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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Jason Boone (TBV Start Lublin) I’ve Trusted John Patrick´s Decisions For The Teams Success My Whole Career

Jason Boone is a 31 year old 198cm power forward/center from Sugar Loaf, New York that is playing his tenth professional season and first with TBV Start Lublin (Poland-PLK). He started the season with the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg where he had been with since 2015 and this season averaged 1,3ppg and 1,0rpg in the EasyCredit BBL and 2,0ppg and 2,0rpg in the Champions League. He played three seasons with the s. Oliver Baskets Wurzburg and three seasons for BG Goettingen. He played at New York University(NCAA 3) from 2003-2007. In his senior year, he played 28 games averaging 14.1ppg, 9.6rpg, 2.4bpg, 2.9apg, FG: 63.0%, FT: 64.3%. In 2007-2008, he turned professional and played played at Bernau(Regionalliga) before making the jump up three leagues to MEG Goettingen. In 2008-2009, he averaged 4.4ppg, 4.0rpg, FG: 53.7. In 2009-2010, he won the Eurochallenge for BG Goettingen playing EuroChallenge: 16 games: 10.7ppg, 6.8rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 59.6%, FT: 53.8%; German League: 35 games: 9.1ppg, 6.1rpg, FGP: 60.3%, FT: 55.9%. He also played a season with Torku Konyaspor (Turkey-TBL): 14 games: 6.1ppg, 4.2rpg, 2FGP: 60.7%, FT: 46.2%, in Mar.’15 moved to SO Maritime Boulogne (France-ProA) playing 12 games: 9.7ppg, 6.1rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 63.6%, FT: 51.4%. He spoke to German Hoops for the 75th time this time talking about his departure from the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg leaving head coach John Patrick with whom he played for in Goettingen, Wurzburg and Ludwigsburg and the future.

Jason thanks for talking to German Hoops. Did you make any new years resolutions coming into 2017 or are you not the type of guy that does that?

I’m a big believer that if you want to make a change you shouldn’t wait until January 1st to make it. I spend a lot of my free time in the fitness center and it was full the first two weeks of January, but around the middle of the month it was back down to the regulars. That sums up my relationship to the New Years Resolution.

I just finished reading your blog entry “My real life can wait” and realized that you went through a lot in only half a season. Were the last 6-7 months the most difficult in your basketball career?

Everything seems difficult as you go through it but in hindsight is never as bad as it seems in the moment. This season definitely wasn’t the easiest but at the end of the day I was able to be a part of a successful team and a great group of guys.

Your basketball life in Ludwigsburg came to an end recently. Was this a good example that like in so many other facets of life, business is always king while everything else is far behind?

Didn’t you watch the BBL Dunk Contest this year? Kelvin Martin is King. Point Blank. Period.

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Orlando Parker (PS Karlsruhe) Real Defense Doesn´t Show Up On The Stat Sheet

Orlando Parker is a 25 year old 203cm forward from Orlando, Florida playing his third professional season and second in Germany and first with PS Karlsruhe. He started his basketball career with Wagner (NCAA) in 2010 playing a total of 118 NCAA games. As a senior he played 26 games averaging 6.7ppg, 6.7rpg, FGP: 44.7%, FT: 62.0%. In 2014 he turned professional with UL Eagles Limerick (Ireland-Premier League) playing 17 games averaging 19.9ppg, 8.6rpg, 1.1spg, 1.2bpg, FGP: 45.5%, 3PT: 42.4%, FT: 78.5%. Last season he played with Baskets Vilsbiburg (Germany-Regionalliga) playing 26 games: 22.6ppg, 9.4rpg, 1.5apg, 1.3spg, 1.4bpg, FGP: 55.6%, 3PT: 33.8%, FT: 79.3%. He spoke to German Hoops after the huge double OT win against Rostock in the playoffs.
Orlando thanks for talking to German Hoops. 2017 is now in it´s third month. Did you make any news year resolutions or are you more the guy that doesn´t believe in that?

I sometimes just go with the flow and see where life takes me but I always set goals to accomplish.

