ProB

Janek Schmidkunz (Giants Nordlingen) There Wasn´t One Point In The Season Where I Thought I Didn´t Wanted To Be Here

Janek Schmidkunz is a 26 year old 183cm point guard that is playing his first season for the Giants Nordlingen. Last season as a rookie he played for the MLP Acaaademics Heidelberg. He started his basketball career with Central Hoops Berlin (Regionalliga) in 2008. He then also got further experience at ALBA Berlin II (Regionalliga). He then went to the states and played at Amer.Internat. (NCAA2) from 2010-2014 playing a total of 86 NCAA games and as a senior played 26 games: 10.9ppg, 2.1rpg, FGP: 38.5%, 3PT: 38.9%, FT: 61.5%. He spoke to German Hoops after the bitter 78-77 loss against Ehingen ending his season.

Thanks Janek for talking to German Hoops. A tough 78-77 loss to Ehingen to end the season.Head coach Mario Matic told me 5 hours before tipoff that he was very confident that his team would win. How confident did the team feel that it would give a lot better effort then in game one?

I think we shared his view on the game. It kind of reflects the way we went into our games all season and especially during the playoffs. Especially looking at the things that we did not do well in game 1, we knew playing at home with the great support of our fans, we would play a much better game.

Does the bitter loss effect lessen a bit when you think how hard the team fought from 15 points down in the first half to almost winning the game at the end instead of being beat by 20 points to end the season?

I think at first you are somewhat shocked that the season ends and especially it being a one point game you don’t realize it until that buzzer sounds. However, we did gave it our all and that is what I told everyone stepping on the court for the second half. So there are no regrets and I think it makes me proud that we played the way we did.
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David Sturner (Dresden Titans)By The End Of The Season We Could Have Any Five Players On The Court And Play Our Game

David Sturner is a 206cm power forward/center playing his first season in Germany for pro B team Dresden Titans and currently is averaging 11,4ppg and 6,4rpg. He started his basketball career with Orgeon State playing 13 NCAA games and then moved to S.Oregon (NAIA) and as a senior played 31 games: 14.6ppg, 9.2rpg, 1.2apg, 1.5bpg, FGP: 56.2%, 3PT: 36.4%, FT: 56.2%. He started his professional basketball career recently with the West Adelaide Bearcats (Australia-Central ABL) before coming to Germany. He spoke to German Hoops after the bitter 98-96 loss to Frankfurt ending his season.

David thanks for talking to German Hoops A tough 98-96 loss to the Fraport Skyliners Juniors to end the season. Does the fact that the Dresden Titans came back from 19 points to almost win the game ease the hurt somewhat instead of having been blown out?

My pleasure as always, Miles. I wouldn’t say the comeback eases the hurt, but it was definitely a testament to our resiliency and shows how much fight we have as a team.

I came back from my training run in Chalon, France to check the score and was shocked to see that Frankfurt was up by 20 points in the second half. Did the Dresden Titans wake up on the wrong side of the bed?

It’s hard to say what went wrong in the first 20 minutes. We didn’t come out aggressive and let Frankfurt impose their will upon us.

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Brandon Lockhart (Giants Nordlingen) The Bond We Had On And Off The Court Is What I Will Remember Most About This Team

Brandon Lockhart is a 25 year old 185cm guard from St Louis, Missouri that is playing hiss econd professional season and first with German team Giants Nordlingen. AS a rookie he played for BK Levicki Patrioti (Slovakia-Extraliga) playing 34 games: Score-5(16.7ppg), 3.8rpg, Assists-5(4.3apg), Steals-1(3.0spg), FGP: 50.2%, 3PT: 28.5%, FT: 78.9%. He played at Drury (NCAA2) from 2009-2013 and as a senior played 35 games averaging 12.5ppg, 3.9rpg, 6.1apg, 2.9spg, FGP: 50.9%, 3PT: 48.3%, FT: 77.1%. He spoke to German Hoops after the tough 78-77 loss to Ehihgen ending his season.

