Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Reggie Redding after the big 85-50 FC Bayern Munich win in game 4 in Frankfurt

Many people that don´t know Fraport Skyliners head coach Gordon Herbert will call it a miracle while people that know him better in terms of basketball mastery won´t be at all surprised what he has been able to get out of his team in the last week. 11 days ago after the disappointing 85-72 loss which for many wasn´t untypical, the Fraport Skyliners and Philipp Scrubb had a long bus ride home and had a lot of soul searching to do already noticing in that game that they had the game to compete with Germany´s most famous team. A week later the ever so reserved Mr Canada Philip Scrubb had another long bus ride home, but this time he could probably sneak in the one or other smile after hearing a Robertson and Morrison joke, because the Fraport Skyliners were up in the best of five series 2-1. Who would have thought that at the start of the series? Many thought after the game two win in Frankfurt that they would see one last home game at home and then summer vacation would begin. Instead with the help of a furious 29 point third quarter that rescued the 2004 BBL champion from 18 down, they showed extended heart and won in Munich 86-83 with the help of a gigantic Scrubb trey with 18 seconds to go and overall 13 three´s that the club dropped as a shocked FC Bayern Munch were wondering when this nightmare would end? FC Bayern Munich CEO Marko Pesic had another annoying reminder just how dangerous a Philip Scrubb is in crunch-time moments. The Fraport Skyliners returned home with an ace up their sleeve having the momentum and ready for the knock out as FC Bayern Munich now had their backs to the wall and suddenly had to play their best basketball to survive and did crushing the Fraport Skyliners 85-50 forcing a game 5 on Thursday night in Munich.

(more…)

16 hours after the Fraport Skyliners had lost game one in Munich, the team had already had their post game cool down in their training facility BCM in Frankfurt and some guys exited the gym with Quantez Robertson, Tai Webster, Jordan Sibert and Mike Morrison who were in a good mood especially the latter with the Florida native who when he saw my Boston Red Sox shirt started to marvel about the amazing game three finish by the Boston Celtics. They had won on the expertise of possible NBA coach of the year Brad Stevens as the 17 time NBA champion last second inbounds play as ex NCAA champion with Florida Al Horford created a mismatch hauled down the lob and made the difficult basket for the win. That game three started at the time where the Fraport Skyliners were journeying back to Frankfurt on the bus trying to digest the tough 85-72 loss so it was more than likely that many of the players tuned into the NBA thriller to help pass the time and help forget the 21 point effort by Vladimir Lucic. The Fraport Skyliners came out to a quick 12-3 lead and played a solid first half, but overtime couldn´t handle the overpowering Munich team as they produced less points each quarter as they watched the favorite be able to play their game and dominate the boards and ease by them with their pinpoint shooting accuracy when they needed it most. The Fraport Skyliners needed a win desperately at home to salvage some kind of leverage going back to Munich and not having their backs to the wall down 0-2. In a way the Fraport Skyliner´s situation was a bit like the Celtics, who also were the underdog against the Philadelphia 76ers. Possibly the Fraport Skyliners could remember some of that energy and excitement the Boston Club presented on that bitter Saturday night as they were coming home from the bitter loss and they could possibly take some of their spirit and create extra toughness to give the Bavarian side a game that they would never forget. The Fraport Skyliners came to play and controlled the game for 40 minutes even if FC Bayern Munich was always on their doorstep, the 2016 Fiba Europe Cup teams slammed the door on the faces of the Bavarian team countless times with big shots that denied the opponent to get over the hump winning 75-69. After the win, Mr Canada Philipp Scrubb who´s beard had gotten a bit bushier since game one reflected on the big win. “Key today wasn´t only that we had many guys hit key shots at the right time, but also got rebounds and stops at the right time. When they went on a run and we lost energy, it was our bench that really stepped up. Bonga, Sibert and Huff were huge”, stressed Fraport Skyliner guard Philipp Scrubb. FC Bayern Munich snuck out of the locker room one by one, but ex Giessen 46er and Mr game changer Braydon Hobbs gave his reflection why his team was unable to go home with a 2-0 series advantage. “We have to give Frankfurt credit. They played good defense and we lacked the needed energy. When you score only 69 points, it won´t be easy to win games”, stressed FC Bayern Munich guard Braydon Hobbs. Fraport Skyliner head coach Gordon Herbert didn´t leave the Boston Celtics subject totally untouched and gave his two cents to how a NBA coaching poll of coaches didn´t give one single vote to Brad Stevens for coach of the year. “I don´t know how that can be, but I like to take things from his coaching style”, smiled Gordon Herbert.

(more…)

