The comeback attempts by The Deutsche Bank Skyliners this season have been as often and usual as Paris Hilton changing her shoes, Tiger Woods coming up with a new apology for his wife each day, sadly Lindsay Lohan running around drunk as if it was a home work assignment and Mark Mcgrath being mistaken for Ethan Hawke, so with four minutes remaining in the BEKO BBL cup final and the club back 74-63, there was no surprise that they would stage a comeback, but were denied in the last seconds their third club title as The Brose Baskets Bamberg prevailed 76-75. Playing back to back and only having 18 hours to recuperate from the thrilling 61-59 win in the semi final against The Eisbaeren Bremerhaven might of played a toll on the total effort of the team as fatigue was something that couldn´t be erased.
“We had no energy today. We gave all our focus yesterday. Our problem is that we have problems starting tough and aggressive against top teams. If we don´t do this, it is always difficult to win. There was a perfect atmosphere and I am just very unhappy for the fans. We wanted to give the fans the cup. We will have to win it for them next season”, stressed Skyliner assistant coach Engin Gencoglu.
Frankfurt has lost the last three games by a total combined score of five points and it was no surprise that the players were disappointed and reserved after the loss. Even captain Pascal Roller who is not only the best interview partner for the Skyliners, but it sometimes seems like he could start his own school of speech because of his fluid and solid rhetoric was very terse with his answer.
“There isn´t too much one can say after a game like this except that we didn´t reach our goal of winning the cup”, stressed Pascal Roller.
For The Brose Baskets Bamberg, it was their first title again since the 2007 BEKO BBL title and for coach Chris Fleming it was his second cup win after the Artland Dragons victory in 2008.
“Each title is different. With Artland, we had been having a consistent season, but with Bamberg this season, we had a tough start and had high expectations and were struggling. But in the last 25 games, we have a 20-5 record, so we have showed that we are a good team and results can be achieved with hard work”, warned Chris Fleming.