BG Goettingen

The Miles Where Are They Now Player Feature With Charles Lee(Milwaukee Bucks)

It was a rainy and unseasonably cool afternoon at the start of May as there was a horde of anxious autograph collectors milling around outside a luxury Boston hotel and a number of young kids hanging on to basketball balls while the older autograph hounds had countless pictures of a certain very athletic big man player. The Milwaukee Bucks were in town facing the Boston Celtics in the playoffs and the cute little 8 year old girl and her 10 year old brother were waiting for the Greek freak Giannis Antetokounmpo  while the older gents where some have been around since the 80´s  and still hanging around hotels all day long were there for Spanish legend Pau Gasol and also for Antetokounmpo while I was waiting for somebody totally different by the name of Charles Lee. I had only known a few weeks earlier that Lee was an assistant coach as I had checked the Bucks roster to see what ex NBA players were coaches as I was in town for a family visit  and wanted to relive my joys of autograph hunting as a kid and experience it now with a new generation of players. Covering basketball in Germany since 15 years has brought me in contact with many many players and I have had the pleasure of interviewing 1200 plus players in Germany, but for a strange reason never had had a chat with Charles Lee in the two years when he played in Germany from 2008-2010 with BG Goettingen and the Artland Dragons. Now I was in Boston and in town was Charles Lee. Now was my chance to be able to finally interview him. So there I was squashed among little kids and grey haired gents who had books filled with basketball cards and photos and I was anxiously waiting to see if I would recognize him. With some players Like Eric Bledsoe and Kris Middleton coming out of the lobby and ignoring the autograph collectors and getting on the bus, I saw a well built gentleman that looked like him and I yelled Charles, Charles. An experienced autograph collector next to me muttered  “That’s nobody but a coach or trainer”. I countered with “That´s Charles Lee”. The autograph collector ignored my comeback, but Lee didn´t. He stopped on the second step of the bus and looked back and gave me a signal that he would come back. Shortly later he came to me with the autograph collectors staring at me wondering what the hell was happening. I said hi Charles and his first response was. “Your face looks familiar”. I then introduced myself and gave him my business cards and then his whole Germany experience came back to him. The American smiled and seemed interested and an interview was scheduled for the next day at 3.00pm after their practice. As we sat in the hotel restaurant Pau Gasol stepped into the room bringing a special aura and was accompanied by two other Spanish men. Gasol said hello to Lee and then glanced at me probably wondering how an autograph collecter would be at the same table with an assistant coach. He looked at me and gave a friendly hello and was on his way to munch on some scrumptious food a few tables away. As we were chatting away, Lee reflected on this chance encounter and trying to place my face with the seemingly 1000 others he has seen in his basketball life. “Whenever I hear my name, I never think that they are really talking to me. I usually get mistaken for someone else. I have gotten George Hill, Kris Middleton and Sterling Brown. Your face looked familiar and when you said your name it came back to me. I remember seeing your face on the eurobasket website and at games when I was playing in Germany. Your face caught my eye. I don´t forget faces”, smiled Charles Lee. Charles Lee is only 34 years old age, but has already experienced so much in the NCAA and overseas as a player and in the NCAA and NBA as a coach that it was time for a Miles where are they now player feature.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing current Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Charles Lee on an off day in Boston between game 3 and game 4 of the 2019 NBA playoffs

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The Fraport Skyliners Heat Up In The 4th For Chris Williams Disposing BG Goettingen 81-67

