Preview
When the last Hansbrough Watch was published, details on Je’kel Foster’s injury were still sketchy. Since then, however, FC Bayern has announced that Foster has suffered a severe high-ankle sprain and will be sidelined for the rest of 2011 – at least. Bad news for Foster and the team, but if there’s a silver lining, then it’s that Ben Hansbrough will now see increased playing time. (more…)
Review
Ben played a whopping 23 minutes and 21 seconds in FC Bayern’s 75:62 Eurocup loss against BC Spartak St. Petersburg today. As we know from the last edition of Hansbrough Watch, Jonathan Wallace is injured. He didn’t even make the trip to St. Petersburg with the team. Ben saw increased floor time because of this – and because SG Je’kel Foster also suffered an injury during the game. He twisted his ankle near the end of the second quarter and didn’t return. Details on the type and severity of his injury are not yet available.
Unfortunately, the game was not broadcast on TV (and I didn’t feel like hopping to St. Petersburg), so I can’t give you my impressions of Ben’s performance. I can only take a look at the boxscore, which is … not flattering:
23:21 Minutes
4 Points
1/5 FGs
0/2 3Ps
2/2 FTs
3 REB (1 OFF, 2 DEF)
1 Assist
1 Steal
2 Turnovers
4 Fouls
I didn’t see the game, so the following observations are just things I gleaned from the livescore:
Review
In the last edition of Hansbrough Watch, I predicted a close game between FC Bayern and ALBA and a Bayern loss by a margin of 7 to 15 points. I also predicted another DNP-CD for Ben Hansbrough. My first prediction wasn’t too far off the mark. Bayern lost by 6, but was in the game right up to the end.
My other prediction, however, was wrong. Hansbrough played for 11 minutes and 9 seconds, his longest in the last nine games. Rejoice!
But what happened? Why did Coach Bauermann decide to throw Ben into the deep end of an extremely high-profile and close-fought game all of a sudden? There are two main reasons:
2. When Bauermann took Hamann out, he called Ben’s number. Jonathan Wallace, Hamann’s regular backup, was busy riding a stationary bike behind the bench. Apparently, he had suffered a minor groin injury in his eight minutes of floor time (in which he looked somewhat overwhelmed at times, turning the ball over on two consecutive possessions against defensive pressure in the backcourt).
DaShaun Wood is a 26 year old 185cm point guard from Detroit, Michigan that is playing his second season in Germany for 
Alba Berlin. He is a young point guard with natural leadership abilities, who directs teammates on the floor and takes the ball in clutch moments. Loves to go inside to score, challenging the big guys, but has also shooting range from behind the 3pts arch. Despite lack of size, he can be effective even at the defensive side. He played at Wright state from 2003-2007. In his senior year, he played 33 games averaging 19.6ppg, 5.1rpg, 4.0apg, 1.9spg, FGP: 43.5%, 3Pts: 37.3%, FT: 88.3%. In 2007-2008, he played his rookie season for Tisettanta Cantu (Italy-SerieA, starting five): 38 games: Score-5(16.9ppg), 3.0rpg, Assists-4(3.3apg), 2.7spg, 2FGP:52.1%, 3PT-2(42.8%), FT:77.4%. In 2008-2009, he played for : Benetton Treviso (Italy-SerieA), injured in Oct.’08 and was off for 2 months: Eurocup: 12 games: 5.3ppg, 2.0rpg, 3.3apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 40.0%, 3PT: 25.0%, FT: 87.5%; Italian League: 17 games: 7.2ppg, 2.9rpg, 3.2apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 43.1%, 3PT: 35.6%, FT: 70.4%. Last season, he was the Beko BBL MVP with The Deutsche Bank Skyliners playing EuroCup Qualifying Round: 2 games: 13.5ppg, 2.5rpg, 5.0apg; EuroChallenge: 6 games: 16.3ppg, 3.8rpg, 5.2apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 46.9%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 73.7%; German League: 42 games: Score-1(19.0ppg), 4.6rpg, Assists-2(5.9apg), 1.2spg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 33.2%, FT: 80.3%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 85-79 win against FC Bayern Munich.
Congrats on the 85-79 win in Munich giving the team of Dirk Bauermann their first loss at home. What was the atmosphere like there playing in front of German soccer player Bastian Schweinstieger and everyone else?
Winning in Munich was like a dream for me. It is a great city with great fans, a great coach and many great German national players. The atmosphere was great and it was great competing at a high level and winning the game in their arena.
Michigan beat Ohio State 40-34 today who have the blue and yellow colors as does Alba Berlin. I guess the color of the day was blue and yellow?
I am from Michigan and today was perfect. Michigan and Ohio State are two great rivals and the funny thing is that Ohio State and Bayern Munich both wear the color red.
