Can three be a charm this season for head coach John Patrick and the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg? It really doesn´t matter where MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg head coach John Patrick has coached in the last nine years in Germany, whatever team he was in charge of, he made better a feat which isn´t necessarily self-evident. With BG Goettingen, he made a second division team into a genuine Beko BBL team that made the playoffs on a regular basis and crowned his existence there with the 2010 Eurchallenge win. In all his time there, he had lesser known players and NCAA players that he groomed and one into a Euroleague player with Taylor Rochestie. He also discovered current Fraport Skyliner John Little and brought him to Goettingen as a rookie and today is the only player to have won two German international club titles. Next he moved to Bavaria and coached the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg which was a huge project at the time made it into another playoff team that defeated top team Alba Berlin in the 2011 playoffs and gave him in a short time legendary status. His possibly biggest challenge was saving the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in the 2012-2013 season keeping them in the Beko BBL coming in as a fireman and then in the last two years forming playoff teams that annoyed FC Bayern Munich and the Brose Baskets Bamberg. With Ludwigsburg, the experienced coach has had the best talent ever far eclipsing what he had to work with in Goettingen and Wurzburg the last two seasons as having an NBA player on the floor at all times like with Coby Karl, DJ Kennedy and Mustafa Shakur was about as typical in any game as seeing Jon Brockman hauling down an offensive rebound with his undeniable physicality. However in the last two seasons, the club just didn´t have that extra piece to the puzzle to get over the hump against FC Bayern Munich losing 3-1 in the quarterfinals two years ago and last year being swept by the Brose Baskets Bamberg, but playing them tough losing by eight points twice and once with five points. Now Patrick and co have that rematch again with FC Bayern Munich that at times are like night and day as they can stink up the arena and lose to a poor team like the Mitteldeutscher BC and on the next game manhandle the Brose Baskets Bamberg. Ludwigsburg played FC Bayern Munich very tough two seasons ago and Patrick surely can still remember that series where they had to replay a game. Can the MHP Riesen seek revenge and make the upset this season with the personal and character on the team?
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.
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 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.
Jordan Taylor (Alba Berlin) Nobody Expects Us To Win Except Us So I Feel Like We Don´t Have Pressure Going Into The Frankfurt Series
Jordan Taylor is a 26 year old 187cm point guard from Bloomington, Minnesota playing his forth professional season and first with Alba Berlin. He started his basketball career at Wisconsin(NCAA) in 2008 where he played until 2012 reaching two NCAA Sweet 16´s and played a total of 136 NCAA games. As a senior he played 36 games averaging 14.8ppg, 3.8rpg, 4.1apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 42.6%, 3PT: 36.9%, FT: 78.5%. He started his professional career in 2012 with Virtus Roma (Italy-SerieA) where he played until 2014. Last season he played with Hapoel Holon (Israel-Winner League) playing 37 games: 14.4ppg, 2.9rpg, 4.8apg, Steals-4(1.9spg), FGP: 42.6%, 3PT: 37.0%, FT: 73.9%. He won the 2016 Beko BBL cup title with Alba Berlin earlier this season and spoke with German Hoops before game one against the Fraport Skyliners in Frankfurt.
Thanks Jordan for taking some time to talk to German Hoops. When you look out your hotel room does the skyline of Frankfurt remind you a bit of Bloomington, Minnesota?
Yes a little bit.
If someone had told you before the season started that two Jordan´s you and Jordan Theodore would already have a title combined before the start of the playoffs what would you have thought?
I wouldn´t have thought to much about it so early in the season. But then again he and I have very big expectations to always want to win. I have known Jordan since he was 13, so us having won two titles already hasn´t been so much a surprise.