If one would have spontaneously asked Fraport Skyliner Quantez Robertson if the numbers 34 and 35 had any special mathematical meaning, the ex Auburn star would probably have given his typical Tez smirk and replied, “were those some of the most points that NCAA teams won by in the first round of March Madness”? Actually Robertson was involved with one of these numbers last weekend. Last weekend it was a story of two tales concerning the basketball fate of the Fraport Skyliners and BG Goettingen as one team destroyed their opponent while the other team stunk up the building. 2010 Eurochallenge winner BG Goettingen got severely rattled at home 101-66 to this season´s big surprise team medi Bayreuth as the Bavarian team had five players scoring in double figures and Americans Demon Brooks and Joseph Lewis combined for 43 points as the club won the rebound duel and dominated in the paint shooting at a high percentage. The Fraport Skyliners on the other hand rebounded from a bitter loss in Ludwigsburg manhandling the Basket Lowen Braunschweig 92-56 as they led from the get go never looked back as the club was led by Shawn Huff with 17 points and Quantez Robertson and Shavon Shields added 16 points apiece. Frankfurt dominated the rebounds and spread the ball around the way a team led by Gordon Herbert should. One hot team Frankfurt was meeting cold team BG Goettingen, and the Fraport Skyliners were able to get revenge from their loss in Goettingen earlier in the season as they had a strong fourth quarter disposing of BG Goettingen 81-67. After any game in Frankfurt it is customary for the players of Frankfurt to sign autographes for the fans and after 15 minutes the last two Americans left were Quantez Robertson and Mike Morrison who were joking around and were in such good spirits that they could easily moonlight with their own sitcom once their playing days are over. “Having a sitcom would be fun. I would be beating up Mike all the time. All Mike is doing on road trips is eating and drinking juice. Sometimes I just need to get away from him”, joked Quantez Robertson. However when talk came about the two numbers 35 and 34, the Ohio native joked that math wasn´t his strong suit in school. “I wasn´t good at math. From those two numbers you mentioned, I remember 34 being my old baseball jersey in school and 35 was just out there”, smiled Quantez Robertson.

Basketball BL, FRAPORT SKYLINERS - BG GÖTTINGEN „DIE VEILCHEN“

19.03.2017 / Basketball BBL / -4- Kwame Vaughn / FRAPORT SKYLINERS  / -11- Darius Carter / BG GÖTTINGEN

Even if there was a game to be played, Skyliner fans of old had one thing on their mind and that was Skyliner legend Chris Williams who had surprisingly passed away four days ago at only the age of 36 due to blood clotting to the heart. Williams played only two years with the Skyliners, but in those two years was instrumental in the team winning a their only league title to date in 2004 and reaching a league final in 2005. He belonged to the top power forwards in the BBL and was named league MVP. He also will be remembered as possibly being the best player in the history of the organization. The club organized a minute of silence before the tip off and there was one person who was extremely sad and probably had millions of thoughts flowing through his mind in that minute which probably felt like 10 minutes. That person was Skyliners head coach Gordon Herbert who had coached Williams for one season and remembered the Alabama native very well despite having coached him 13 years ago. “I was thinking about the kind of person he was. He was a great teammate and was very sociable. His death really shocked me. His death made me realize just how short life can be. I still remember exactly where he was on the floor when he made that amazing cross over dribble and dunked the ball in the final. Tyrone Ellis helped him become a better professional and taught him how to build his career better”, stressed head coach Gordon Herbert. Fraport Skyliner guard AJ English was pleased about the win knowing that coach Herbert wanted a better performance in the second half, but at the same time shocked how quickly a life can end when confronted with the Chris Williams death. “Alex Ruoff kept them in the game. He hit some difficult shots. I remember watching him as a kid when he was at West Virginia. We stepped it up in the fourth quarter, got defensive stops and kept moving the ball and made shots. We started slow, but picked it up in the fourth quarter.  I saw Williams face the last days as there was a lot of talk, but didn´t know who he was. It is very sad how he died. I know the feeling as I have lost guys like that. For BG Goettingen it has been a tough season and after being destroyed at home by medi Bayreuth last weekend, they stayed with Frankfurt for 30 minutes, but lost control of their energy in the fourth quarter. “We ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Frankfurt made a big run and on defense they pressured us much and we turned the ball over too much and made everything uncomfortable for us. That was a very sad story with Chris Williams. His sudden death puts life and basketball in perspective. It´s not always about winning and losing”, stressed BG Goettingen forward Adam Waleskowski.

