Sean Sonderleiter is a 29 year old 206cm center who is playing his first season in Europe for Ratiopharm Ulm. He has a quick first step. He is 
the kind of a penetrator who attacks with the dribble and is capable of thunderous dunks. He played at Iowa from 2000-2004. He played in Australia in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, he played for Perry Lakes Hawks (Australia-SBL): 20 games: 23.9ppg, 12.5rpg, 2.8apg, 1.0spg, 1.5bpg, FGP: 56.0%, 3FGP: 20.0%, FT: 68.6%. In 2008-2009, he played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (D-League), left in Jan.’09, but returned shortly after leaving: 33 games: 4.0ppg, 3.1rpg, 2FGP: 41.5%, FT: 65.0%. Last season, he played his second season for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (D-League): 45 games: 11.0ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.3apg, FGP: 49.0%, FT: 72.3%. Recently he played Summer League in Las Vegas (New Orleans Hornets). He took some time to talk to German Hoops about basketball.
A Conversation With Aaron Smith (Agent Of AJ Moye)
Aaron Smith is highly regarded and recognized in professional athletics. He has extensive experience dealing with professional athletes and 
their careers. In addition, Aaron has a great understanding of the expectations of a NBA athlete from both the personal and business perspective. His duties involve compiling all recruiting materials, researching player contracts, creating and maintaining client profiles and marketing materials, correspondence with coaches and team personnel, client services, marketing and media opportunities for clients, business development and creating and analyzing information for distribution to key NBA personnel , international clubs and strategic partners. Aaron is also responsible for many of our clients off the court business ventures and personal affairs. Aarons career began in professional sports when he interned with Pacers Sports and Entertainment. A native of Indianapolis, Aaron attended Indiana University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Marketing and Management. Upon graduating from Indiana University, Aaron was the Business/Personal Manager for a 2002 NBA Lottery Pick. In this capacity, Aaron assisted with Draft preparations and workouts, the transition to a new NBA city, appearances, marketing, basketball camps and all other personal affairs. Aaron first joined the Exclusive Sports Group while completing his Masters degree in Athletic Administration and Sports Management. He is the agent for Ajene Moye of the Deutsche Bank Skyliners and spoke to German Hoops about the condition of the Skyliner.
Bio of Aaron Smith courtesy of Exclusive Sports Group
How did you hear about the stroke of your client AJ Moye?
It was a scary moment for me. I checked the box score of his game Tuesday against Maccabi Haifa and didn´t see him on the stat sheet and was surprised. I then got a call from someone who told me what had happened. I was shocked and had a sickening feeling. Aj is a good friend of mine.
VfB Gießen Working On The Highlight Tape
ProB club VfB Gießen is just the number 2 basketball team in town and clearly in the shadow of BBL founding member Gießen 46ers. But just
within two weeks the small club from Mittelhessen has set two highlight videos that were even noticed far beyond the borders of Hesse and Germany. No one less than LeBron James recommended one of the videos via twitter with the words ‘try this link’. Meanwhile almost 300.000 people have tried this link and saw import player Marcus Johnson getting his go-go-gadget-jumpsoles posterizing DeUndraeSpraggins.
No need to try this link, just click on this video:
There is another video you should have a look at:
Vassil Evtimov Nails 75-Foot Shot At Buzzer
So far the season for Mitteldeutscher BC has been rather disappointing. With the departure of russian center Anatoly Kashirov and the injuries of
Velimir Radinovic and Johnny Gilbert Björn Harmen’s team suddenly found themselves without a real big man on the team. Just before the season started the management gave veteran Vassil Evtimov a three month contract. It took a couple of games but the addition of the 33-year old bulgarian native with a french passport certainly paid off so far as he helped the team to regain stability and to slowly crawl out of the BBL cellar. He finished the last two games with double-doubles and is on the up and up now.