March 23 2018 might not be a date that FC Bayern Munich basketball fans will remember in 10 years, but the name Scottie Wilbekin will forever be linked in their basketball history  as the guy who presented a lethal shooting clinic at the most inappropriate time blocking the team´s Eurocup run to the final. If you had just arrived in the Audi Dome on that fateful night of March 23^rd and had the worst seat in the house and had forgotten your glasses, the 188cm guard who was rifling home jumpers left and right while then head coach Sasa Dordevic was scrambling to find the right defender to stop this annoying shooting rage, one may have thought that the Turkish team Darussafaka had given NBA superstar Steph Curry a one game contract. Not only does Wilbekin look a little like the Golden State NBA champion, but is also close to his size at 188cm and has a nasty habit of dropping trey´s as easily as it is for an American tourist to be holed up all evening at a typical Brauhaus Beer hall in downtown Munich. Wilbekin didn´t get the all-time Eurocup scoring record as that is held by Randy Duck of the Brighton Bears in 2003 with 49 points, but Wilbekin´s 41 points was 5^th best in it´s history and in good company with guys like American Mire Chatman and NBA player Bobby Brown with 43 and 44 points. One could say Wilbekin shot Darussafaka to the Eurocup final as he scored 24 points in the first game and in all hit FC Bayern Munich for 65 points in the two game series. Wilbekin will try to win a second title in Turkey to add to his Eurocup chip, but with the Fraport Skyliners facing FC Bayern Munich in the playoffs, FC Bayern Munich Marko Pesic max be feeling some déjà vu again and wondering if his stomach will be ready to take on a possible new shooting clinic from Mr Canada Philip Scrubb. Scrubb has been a shooter his whole career and shoots the ball with authority the way Shaq dunked back in the day. He comes into the playoffs shooting 47% from outside and even when his shot doesn´t fall, it is hardly ever a bad shot, but so close that one has to wonder when the day will come when he will have a 10/10 or better performance from outside. Recently Scrubb had 25 points at the break against Bamberg and was so hot everyone was expecting 40 plus points, but the defense closed him down better in the second half and finished with 33 points. In two loses to FC Bayern Munich this season Scrubb finished with 16 and 23 points. Scrubb has the ability to match a Wilbekin 41 points game and as he has shown so often this season might have to take things into his own hands in this series when the team needs instant scoring over a long stretch. If Scrubb can have a Wilbekin like shooting clinic in this series isn´t known yet, but if he does start with a 18-20 first half scoring onslaught in game one, it could be bombs away and then it will be interesting to see if Marko Pesic starts a nonstop  finger nail chewing contest. If anything the 2018 easyCredit leading scorer Philip Scrubb will be on Pesic´s mind during and after the series win or lose as this Canadian national player will most likely be on his summer shopping list for next season.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing 2018 easyCredit BBL scoring champion Philip Scrubb after droping 8 points and dishing out 8 assists

Even FC Bayern Munich had some typical FC Hollywood moments this season with the peak of head coach Sasa Dordevic being dismissed after the Eurocup semi-final loss, they have been able to keep it together on the court this season as they didn´t encounter another Scottie Wilbekin type player this season as they finished in first place with a record of 31-3. They started off well with winning their first three games, but then surprisingly lost at home to Wurzburg and ex coach Dirk Bauermann. However that didn´t faze Germany´s most famous sports team as they then steam rolled the competition in the BBL and Eurocup. In the BBL, they won 20 games in a row and found a clear identity on offense just totally overpowering opponents with their scoring machine scoring 80 points or more 16 times. It also helped that they had a certain established team chemistry as they had held on to 7 players. They also did a good job bringing in the missing pieces that were able to strengthen the already very strong roster. Their powerful offense has led to nine players averaging more than 7,0ppg and their second five are often stronger than other teams´s starting five. They are very well fortified at every position and have that added athletic presence that team´s can´t match up to.

(more…)

So often in the past years when the playoffs were drawing nearer, the Fraport Skyliners

BBL Topscorer Philip Scrubb made 5 of 8 three pointers and finished the game with 23 points

would go on a few days working vacation in order to do some last minute team building for the crunch-time period of the season. This season the 2016 Fiba Europe Cup winner went to the tourist infested Mallorca to digest their current two game losing streak that left them shaking their heads after the unexplainable and unacceptable loss to arch rival Giessen 46ers and their crunch-time fall out in Bayreuth. The Fraport Skyliners entered the top game of the season against FC Bayern Munich resting in seventh place and if the playoffs started tomorrow would have been in, but had teams like Bamberg, ratiopharm Ulm, Wurzburg and Giessen breathing heavily down their backs ready to attack as the club has a very difficult rest program. FC Bayern Munich didn´t enter the Fraport arena playing their best basketball either having won two of their last four games and playing a very suspect defense giving up 89 points on average in the last two wins. Their offense has been red hot as they scored 100 points or more in the last three games. FC Bayern Munich came to Frankfurt having a 12-5 overall record and positive 5-3 record in the Fraport arena. The Fraport Skyliners had had some very stellar performances against FC Bayern Munich in their living room in the past and were looking for their fourth win at home and another step toward a playoff spot, but instead saw an 18 point lead dwindle down in the fourth quarter as American guard Braydon Hobbs came from the bench and saved his team with the right kind of playmaking and just organizing the team the right way and had an incredible mix of big shots and handing out dimes leading FC Bayern Munich to an incredible 87-83 victory. For three quarters, it was the Fraport Skyliners playing energized basketball and shooting at a high rate, but were at their limit while FC Bayern Munich played uninspired and at times helpless as if it was a pre season game and were somewhere at 40% of their abilities. That all changed in the fourth quarter as the 2018 easyCredit BBL cup champion made a furious comeback to put another dagger in the playoff hopes of Frankfurt. After the victory, ex NBA player Jared Cunningham who has been playing up and down as of late and came into the game shooting 3/23 from the parking lot in his last nine games and finished with only 4 points was thankful the team could pull out the win. “Frankfurt came out very aggressive and we couldn´t get stops which resulted in them taking the lead. We came out harder in the second half started to make big shots and big plays which helped us get the win”, stressed FC Bayern Munich guard Jared Cunningham. Mr Canada Philip Scrubb had made not only huge shots all game long, but some amazing Steph Curry type shots from seemingly somewhere from the other side of Frankfurt, but when it counted most at the end, he was rejected by Reggie Redding ending the game. After the victory, Scrubb was as always prepared to digest another tough loss in his own living room. “We played well for 35 minutes. We were good for three quarters, but weren´t together in the fourth quarter and lost control. I know this was a tough game to lose, but this game showed that we can play with the best teams in the league. We will take some confidence from this game into the next one”, warned Philip Scrubb.

(more…)