Author: Manuel Schust

We Got Ourselves A Series! Alba Evens The Series With A Comeback Win

Before the game started the most interesting question probably was how Bamberg could compensate the loss of starting point guard John Goldsberry.  In game one the 29-year old american had a very unfortunate collision with Berlin’s Bryce Taylor and suffered a pulled ligament in his right ankle. Goldsberry may not have the flashiest numbers (4.3 points, 4.0 assists in 23 minutes per game), but he is probably the most important player in coach Fleming’s system.

After the first five minutes of game 2 no one really seemed to be missing Goldsberry as Bamberg started off brilliantly and took a commanding 2:18 lead. In front of 12.000 spectators in Berlin’s O2 World it looked like a really bad blow-out was in the making. Alba Berlin showed more than just once this post season that now and then the team falls apart and takes something like a 4-5 minute time-out while they are not getting anything done defensively and offensively. One may call it fortunate that this time they started the game with a bad run, because there was a lot of time left to get back into the game. And Alba is probably the only team in the Beko BBL to be able to overcome such a huge deficit against Bamberg.

Late in the first quarter Alba mainly tried to get close to the basket and get some easy points. This resulted in fouls and free throws for Katzurin’s team. But still Bamberg finished the first quarter with a huge 14:28 lead.

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Watch the Beko BBL Finals Live On YouTube!

Due to the Livestream cooperation between broadcasting station Sport1 and YouTube the Beko BBL Finals can be watched on the Sport1 YouTube Channel:
Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/user/sport1

Dates:

Game 3: Saturday, June 11th, 8:00 pm CEST live
Brose Baskets Bamberg – ALBA Berlin

Game 4: Tuesday, June 14th, 08:00 pm CEST live
ALBA Berlin – Brose Baskets Bamberg

If necessary Game 5: Saturday, June 18th, 08:45 pm CEST live
Brose Baskets Bamberg – ALBA Berlin

Bamberg Wins Beko BBL Finals Opener Over Berlin

For almost three quarters game 1 of this year’s Beko BBL final was very competitive and close. Both teams showed that they are the best in the country this season and deserve to be in the finals.

But late in the third quarter Bamberg was able to step up defensively and turn a 52:53 into a 74:60.

It was their 25th consecutive home game victory in the BBL this season.

Bamberg was led by Kyle Hines (15 p/6 r/ 4 bl.), Casey Jacobsen (15) and Brian Roberts (14).

Derrick Allen was Alba’s best scorer with 13 points, but his +/- stats looked poor with -17! Bryce Taylor had a double-double scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.Offensively Berlin certainly missed some production by Julius Jenkins and Immanuel McElroy. Combined they made just 3 points (compared to the usual 24 point average)and shot 1/6 from the field.

While McElroy looks tired and is probably injury plagued, Jenkins just needs to step up his game.

Even though Bamberg won game one the game ended rather unfortunately for the franconian team. In the last few seconds of the game John Goldsberry went to the ground and looked injured. It is still not clear if he is healthy enough to play the next games.

Brose Baskets Bamberg – Alba Berlin 90-76

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C’est incroyable, Monsieur Shuler!

Yes, this one is really incredible! And since there is no French Hoops page that could share it and the German Hoops crew really likes ex-TBB Trier player and VCU alumni Jamal Shuler we decided to show you the moment when Shuler transfers from being the biggest loser to the guy who wins the game with an incredible buzzer beater.

Last season Shuler had an incredible game against Paderborn Baskets when he scored a career-high 39 points. But the individual stats meant nothing to him as Trier not only lost the game but it was him who turned the ball over on Trier’s last possession and gave Paderborn the chance to win in overtime.

This season Shuler plays for french ProA club Vichy and again he became the protagonist in an exciting, close game. Against Limoges he was at the free throw line for two shots and a chance to put Vichy up by three with six seconds left. But the 25-year-old american, who had won the 2009 BBL slam-dunk contest, missed both free throws and somehow Limoges managed to score an easy lay-up to take the lead with just 1.4 seconds left. Shuler, who looked like the guy who lost the game for his team at that moment, received the inbound pass and got the chance to make amends for the missed free throws. Just watch what happened after he launched a shot from beyond half-court:

A Nice Glass Shower In A Regional Cup Game

Do they really say ‘Go Hard Or Go Home’?!? BTB Royals Oldenburg’s Stefan Groothoff must have misunderstood something in that saying. When he went hard to the basket he made everyone go home…

The quarterfinal game of the NBV-Cup (Lower-Saxion Basketball Cup) was just in the middle of the first quarter as a Darryl Dawkins moment happened. After the incident the game had to be postponed because the basket was obviously broken. According to the press release of his club Groothoff suffered some cuts and had to got to the hospital right after the game. German Hoops wishes him all the best for his recovery and wants to thank him for a dunk to remember:

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4.6 Seconds to Immortality

I have followed the german basketball scene for about two decades now. There have been so many moments worth to remember, so many close finishes in games, so many incredible shots and plays that will be in my mind forever. But if I had to choose one it would definitely be the special one that comes up first to me. You need some keywords? OK, here they are: Mithat Demirel, German Cup Final 2003, Cologne vs. Berlin.

If you still have no clue what I’m talking about then it’s time for a BBL history lesson.

 

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Albakiller Reloaded: Bamberg dominates Alba Berlin

Ever since both teams met in the 2003 BBL Finals Bamberg vs Berlin is a BBL classic. In 2004 Frankfurt won the BBL championship but it was Bauermann’s Bamberg that ended Berlin’s championship reign from 1997 – 2003. The fans from the capital city share a big rivalry with the basketball freaks from Franconia and no other win could be sweeter than one against the biggest opponent.

If you ask experts about the teams that could face each other in the finals this year I guess most people will bet their money on Bamberg and Berlin. While Bamberg is still undefeated in the domestic league, Berlin has re-built its roster and still has to work on some aspects. Pavicevic’s team looked pretty competitive in games against Bonn, Frankfurt and Oldenburg. But the game in Bamberg should finally prove if the new Berlin team is on par with the reigning champion Bamberg. But after a close first quarter (18:17) Alba Berlin was simply destroyed by a almost perfect playing Bamberg squad. At the end of the game one had to look twice at the scoreboard. 103:52!

A loss by 51 points???

This was Alba Berlin’s biggest loss in 21 years of team history!

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