While his younger brother Ilian made himself a name for being a great shooter from outside, Vassil, who had been a teammate of Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison and Ademola Okulaja while playing for the Tar Heels (UNC) in the last century, has been known for his old school play under the baskets. But now and then Vasco can make a three point shot as well.
Currently he is 100% this season from three-point range. Check out how his incredible 75-Foot Shot at the Buzzer against Bayreuth:
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners Were Able To Feel The Spirit Of AJ Moye On The Court Discharging The Walter Tigers Tuebingen 79-76
With the shocking stroke that AJ Moye suffered earlier in the week, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners wanted to play in honour of the injured 
Skyliner who lives, eats, drinks and dreams of basketball and the club was as motivated to win against his ex team Tuebingen like all of Britain now is in anticipation of the royal wedding of William and Kate, or the whole organization and fans of the Gloria Giants Duesseldorf are for winning their first game and giving coach Murat Didin a few less sleepless nights and Bayern Munich soccer club getting back to the top of the Bundesliga standings and giving president Uli Hoeness his arrogant touch back that everyone seems to love and accept and Frankfurt was able to transform that real eye of the tiger energy from AJ Moye on the court as they nipped The Walter Tigers Tuebingen 79-76. Frankfurt ha dtheir game faces on for 40 minutes, but it was obvious that their thoughts was with the lovable AJ Moye. “I feel that the spirit of AJ Moye was on the court tonight. We wanted to win for him and played very hard. We knew that this would be a very difficult game. We knew that AJ would have wanted us to play hard and that inspired us. We pulled it out for AJ”, stressed Skyliner shooting guard Jimmy Mckinney. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen also played their hearts out and had Moye in their thoughts even guys that never played with him. “I think his eye of the tiger was on the court tonight. I am sure he wanted to physically on the court and was probably thinking about the game all day. Moye is a fighter and I wish him all the best getting well again”, commented Walter Tuebingen forward Dane Watts. In the end, no team deserved to lose, but Frankfurt was able to pull it out at the end. “We knew that it wouldn´t be easy for us without Powell and Moye Basketball is a team game and we understood how to adjust to these tow key loses. We got big games from Mckinney and Dabbert. Key was getting defensive stops at the end and their turnover sealed the win for us”, stated Skyliner guard Dashaun Wood. For Tuebingen losing like this was just bitter. “We had a very good chance to take a win from a undermanned Frankfurt team, but we were unable to pull it out at the end”, stressed Tuebingen forward Dane Watts.
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners Seek To Transform The Real Eye Of The Tiger Energy From AJ Moye Into Their Game Against The Walters Tigers Tuebingen On Saturday November 20th
Lovable Skyliner AJ Moye playing against his old club Tuebingen might not be as spectatcular as when Lebron James will face the Cavs for the first time, Randy Moss facing the New England Patriots for the first time, or when Dominican Republic baseball hulk Manny Ramirez faced his old club Boston Red Sox for the first time and stroking out a home run in his second game back at Fenway park, but the zeal that AJ Moye has for the game of basketball is as great or even greater as Formula one racer Michael Schumacher has for that sport, singer Justin Timberlake has for not using facebook, but rathr staying in touch with his loved ones with his phone, or former tennis legend and three time Wimbeldon champion Boris Becker has for not hiding in the closet, but displaying his private life now as a retired tennis player at boris-becker.tv. Moye might not document his life yet daily with the camera, but Moye would have given an extra 180% when he faced his old club Walter Tigers Tuebingen after playing for them from 2006-2009, but as is so often the