key players from last season and got a facelift that totally left the club unrecognizable just like actress Melanie Griffith except for the friendly wide smile of coach Mike Taylor and a few players as he had to build a new winner in Ulm. Nobody was really expecting the team to reach the playoffs and seemed more concerned and interested about the season that Robin Benzing would have.

“I am happy with how Ratiopharm Ulm has played. We had some tough loses against Phoenix Hagen and The Giessen 46ers. I think if we would have won those games, most people would have said that we are playing well and we would have 10 wins and be pretty close to being saved for next season. We need two more wins and then we will be ok for next season”, stressed ratiopharm Ulm manager Thomas Stoll.

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Will The Walter Tigers Tuebingen Reach The Playoffs Before The Stroke Of Midnight?

If one had dared to combine the word Walter Tigers Tuebingen and playoffs before the 2009-2010 BEKO BBL season, it may have received the same response as Dieter Bohlen does as juror of Germanys version of Super idol when he puts money into his piggy bank after hearing a horrible musical performance, but with the season half way done, Tuebingen is one of the big surprises currently as they are on playoff course riding a six game winning streak and proving all critics wrong as they are playing solid basketball.

The Walter Tigers Tuebingen won their sixth game in a row against The Deutsche Bank Skyliners 91-70 and are slowly starting to raise eye brows in the BEKO BBL as a team that could annoy the more established playoff teams. The slow start and very humbling 98-66 loss in Frankfurt in October seemed about as far away as Pluto is to earth.

“This win and winning streak feels very good right now. Our team is playing very good basketball at the moment and our main goal are the playoffs. Everybody contributed to this win. We hit our shots on a consistent level in the second half and our offense was running very well. Branislav Rathkovica did a great job with his passing. All in all, we almost played a complete game. We had some lapses, but it was very close to a perfect game”, stressed ex Paderborn basket Steven Wright.

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Jerome´s Diary Entry #17: Dedication For A Run

Ulm had a very nice trip to China and a break during the All Star Weekend. Everybody had some days off. But most of the players stayed educated. And we bounced back strong against Hagen (87:72). We won two in a row now. Unfortunately this is our longest winning streak for this season. Our main goal should be to perform strong on the road. The team stays very hungry, because nobody is really satisfied with the first half of the season.

I did hit the weight room and the gym with Darko and Austen to do some extra strong. Darko and me are also are very focused on the second team of Ulm. We are at the first place at the moment, but do have some important games coming up against 2nd and the 3rd seed teams. If we win those games we are through and moving up to the next level. We would reach our goal and complete one of our missions.

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2010 BEKO BBL Allstar Game A Big Success

After the BEKO BBL had showcased the Allstar game in big 10,000 plus arenas in Cologne and Mannheim the last years, they decided to display the leagues best players in a smaller venue in Bonn in 2010. This turned out to be a big success as the Telekom dome was sold out and the atmosphere was as breathtaking as taking in a Boston Redsox-New York Yankees game at the legendary Fenway Park.

Why should the BEKO BBL continue to have the Allstar game in a huge complex like the SAP arena in Mannheim where one feels overwhelmed when looking around and seeing the magnitude of the arena and where 6,000-7,000 people make the arena look as lifeless as the Pontiac Dome in Detriot as Detroit Lions Football fans had to encounter a miserable 0-16 season in 2008. The Telekom Dome only had 6,000 spectators, but every inch was filled and the arena was about as loud as any as I have ever seen in the BEKO BBL.

“It was a good decision to move it to a smaller venue. It has been sold out for two weeks and I think that it is simply better for the players to play in front of a sold out crowd”, stressed German National coach Dirk Bauermann.

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Will Key Injuries Severely Hurt The Playoff Chances Of Braunschweig?

The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig are seeking to reach the playoffs again after their last appearance was in 2003 with former Bamberg guard Demond Mallet who was just starting to make a name for himself in European basketball. Since then the team has sunk in the middle of The BEKO BBL standings and in the last six seasons averaging a 12th place placing in that time. In the last few years, the club had ex BBL champion with Alba Berlin coach Emir Mutapcic at the helm, but he was unable to lead the team into the playoffs despite having good rosters. He was unable to develop any German players into getting sufficient playing time in Braunschweig. The Germans usually went elsewhere and earned playing time there.