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?

I don’t consider anyone over 18 kids, and I definitely wouldn’t say they play like kids either. Really talented group. Not taking anything away from them but we were working on tactics for the Playoffs.

It was a tale of two seasons for PS Karlsruhe. After losing the first game to Frankfurt, you were unstoppable with a 10 game winning streak, but then up and down with a 6-6 record. What happened with this team from December until now?

We let some games slip away and lost our identity as a defensive team.

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Rilwan Bakare (Fraport Skyliners Juniors) We Need To Be Disciplined And Focused In Our Roles In Game 2 Against Lok Bernau

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 about his season with the Fraport Skyliners Juniors.

Rilwan, thanks for talking to German Hoops! You played at many schools in the states and in many places in the world, but please explain what kind of feeling it was setting foot in the beautiful huge Mercedes and what kind of atmosphere it was?

It was a great feeling I never played in gym like that a lot of lights and the atmosphere was amazing and a different feeling.

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors arrived in Berlin earlier in the day. What was your impression of the city in the few hours that you were there?

Very beautiful I had never been to Berlin so the city was really nice and the skyline buildings were beautiful. I told myself I would love to live here it’s just like America.

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors suffered a tough 75-64 loss in game one against Lok Bernau. Lok Bernau defended very well, but how key were the 22 team turnovers for losing this game?

We started off strong and the second half we tried to force a couple of passes that hurt us. We should of stayed calm and played like we did in the first half. We have to get better so those turnovers won’t happen again.

One never wants to make excuses, but how would the result of the game looked like if Mahir Agva, Niklas Kiel and Stefan Ilzhoefer had been on board who could of drastically changed the dimension of the game?

I believe we would have been stronger because those are great players that add strength to our team, but it wouldn’t have been a difference we still have to play hard and win has a Team.

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Adrien Coleman (Giants Nordlingen) I Can Take A Beating And Make Sure My Teammates Get The Easy Shots

Adrien Coleman is a 25 year old 198cm forward from Stone Mountain, Georgia playing his third professional season and first with the Giants TSV 1861 Noerdlingen (Germany-ProB). He started his basketball career in 2009 with Nebraska (NCAA) playing only six NCAA games. He then played at Beth.-Cookman (NCAA) and as a senior played 34 games averaging 17.8ppg, 7.4rpg, 2.9apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 56.7%, 3PT: 22.9%, FT: 50.4%. He started his professional career in 2014 with UU-Korihait Uusikaupunki (Finland-1st Division) playing 37 games averaging 15.3ppg, 4.6rpg, 2.7apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 58.8%, 3PT: 17.4%, FT: 47.3%. Last season he played with Bolmar La Paz (Bolivia-Libobasquet) and South Adelaide Panthers (Australia-Premier League) playing 15 games averaging 21.9ppg, 9.4rpg, 4.5apg, 2.2spg, FGP: 47.7%, 3PT: 16.3%, FT 54%. He spoke to German Hoops about his basketball career.

Adrien thanks for talking to German Hoops! You’re playing your first season in Germany. You joined Nordlingen and have been a spark plug. Were you abit surprised how late you signed considering you had had good seasons in Finland and Australia?

It was surprising I was home for a bit after Australia and boom right back into another season and playing well over the world I feel like I’ve been prepared for this and my parents helped me always to stay focused.

Your playing an excellent season, but the Giants Nordlingen have struggled all season long. How much of a factor was the players coming and going and injuries not letting the team chemistry develop?

Thank You! I’m so blessed Well we had a lot of ups and downs and coach has brought us through a lot and helping keeping us focused. Chemistry was tough at first but we are coming along together because we all want to win.

The Giants Nordlingen are playing the playdowns in hopes of staying in the league. The club has ended the season playing their best basketball. How confident are you that you will stay in the league?

I feel that we will keep the team in the league. We are coming together and we are just healing and coming together in the season playing for each other the keys to staying in the league is staying with each other and believing in each other and knowing each other strengths in what we can do.

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