The Miles Basketball Minute: 2016 Beko BBL Quarterfinal Playoff Preview Fraport Skyliners-Alba Berlin 3-0
It isn´t always easy to shift gears going from one extreme to the other, but some teams have that ability to go from being at the top to having to refocus and get mentally ready for the next task at hand. A team like the Brose Baskets Bamberg for a time a few years ago were able to win cup and league titles in the same season with ease the way Fraport Skyliner MIke Morrison can erupt in the paint area with dunks like a lost Lion from the Tampa, Florida Zoo does when his evening meal is a few minutes late. From a span from 2009-2012 the Brose Baskets Bamberg were able to accomplish this feat with bravery winning the double league and cup and always being able to hold that unbelievable hungriness that you only see with top teams. The Fraport Skyliners don´t have that club history like Bamberg has as it took them 12 years to win that next title after their last one in 2004, whereas Bamberg has won 10 titles in that span which could make even the most calm Freak city fan a bit full. However with the Fraport Skyliners just having won the 2016 Fiba Europe Cup title in Chalon, France over Italian team Varese, they didn´t have a few months to recover and then have to play the playoffs, but actually had only 6 days to get off their momentary peak and be ready to be plucking mode as next on the menu are the Albatross bird or otherwise known as top team Alba Berlin. Of course when a team like the Fraport Skyliners have fought and played a superb season in the Fiba cup Europe Cup where they went 18-1, it is only normal that they celebrate with style. Celebrating the high class way started with the normal post game clowning around with the trophy and medals and Frankfurt might have even started a new trend with posing the selfie´s not only with the hardware, but also being caught in the netting of the rim the way a flounder is in a fiserman´s net off the coast of Cape Cod. The partying went on in the the night until morning where it continued with the train ride home where the last thing that was on anybody´s mind at that juncture was how to control Jordan Taylor the following weekend. Upon arrival in Frankfurt, the team had a gathering at a local TV station in the evening where they could tell for the 100th time what it felt like to have won an international title. The next day followed further team appointments and an official party at night with the fans where they all met and marched to city hall together. After two days of doing the title rounds, Fraport Skyliners head coach Gordon Herbert had the first scheduled practice on tap for Wednesday giving the team three days to prepare for the very hungry Alba Berlin team that had scheduled a short training camp during the time where Frankfurt was telling stories how they wrote history while a Jordan Taylor might have been studying film on how to control a Jordan Theodore when he makes his almost unstoppable speeding to the rim. The question is now can the Fraport Skyliners be able to get back to the basketball office again on the ground instead of being in basketball heaven sipping champagne from the Fiba Europe Cup trophy? If Gordon Herbert needed advice, he probably could have dialed up Chris Fleming in Denver or Jordan Theodore who seems to know every living basketball player or at least someone who knows a guy that could give him the number of ex Bamberg guard Casey Jacobsen in Phoenix. At least these two Bamberg legends should be able to give the guiding words for them How to refocus successfully again.
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.
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.
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 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?
I had a good feeling with our team the week prior. So, we definitely didn’t underestimate their ability to win.
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.
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?
Any type of loss hurts. I think the close ones cut a little deeper but it’s better than losing by 20.
Jordan Theodore Felt Take Over Time And Leads The Fraport Skyliners To 2016 Fiba Europe Cup Title Over Varese 66-62
After the hard fought and down and dirty Fraport Skyliners 59-56 victory against Russian team Enisey heaving them into the Fiba Europe Cup final where the only thing missing had been a Delroy James vs Danilo Barthel stare down in the paint area, Jordan Theodore was stretching after the duel when suddenly a media representative cleared up the Englewood, New Jersey native that he had seen him play when the good spirited point guard had played with Antalya Buyuksehir Belediye (Turkey-TBL). After some small chit chat, both had smiles on their faces for the short break down of memory lane. It had been another normal day at the office for Theodore even if it took him and the club some deep soul searching in the fourth quarter to grind their way into the final. In his first three seasons as a professional in Europe, Theodore had very solid stats, but in the end that didn´t mean anything as he always played on losing teams and went home early to Englewood, New Jersey to catch the NBA playoffs. However this season with the Fraport Skyliners everything has changed as his scoring, assist and steal rate is back up to his rookie season, but