A quick update on Ben Hansbrough’s situation:
During a press conference today, FC Bayern München coach Dirk Bauermann said that there was a clear hierarchy for his PG spot: Hamann, Wallace, Hansbrough. He also said that Ben’s chances for seeing any playing time had not increased. (All my blogging! All the hard work! All the blood, sweat and tears! For nothing! Oh, the humanity!)
So, Ben is third in the PG rotation. Trouble is, SG Je’Kel Foster also sees a few minutes on the PG spot in almost every game. SF Philip Schwethelm also takes the ball upcourt sometimes. So in reality, the PG rotation looks like this:
Hamann
Wallace
Foster
Schwethelm
Hansbrough
And why doesn’t Ben get some burn as a SG, which is the position he is better suited for anyway?
****
A look ahead:
Bayern’s next game is at home against ALBA Berlin on Saturday. ALBA is a perennial contender that’s been on a roll lately. Last weekend, they beat Brose Baskets Bamberg, the reigning German champions and cup winners (both back-to-back, in fact) who have been dominating the league for two years. On Tuesday, ALBA easily dispatched Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro) in their second Eurocup game of the season. They seem to be clicking / firing on all cylinders / [add your favorite cliché here].
My article on Ben Hansbrough’s lack of playing time yesterday received quite a lot of attention, so I decided to follow up on it with the inaugural edition of our brand-new Hansbrough Watch!
From now on, the Hansbrough Watch will keep you up-to-date on Ben’s playing time – or lack thereof – after each FC Bayern game.
Before I tell you how much burn Ben got in Bayern’s Eurocup loss to Cedevita Zagreb, however, I’d like to add a few things to yesterday’s article.
As you may remember, the official reason for Ben’s non-existent minutes is that he still needs to adjust to the European game. The flaw in this reasoning is so glaring that I didn’t mention it yesterday, but after today’s game (can you guess yet how many minutes Ben got?), I thought it was time to drop the … nonsense … and expose that explanation for what it is: A load of … nonsense.
Ben Hansbrough is a household name among basketball fans in the US – and not just because he is the younger brother of Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough. He happens to be an excellent basketball player himself. After averaging 18.4 PPG and shooting 43,5% from three-point range in his senior year for Notre Dame, he was voted the 2010-2011 Big East Player of the Year.
Although he was projected as a possible secound-round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Hansbrough went undrafted (which some called “the biggest snub of the year”). There were lingering doubts about his ability to defend quicker, more athletic NBA guards and to create shots at the next level. He also missed the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago due to an ankle injury, which certainly didn’t help his stock.
Soon after the draft, Hansbrough announced that he had signed a one-year contract with FC Bayern München of Germany’s BBL, the highest division in Dirk Nowitzki’s home country. Ben’s signing caused quite a stir among basketball fans in München (or Munich, as you Anglophones call it) and Germany. He was even anointed an early candidate to win BBL MVP in 2011-2012 by some over-enthusiastic fans in online discussions. That may have been a bit too optimistic, but all experts agreed that Hansbrough would be a very good BBL player. And he should be.
Yet nine games into the 34-game BBL season, Ben Hansbrough has been turned into Bench Hansbrough. He hasn’t started a single game yet. In FC Bayern’s season opener in early October, Hansbrough logged 10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 23 minutes – a good debut. Since then, his playing time has steadily decreased. Here’s an overview of his BBL minutes so far:
23:22
19:17
15:17
DNP-CD
10:20
2:22
8:05
DNP-CD
DNP-CD
A grand total of 78 minutes in 9 games – or less than 9 minutes a game. Officially, he’s averaging 13 minutes, but that doesn’t take into account the three DNP-CDs. And even the 9 MPG are skewed by the fact that most of those minutes came in the first three games of the season and he hasn’t had any significant playing time in the last six games. (Seven, if you count the Eurocup game against Benetton Treviso last week, in which Hansbrough collected another DNP-CD).