case, sometimes life threatening situations arise which can´t be stopped. Skyliner forward AJ Moye suffered a stroke and is currently in a Frankfurt hospital undergoing intensive tests. On Monday, Moye and another player collided with their heads, but the two players were able to continue to practice. On Monday night, the step father of Moye spoke with his step son and noticed that he had problems speaking. On Tuesday at the morning shoot around before the Eurochallenge game against Maccabi Haifa, there was abnormal behavior detected with the Los Angeles native. As his behavior got more intense, Moye was brought to a Frankfurt hospital. At the hospital his condition worsened. The diagnosis that Moye had a stroke has been confirmed in the hospital. Further diagnosis about his recovery and therapy can not be determined at the present moment. Skyliner sports director Kamil Novak spent the whole day in the hospital with Moye yesterday. ‘The family of AJ arrived in Germany today. AJ is the most professional player that ever played in our organization. There are situations in life where basketball becomes a minor matter. Right now our concern is with AJ’, stressed Kamil Novak. ‘AJ is a strong person, he will pull out of this situation. God Bless him and his Family’, said Glen Mcgowan who is playing in South Korea now and played in the BEKO BBL with Cologne.’A.J. is a very good player in my eyes because he was very tough to score against. He played with his heart and left it all on the court. Get well soon because basketball not only needs you, life itself do. God Bless and you are in my prayers’, stressed Monta McGhee who played against Moye with Nordlingen and is currently playing for Zorg and Zekerheid Leiden (Holland-DBL). “On the court or off the court AJ Moye is great guy. I just want him to know that everybody out here is praying for his speedy recovery. Honestly Im at a lost for words right now”, strtessed 2009 BEKO BBL leading scorer Omari Westley.
Elvir Ovcina(Giessen 46ers) The War Was A Bad Experience, But We All Tried To Learn The Best We Could From This Experience
Elvir Ovcina is a 34 year old 211cm power forward/center that was born in Sarajevo.
He played for Syracuse from 1995-1999 reaching the NCAA final in 1996. After playing in Slovenia for two seasons, he came to Germany and
played for the EWE Baskets Oldenburg from 2001-2004. In the 2003-2004 season, he played 27 games: 14.9ppg, 9.3rpg, 2.7apg, 2.8bpg. In 2004-2005, he played for Olympiakos S.F.P. Pireus (Greece-A1): Euroleague: 8 games: 4.3ppg, 5.6rpg; Greek League: 9 games: 5.7ppg, 3.1rpg, 2FGP: 52.0%, in Dec.’04 moved to RheinEnergie Koln (Germany-1.Bundesliga): ULEB Cup: 5 games: 11,2ppg, 3.8rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 51.3%, 3Pts: 33.3%; German Bundesliga: 21 games: 10.1ppg, 4.9rpg, 1.5apg, 1.6bpg, 2FGP: 49.7%, 3FGP: 20.0%. In 2005-2006, he played for Khimik-OPZ Yuzny (Ukraine-Superleague): EuroCup Challenge: 2 games: 10.5ppg, 3.0rpg, 0ast, FG: 63.6%, 3PT: 50%; Ukrainian League: 8 games: 7.6ppg, 3.8rpg, 2FGP: 51.0%, 3PT: 50.0%, FT: 66.7%, in Dec.’05 joined Telindus BC Oostende (Belgium-D1): 21 games: 10.7ppg, Reb-4(7.8rpg), 1.7apg, 1.2spg, 2FGP: 55.0%, 3PT: 20.0%, FT: 55.0%. He then played in Belgium from 2006-2008 for Telindus BC Oostende winning the cup in 2008. In 2008-2009, he played for Bosna ASA BH Telecom Sarajevo (D1): Adriatic League: 5 games: 9.8ppg, 9.2rpg, 3.6apg. Last season, he played for Polzela (Slovenia-Liga UPC): 5 games: 12.8ppg, 5.8rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 55.3%, 3PT: 66.7%, FT: 85.7%, in Jan.’10 moved to LTi Giessen 46ers (Germany-1.Bundesliga, starting five): 14 games: 14.1ppg, 8.1rpg, 2.8apg, 1.0bpg, FGP: 57.7%, 3PT: 32.3%, FT: 69.4%. Some achievements in his career have been and Herzegovina National Team -97-05, European Championships -97, 99, 01, 03, German Bundesliga Cup Semifinals -02, German Bundesliga All-Star Game -03, German Bundesliga Cup Winner -05, European Championships in Belgrade -05: 3 games: 5.0ppg, 5.0rpg, 0.7apg, 1.3spg, Belgian League Regular Season Champion -06, Belgian League Champion -06, 07
and Bosnia and Herzegovina Cup Winner -09. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball.