Thanks Brandon for talking to German Hoops. A tough 78-77 loss to Ehingen to end the season. Head coach Mario Matic told me 5 hours before tip off that he was very confident that his team would win. How confident did the team feel that it would give a lot better effort then in game one?

We knew that it would be an extremely tough game because Ehingen is a really talented team. Our confidence was pretty high because we believed that we would play better in game two. Also knowing that we would be playing at home provided us with more confidence.

I could say that I would rather lose by 20-30 points, but at the end of the day, a loss is a loss. So however you lose that leads to your season ending is going to be a tough pill to swallow.

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Johannes Richter Muscles The Fraport Skyliners Juniors Past Ehingen 77-72 in Game One Of Pro B Final

One of the most difficult things for a professional team that carries double license players is when the two teams have conflicting schedules that hit each other at the same time. When that does happen, it is never an easy task for the head coach to juggle changing rosters. For Fraport Skyliners Juniors head coach Eric Detlev having to confront these problems has been something of getting used to, but since his arrival in 2012, he has had enough practice trying to master it. Recently the club had that problem and were chewed up and spit out in Weissenhorn 107-38 where one may have thought from the score that it was men playing among elderly men. However sometimes even in a brief time, you can learn from your mistakes and come back the next time under similar circumstances and play with a lot more spirt, heart and possibly hitting a few more shots and witness eye popping results. Last weekend, Beko BBL team Fraport Skyliners were on the road in Chalon, France looking to win their third club title, while the Pro B team Frankfurt Juniors were looking to move into the final with a win in Dresden. With the danger of getting an injury, it was no secret that Gordon Herbert would take every available player and did with Johannes Richter, Max Merz and Tomas Dimsa who weren´t available to the pro B team. Having these players in France left Eric Detlev a depleted team in Dresden that have one of the best crowds in the league. Guys like Niklas Kiel and Stefan Ilzhoefer who contributed to the Fiba Europe Cup success playing 4 games surely had Chalon in their thoughts at one time or another, but blocked that out in Dresden and stepped up with the team winning 96-94. What made the win even more spectacular was that despite having a 22 point lead in the second half and then letting Dresden come back and cut the lead down to two points with under a minute to go, they buckled down and won the game. Ilzhoefer, Kiel and co were the hero´s of Dresden while 24 hours later, the organization was celebrating the hero´s of Chalon as they took the cup back to Germany. In the Pro B final which is a two game series, the hero´s of Chalon were in the stands cheering on the hero´s of Dresden, but they had to play against the powerful Ehingen team that had swept the Giants Nordlingen in the semi-finals. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors knew that they had to lay the foundation in game one, if they were to have any chance in game two and were able to muster a 77-72 victory. “It was a tough game. We went on a run in the first quarter and they did in the second quarter. It came down to the last five minutes where some balls went our way and we came out with the five point win. Johannes Richter carried us and played great. They gave him 3-4 dribbles and all he had to do was flip the ball in the basket. They let him play like that and we gladly took it”, stressed Fraport Skyliners Juniors guard Travis Thompson. Even if Ehingen lost by five points, all they have to do in game two to win the 2016 Pro B title is win by more than five points and probably will not have to face Richter who will be on the bench in Frankfurt against Alba Berlin in game one of the Beko BBL playoffs. “It was a great game and Frankfurt was very physical. We knew that they have a very good big man with Richter and good guard play. We tried to limit the touches of Richter, but he played smart and strong”, added Ehingen guard Devon Moore.

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Daniel Berger (Ehingen)Frankfurt Can Be Dangerous With Any Lineup

Daniel Berger is a 25 year old 203cm forward from Medford, Oregon playing his rookie season with Team Ehingen Urspring (Germany-ProB). He started his basketball career with Chemeketa community college an dthen moved to Utah State(NCAA) where he played 59 NCAA games from 2011-2014. As a senior he played with BYU-Hawaii (NCAA2) playing 20 games: 14.2ppg, 4.3rpg, 2.5apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 52.9%, 3PT: 48.4%, FT: 79.2%. He spoke to German Hoops before the Pro B final against the Fraport Skyliners Juniors.