“Braunschweig is doing well. I hope that the team can keep it up. They have a great fan base and the fans deserve the playoffs”, added ex Paderborn guard Steven Wright.

Braunschweig management didn´t see anything really changing for the future and decided to make a giant house cleaning: The first order of business was finding a new coach. Braunschweig sports director Oliver Braun looked east to Poland and found an old friend with German Sebastian Machowski. Both Machowski and Braun won the Korac Cup with 8 time BBL champion Alba Berlin in 1995. The contact never ceased between the two and after a successful rookie coaching season in Poland with Kolobrzeg, it was time to fetch the 37 time German National player Machowski to Germany.

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EnBW Ludwigsburg Has Many Strong Pieces, But They Don´t Fit Together Yet

Who could forget the 2006-2007 EnBW Ludwigsburg Cinderella team that started the season on a seven game winning streak, winning the first 11 of 12 games and dominating the BBL the whole season until losing in the semi finals against The Brose Baskets Bamberg who would later win the BBL title. There was something so fresh with this team as team basketball had been taught by coach Silvano Poropat and his players had learned it as quickly as first graders do their a,b,c´s. However the last two seasons were a downgrade as the playoffs were missed.

In the 2007-2008 season, the team reached the BBL cup final losing to The Artland Dragons, but management somehow had their differences with coach Silvano Poropat as he had to pack his bags and go. Last season, management brought in ex Bamberg player Rick Stafford as the team missed the playoffs again and were searching for an identity all season long, but never found one. After December 14th, 2008, the team would not win more than one game at a time before losing again. It was a very disappointing and weird season as the biggest highlights were the three B wins against Berlin, Bonn and Bamberg, and then the strange 1-0 win as The Giessen 46ers were unable to get to Ludwigsburg on time as they were stuck in traffic. It also marked the last professional season of allrounder and likeable American Brandon Woudstra who decided to hang up his sneakers and return back to the States to start a new life with his family.

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A Basketball Moment From Athens Greece With Travon Bryant

Travon Bryant is a 26 year old 206 cm forward that is a skilled combination lefty forward that has a nice shooting touch from 10-15 feet, and is strong enough to maneuver in the paint in traffic and with his back to the basket. He comes from Long Beach, California and played at The Univeristy of Missouri from 2000-2004 with skilled players like Linas Kleiza, Ricky Paulding, Jason Conley and Jimmy Mckinney. In his senior year, he played 30 games averaging 10.6ppg, 6.6rpg, 1.7apg. In his five year career, he has taken a liking to the warm climate of Greece playing there for four years. In 2004-2005, he played for Iraklis Thessaloniki playing FIBA Europe League averaging 11.6ppg, 7.7rpg, 1.0apg, 0.9spg, FGP: 52.7%, 3Pts: 25%; and playing 26 games in the Greek league averaging 10.2ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.0apg, 2FGP: 48.0%, 3FGP: 31.0%. In 2005-2006, he played for AO Kolossos Rodo playing 24 games and averaging 14.5ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.3apg, 1.1spg, 1.1bpg, 2FGP: 52.0%, 3PT: 41.0%, FT: 66.0%. After the season ended in Greece, he hopped over to Italy and helped Benetton Treviso win the Italian league title averaging 16 games: 4.6ppg, 2.6rpg.

In 2006-2007, he played in the BBL for the Deutsche Bank Skyliners playing 28 games and averaging 14.7ppg, Reb-5(7.8rpg), 1.8apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 54.7%, 3FGP: 28.6%, FT: 61.7%. In 2007-2008, he jumped back to Greece and played for Costa Cafe Marousi playing FIBA EuroCup averaging 15.0ppg, 6.0rpg, 1.0apg, 1.5spg, 1.0bpg, 2FGP: 55.6%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 53.8%; and playing 22 games in the Greek league averaging 10.3ppg, 5.1rpg, 1.0apg, 2FGP: 62.0%, 3PT: 34.0%, FT: 52.0%. He also reached the Greek final in the playoffs playing 13 games and averaging 7.2ppg, 4.9rpg, 1.2apg, 2FGP: 60.0%, 3PT: 62.0%, FT: 62.0%. Last season, he played for AEK Athens playing 24 games and averaging 11.9ppg, Reb-5(7.1rpg), 1.1apg, FGP: 53.8%, 3PT: 19.0%, FT: 75.4%.

German Hoops caught up with Travon Bryant who is currently playing for Panionios in Greece.

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