The Giessen 46ers are the huge surprise of the season so far. Why is the team so strong this season?
We are a young talented team. I think we have had an advantage with the schedule in the early going. We didn´t play any team that was higher than 13th place. We haven´t had a win against atop team like Oldenburg or Bamberg yet. I think that the team did a good chance preparing for the season. Last season, the team started 0-6 and after six games this season had 4 wins already. Management did a good job bringing in new players. Only me and Jannik Freese remained. We might not have good results in preseason, but we always knew that if we continued to work hard, we would have success.
Gruebler talks: Check out the Euroleague Adventures Podcast!
As I mentioned in the about section a must-read for all basketball fans in germany is the blog gruebelei.de. Unfortunatly the texts are written in german. So
if you cannot read any german or your not totally comfortable with the translators you can find on the internet you will not get too much out of it.
But if you’re sick and tired of reading anyway (whatever language it is) there is a nice way to hear a real expert talk about the german basketball scene. Henner Schlaefke aka Gruebler joined forces with Euroleague Advantures and talks for more than half an hour about german basketball in english!
Gruebler mainly talks about the early Beko BBL season. He calls Bamberg ‘the team to beat this season’ and especially reflects on Alba Berlin’s chances. Later he talks about Bayern Munich’s huge basketball project and what Germany’s league must do to elevate to the status of elite.
Explaining the difference between ProA and ProB
One of the most frequently asked questions I get from people who contact me via mail is: ‘What exactly is the difference between the ProA and
ProB league?’
It is indeed confusing that both leagues share the same logo and are part of the 2. Bundesliga (second highest division in Germany). Furthermore it was not a good idea to name the leagues Pro since their are (especially in ProB) not only pro players. The mess is perfect when you remember that the french leagues are also named ProA and ProB. But while in France the first division is called ProA and the second ProB, in Germany the BBL is the highest level league in Germany.
To make it short:
ProA = second division
ProB = third division
To explain some of the differences I (finally) wrote a small piece that can also be found in the section League Facts.
Maccabi Haifa Had Enough Tail Wind From The Carmel Mountain Squeezing Out A Win In The Opening Eurochallenge Game Against The Deutsche Bank Skyliners 83-78
Maccabi Haifa may not have the name, tradition or player personal of neighbor Maccabi Tel Aviv, but the club has proved this season that they can beat any team on any day and have made a fine transition to the Premier league similar to how Phoenix Hagen is slowly making a name in the BEKO BBL in the early going, BBC Bayreuth American Jaivon Harrs making a solid jump from the German PRO A to the BEKO BBL and showing his potent basketball skill or Formula one German racer Nico Hulkenberg making his mark as a rookie this season as he was the first German racer getting a pole position in his first season. Maccabi Haifa displayed a calm and cool head down the stretch in the fourth quarter that they can beat teams in Israel, France or Germany as they defeated The Deutsche Bank Skyliners 83-78 in the first Eurochallenge game in Frankfurt. “The Israel league is tough. Maccabi tel Aviv has a lot of tradition and history and are always in the final game. I think that we can give them a good game this season. I would put us in the top half of the league in israel. We hope to keep moving up ladder and getting as good as Maccabi Tel Aviv”, warned 22 year old Maccabi Haifa American Derrick Low. Skyliner forward Roger Powell who played in Israel a few years ago and was lauded in the best merits from Maccabi Haifa management didn´t have to think much about what a Maccabi Haifa can do in Israel. “In Israel any team can beat anyone. Maccabi Tel Aviv is a great team while Maccabi Haifa is a decent team.You can´t take any team for granted in the Israel league”, warned ex NBA player Roger Powell.