the massive difference this season is that he has become a real leader for a winning team and MVP candidate in the German Beko BBL. And a little side note, he has dominated not only the country league and been consistent, but also belonged to the top guards in the FIba Europe Cup competition, the first time in his career that he has played in an international club tournament. He also finally has broken out of his outside shooting slump as he is near 40% while he shot only 25% in his first three seasons. Plus all season long he has matched up against the top point guards in both competitions and looked real good. In the FIba Europe Cup, he battled against guys like Thaddus Mcfadden, Earl Calloway, Mark Lyons and Tony Taylor and stepped off the court as the winner. In his quest to win his first professional title in Chalon, France in the Fiba Europe Cup, the pride and joy of Englewood, New Jersey had to face one last dirty confrontation not with one, but against two strong ex NBA point guards Maalik Wayns and Chris Wright who he also knew well from the NCAA with Villanova and Georgetown as he had played against them with Seton Hall. Theodore put on that last mean Fiba Europe Cup face of the season and went to battle for the title with the Fraport Skyliners and really had to do some serious soul searching and just break out of his shell in crunch-time as he had been taken out of the game well for three quarters, but when it counted most, he stepped up once again winning the battle against the guards of the opponent and led his team to the title. “We didn´t play our brand of basketball in the first three quarters. They played harder and wanted it more. When we were down by nine points after three, my teammates told me not to worry that I would pick up my game. We have played team basketball all season long and showed it at the end. Morrison and Robertson picked it up and we got tougher as a team. We just didn´t want to lose and I knew that we would come back. This is my first title in Europe. It feels so amazing. It is great when hard work pays off. I am so excited. It´s great for the city of Frankfurt and I know Englewood is tearing it up now”, stressed Englewood, New Jersey native Jordan Theodore. Italian team Varese played spectacular for 30 minutes and pretty much gave the Fraport Skyliners a taste of their own medicine playing their brand of defense and beating them with their kind of ball movement, but just couldn´t hold down the fort for 40 minutes as Frankfurt made that last amazing run. “I am so disappointed. We were so close and too lose it like that at the end was very tough. They are a good team and played great. Congrats to Frankfurt”; added ex Philadelphia 76er Maalik Wayns.
The Fraport Skyliners Have Belief And Canadian Know How To Win Third Club Title Against Varese In Fiba Europe Cup Final
Canadian national player Aaron Doornekamp and Mr Canada Phillip Scrub are very special players something Fraport Skyliners head coach Gordon Herbert felt very early. These two amazing humble players could form their own special group and if they were real cheeky and off their rockers could name it “We produce titles the way cows do milk so don´t mess with us”, but since they are true professionals and born team players, they would not only never even dare to be so rude towards their teammates or even be capable to dream up such a bizarre name for a group. However one thing doesn´t lie, these two complete players that on the court think like brothers know how to win titles as between them won 8 CIS championships with Charleton as Scrubb made his nickname Mr Canada and for many the greatest college player ever to play in Canada won 5 while the elder statesman Doornekamp won three. When looking at their teammates on the team, there are very few that have won anything besides John Little who won the 2010 Eurochallenge with BG Goettingen as most players like the German big 3 of Johannes Voigtmann, Danilo Barthel and Konstantin Klein are still searching for their first professional team title, while Jordan Theodore is so hungry for that first taste of champagne that he might be liable to do anything to get that chip even part with his favorite sneakers while guys like Florida native Mike Morrison is still without a title in his fourth full season and Quantez Robertson the identity figure and Mr franchise who is in his seventh season with the Fraport Skyliners and has run up down the floor like no other player in the Beko BBL isn´t getting any younger could put a stamp on getting his number next to Skyliner legend Pascal Roller in the Fraport arena when his playing days are over with a win. Not to forget head coach Gordon Herbert who last was close to winning a title with Frankfurt in 2010 when he lost a bitter game 5 against the Brose Baskets Bamberg. The hunger and thirst for finally getting a title back to Frankfurt which last happened in 2004 as the curse of the bambino was still alive with the Boston Red Sox from 1918 to 2004 before finally winning another World Series in October as they had been without a title for 86 years. 12 years since having won their last championship may be nothing compared to what Boston Red Sox fans went through, but if you look in the hardcore fans eyes and players, you can sense one phrase keeping their thoughts preoccupied day in and day out and that is “It´s time for club title 3”!