Daniel congrats on reaching the Pro B final sweeping the Giants Nordlingen. After winning the first game 69-60, did you expect such a nerve wracking game 2?

Thanks Miles. I expected the game to be a battle. It was do or die for them so I knew it would be a tough 40 minutes.

Ehingen had the comfortable 45-31 lead at halftime. What was key for getting the comfortable advantage at halftime?

Our offense was flowing so well in the first half. We played together and were able to get some easy baskets. Also getting stops usually leads to a more productive offense.

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Andrew Jones (Dresden Titans) Frankfurt Didn´t Ruin My Birthday Because I Am Able To Play The Game I Love

Andrew Jones is a 32 year old 191cm shooting guard that has been a professional basketball player since 2007 and has returned back to the Dresden Titans this season. He played at Miles(NCAA2) and has played in Germany for most of his professional career with four seasons with the Dresden Titans and three seasons with the BG Aschersleben Tigers (Germany-Regionalliga). He also gained experience playing with teams like Marietta Storm (SEBL), BC Celtics (SEBL), C.B. Aridane (Spain-EBA) and Universidad Tecnologica Equinoc. Quito (Ecuador-National League). Last season he played for BG Aschersleben Tigers (Germany-Regionalliga) averaging 19,9ppg, 6,5rpg and 3,9apg. He spoke to German Hoops after the tough 98-96 loss to the Fraport Skyliners Juniors ending the Dresden Titans season.

Andrew thanks for talking to German Hoops. A tough 98-96 loss to the Fraport Skyliners Juniors to end the season. Does the fact that the Dresden Titans came back from 19 points to almost win the game ease the hurt somewhat instead of having been blown out?

Yes it was a tough loss. However, those young guys came to play and you have to give them credit. It hurts to lose an important game like that no matter score.

I had a good feeling with our team the week prior. So, we definitely didn’t underestimate their ability to win.

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Jordan Talbert (Giants Nordlingen) I Think My Physical Presence On The Court Improved

Jordan Talbert is a 25 year old 198cm forward from Little Rock, Arkansas that is playing his second professional season with the Giants Nordlingen. He came to Germany as a rookie last season 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%. He spoke to German Hoops after the season ending 78-77 loss to Ehingen.

Thanks Jordan for talking to German Hoops. A tough 78-77 loss to Ehingen to end the season. Head coach Mario Matic told me 5 hours before tip off that he was very confident that his team would win. How confident did the team feel that it would give a lot better effort then in game one?

We were definitely confident that we would come out and play better than we did in game 1. Unfortunately they came out just as motivated to elevate their game also.

Any type of loss hurts. I think the close ones cut a little deeper but it’s better than losing by 20.

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Andrew Jones (Dresden Titans) We Have To Play Like It´s The Last Game Of The Season In Game Two Against Frankfurt

Andrew Jones is a 32 year old 191cm shooting guard that has been a professional basketball player since 2007 and has returned back to the Dresden Titans this season. He played at Miles(NCAA2) and has played in Germany for most of his professional career with four seasons with the Dresden Titans and three seasons with the BG Aschersleben Tigers (Germany-Regionalliga). He also gained experience playing with teams like Marietta Storm (SEBL), BC Celtics (SEBL), C.B. Aridane (Spain-EBA) and Universidad Tecnologica Equinoc. Quito (Ecuador-National League). Last season he played for BG Aschersleben Tigers (Germany-Regionalliga) averaging 19,9ppg, 6,5rpg and 3,9apg. He spoke to German Hoops after the tough 94-81 loss against the Fraport Skyliners in game one

Andrew thanks for talking to eurobasket.com. A tough 94-81 loss to the Fraport Skyliners Juniors. How tough was the long bus ride home?