So … what happened? Why is Hansbrough not playing? There are several answers to this, an “official” one and two “intelligent guessing” ones. Let’s break them down:
When going to the beautiful Bavarian city of Munich for a day trip, one has a bundle full of delightful options to pick from like going to the October Fest beer festival and seeing which German celebrities are drunk, experiencing if one is permitted entrance to the famous P 1 club and seeing what models are gawking at German soccer legend Oliver Kahn, hanging out that the pretty Marine place and counting how many different nationalities are taking photos in the gap of an hour, going to the Bavarian Film studios to witness how film is made in German style or just relaxing in the English garden and observing the beauty of the Chinese tower, but until recently the choice to go to a Sunday matane basketball game and see top class basketball has been more of a dream than reality. However ever since FC Bayern Munich has returned to the Beko BBL this season since the departure in 1974 when Germany won the World Cup and FC Bayern Munich soccer was starting its rise, it has become an option for basketball fans to go to games. What is nicer than to run elbows with an Uli Hoeness philosophizing about Thomas Muller against Mario Gotze, but never losing touch with the Davidson-Troutman battle underneath or sharing a Hot Dog with German soccer stars Bastian Schweinsteiger, Jerome Boateng or Holger Badstuber. Even though Basketball is slowly trying to become a house hold
name in Munich, it is other things that one thinks about first before thinking about dunking home a ball in the Audi Dome. “I like Munich, because you are so close to the mountains and lakes only 30 kilomters away while in Bamberg I had to drive 300 kilometers”, joked FC Bayern Munich youth coordinator Volker Stix. For 2008 cup winner Darius Hall who is in the later stages of his basketball career, it is like night and day to Quackenbruck. “I first think of the soccer team when I hear the word Munich. It is a great place for Americans, because you have such a diverse choice of eating places and movie places. Munich really has a lot to offer to Americans”, joked Darius Hall. “I like the parks where I can spend a lot of time with the kids and the beer gardens as well”, smiled Serb power forward Alexsandar Nadjefji.
FC Bayern Munich remained undefeated at home after they followed up their big Eurocup win against Benetton Treviso five days earlier with a big, but also very fortunate 58-57 win. It was a game where the defense intensity seemed to pick up with each quarter. Sometimes playing at home and coming off a big win gives a team that extra kick to make the right plays and win that luck in the waning minutes to help propel a team to victory. “This was a classic win for us. This was a tough win and a kind of knock down grind out win. We had the better luck at the end getting those offensive rebounds. However this was win we wanted to get more”, warned FC Bayern Munich center Darius Hall.
The first time is always very special like getting that first autograph of Lebron James after waiting for hours during a grueling wicked wet Miami hurricane, seeing your photo in the school newspaper making a 99 yard touchdown, getting that very first text message form that special someone that you thought never knew that you existed, driving for the first time in a corvette as a gift from dad after getting your license, getting that first pay check and treating your friends to dinner, or a young kid seeing his first Michael Jordan highlight DVD and enjoying his god like basketball skills. FC Bayern Munich belongs to the most famous sporting team names in Europe and have won enough titles in soccer to let German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer who won 15 with the team forever be affiliated as Mr Bayern Munich. FC Bayern Munich is playing their first season in the Beko BBL which was made possible not by Beckenbauer, but the friendly guidance and assistance by Uli Hoeness who is the current president of the soccer club and they want to quickly leave a mark in the Beko BBL and European basketball community. The Beko BBL have had many highlights in the last years like increased attendance, BG Goettingen winning the Eurochallenge or Dashaun Wood playing one of the most dominating seasons since American Wendel Alexis did in the 90s with Alba Berlin, but for opposing players to see the red and white colors of Bayern Munich should especially give German players stimulating goose bumps as that first time playing against FC Hollywood should be memorable and cherished as if a player was playing that first time against the Boston Celtics, FC Barcelona or The New York Yankees. “It was great playing against FC Bayern Munich recently. They have a great winning tradition in that city and I wont forget that experience. A great first moment for me was playing my first Beko BBL game against The Fraport Skyliners. I thought a lot during that game of how last season I was playing for Bayer Leverkusen in the PRO B and now I am playing at a higher level and playing against some of the best talent in the world”, stressed Walter Tigers Tuebingen guard Josh Young. A famous phrase in German is “Die lederhosen aussziehen) which is a common expression that opponents want to remove the leather breeches of the FC Bayern Munich soccer players and this is something that the Fraport Skyliner German players may have on their mind as well.
Ever since Bayern Munich announced to re-establish its basketball project everybody has been enthusiastic about the
impact Germany’s biggest sports brand could have for basketball in Germany.
With a roster full of experienced BBL players (e.g. Aleksandar Nadjfeji, Darius Hall) and german national players (Steffen Hamann, Demond Greene) it was not a big challenge to make it to the Beko BBL. Former national coach Dirk Bauermann had formed a team that could have been a play-off competitor in the BBL. With just two losses during the season and mainly huge wins over other ProA teams the club could fulfill expectations and is now ready for the real challenge in Germany’s elite league.
While some german players retired this summer (Robert Maras, Robert Garrett and Arthur Kolodziejski) coach Bauermann decided to keep most of the players from last year’s roster. The only American who had to leave was Beckham Wyrick, who signed with BBC Bayreuth. These changes were necessary to make the team more competitive for the much more physical BBL and Bayern’s participation in EuroCup.
The new Bayern Munich team that is expected to be a top team in the BBL right from the start looks like a typical Bauermann roster. It’s the mixture of veterans and german national players he also signed during his time with Bamberg.
German Hoops 