The ride was ok. We are very positive about the upcoming games. We started the playoffs against Rostock just like this. So we understand what needs to be done.

What did you reflect most about the loss on the ´long bus ride home?

I thought we didn´t play at our full potential. The loss was against a good team who plays well inside and out.

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Brandon Lockhart (Giants Nordlingen) We Have To Excel On The Defensive End So We Can Get Out And Run In Transition In Game Two

Brandon thanks for talking to German Hoops. A tough loss to Ehingen in game one 69-60. With the short bus trip back home to Nordlingen, what play or aspect of the game had you most preoccupied?

During the trip home, I would say I was focused on what we can do better next game since not much I can do about a game already completed. We had a bunch of careless mistakes that led to them getting easier baskets than us in a really good defensive game.

When you look back at the final score and 40 minutes, was this a game where Nordlingen could have done more with the good defensive performance that the club practiced for 40 minutes?

There were many opportunities for us to capitalize on good defense but we just failed to do so. But we know that and we can go into game 2 knowing that.

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Niklas Kiel In Beast Mode Powers The Fraport Skyliners Juniors Star Ensemble Past The Dresden Titans 94-81 For 1-0 Game Lead

Almost three months ago, the Fraport Skyliners Juniors and Dresden Titans met in a clash in Frankfurt that the home team barely won 90-86. If someone had told Eric Detlev that these two teams would meet again in the semi-finals of the playoffs, he probably would have been a bit reserved and remained conservative and came up with a witty remark, but probably wouldn´t have thought that it could be possible. Dresden had just dismissed their coach and brought in fire man Steven Clauss who had had the same duty a season ago not only saving the Hebeisen White Wings Hanau from the Regionaliga, but bringing them into the playoffs. So with that history a known fact, having a Clauss on board in Dresden was the best thing that ever could have happened. Since that nail bitter in Frankfurt, the Dresden Titans have become the little darlings of the pro B together with the Giants Nordlingen as it collected nine wins out of their last 10 including two do or die wins against Rostock, the team Clauss bowed out to last season with Hanau in a bitter three game series and then just dismantled top Pro B south team BG Karlsruhe as if it was second nature. Dresden hasn´t just done it with top point guard Randall Holt and work horse David Sturner under the glass, but with a 12 man rotation where every German has their defined role and have gotten extreme support from Phillip Lieser, Walter Simon and Daniel Krause. Clauss has been able to install team togetherness for 40 minutes no matter what and kept their offense consistent as it has never scored below 80 points since his arrival at the start of 2016. Dresden and Clauss now were seeking revenge against the Fraport Skyliners Juniors who had won both battles in the regular season by a combined score of only eight points. Clauss was back in his old living room where he used to work together with Murat Didin back in the day and now was in upset mode again as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were next on the menu, but like in February got a rude welcome home as his team battled for 40 minutes, but had to duel without key players David Sturner and Walter Simon while Frankfurt had their star ensemble on board and Niklas Kiel in beast mode. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors were never really threatened as they played a strong game for 40 minutes and got some extra motivation watching the A team dismantle Oldenburg the night before. “It´s always nice to watch the BBL team and you can learn by watching so when we come out we try to do what they did. As a rookie I try to suck up as much as possible. We had a good first quarter, but got too comfortable in the second quarter. We came out in the second half and executed better and moved the ball better. Richter and Kiel had a strong second half and Tim Oldenburg also stepped up. It is always nice when you have that kind of support from the big men”, stressed Alaska native and Fraport Skyliner Junior Travis Thompson. The Dresden Titans fought well for 40 minutes, but it was clear that there was an obvious class difference with the personnel on the court. “The Fraport Skyliners Juniors clearly deserved to win this game. There is always that borderline between how many mistakes you can make. Frankfurt defended well and played smart offense and we didn´t have that. We had some chances, but we didn´t finish well on transition”, stressed Dresden Titans head coach Steven Clauss.

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