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Jesse Sanders Brings That Certain Sweetness To The BG Goettingen Game

In the last years, 2010 Eurochallenge winner BG Goettingen had the special privilege of not only having a gifted point guard in Khalid El Amin who was still motoring the team to big wins and spicing up his stat line at age 36 proving that first impressions about his body stature didn´t mean that he wasn´t able of perform as well as the other top point guards in the BBL, but teammates surely also got their fair share dose of interesting NBA stories from back in the day where the 178cm American had his share of duty in 2000-2001. With El-Amin not back for a third tour of duty with BG Goettingen, the club had to react and find a suitable replacement and did with Jessie Sanders as he has taken on the challenge and has had to live up to the legacy that El-Amin has left in Goettingen. Sanders is a 27 year old 190cm point guard that is a big bodied point guard, technically sound, who has great court vision and has the mentality of a floor general. He may not have the spice and NBA stories of an El-Amin, but he brings a certain sweetness to the BG Goettingen game and if needed can scrape out a spec of NBA information if needed if asked and be able to give a brief history lesson about his home Sugar land and why it is called that as it was founded as a sugar plantation in the early mid-20th century and incorporated in 1959 and Sugar Land is home to the headquarters of Imperial Sugar, and the company’s main sugar refinary. A person may be able to get away mentally from texting for just a second when Sanders mentions that a Tracy Mcgrady or Robert Horry came from his town, but then again when  he mentions the name Hakeem Olajuwon, a person may even shut off their phone and listen intensely with sparkle in their eyes, the same way a person would sway in interest when a person shouts barracuda to shark on a full beach on Long Island on the fourth of July weekend. “I was a huge fan of them growing up! I work out at Lifetime Fitness in Sugar Land and from time to time Hakeem will be in there. We got him to play 3 on 3 with us last summer and he was still killing it”, stressed Jessie Sanders. Sanders played his college ball at Liberty (NCAA) and was the third best assist maker in the NCAA in 2012 averaging 8,0 and is playing his fifth professional season. He brought a lot of experience to BG Goettingen having played in Italy, Australia, and Belgium before coming to Germany last season to play for the Walter Tigers Tuebingen. He came to Goettingen with a big chip on his shoulder as his season was cut short in Tuebingen as injury limited him to 16 games where he averaged 5.0ppg, 2.3rpg, 3.6apg. This season the American who lists Steve Nash as his all-time favorite player and always watched how he pushed the ball in transition and created in the lane has adapted well to the BG Goettingen system and  has run the team well as it is in some way still finding it´s rhythm, but he is averaging 9,1ppg,  2,5rpg and 5,1apg. He played a big part in the big 74-71 win against Lidwigsburg powering home 16 points, but has been in a little of a rut in the last weeks as he has coughed up the ball 12 times in the last three games perhaps over forcing a bit at times, but his playmaking has stilll been solid as he is averaging 5,0apg and still having good shot selection as he is shooting 60% from the field in this span. With the arrival of experienced Alex Ruoff, BG Goettingen who is a great all around player back as well as extra talented creator who is averaging 6,7apg. Ruoff is definitely a player that not only will spice up the BG Goettingen offense, but a player that Sanders will feed off nicely and who Ruoff will make better with his keen basketball IQ. This is a breakout season for Sanders and so far he has been producing nicely and once the team chemistry continues to gel, Sanders might just reach his first post season and have to delay the visit back to Sugar Land next summer to see if Olajuwon is still unbeatable on the court at age of 53.

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Alex Ruoff Is Leading The Charge With The MHP Riesen As A Top 5 BBL Player That Nobody Is Really Aware Of

When you see Alex Ruoff shuffling to the bus after a BBL game one might not think right away that he is a top professional basketball player, but moreover the Spring Hill, Florida 198cm point forward seems like a normal twenty something guy that would spend his free time rooting on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Lightening after a hard working day rather than having to explain to out of town friends where exactly  Weeki Wachee Springs is and if he could actually get some back stage passes to meet the mermaid which is home to the famous live mermaid show there. However he is actually a professional basketball player playing his third season in Germany and first with the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg and possibly a top 5 BBL player this season that no one is really aware of. The Lebron fan who lists Russell Westbrook as the toughest guy that he battled in the NCAA actually has something in common with ex Alba Berlin player and German national player Johannes Herber and NBA legend Jerry West. Ruoff and Herber played one season together at West Virginia(NCAA) and the American left the school as the all-time leader in most three pointers made despite having had such prominence like Jerry West attend West Virginia, but then again West scored his points there before the invention of the parking lot on the basketball court. Ruoff is playing his eighth professional season having played three in Belgium, got his D-league dose with the Canton Charge and Iowa Energy and last season made the jump to the best league in Europe in Spain playing with Dominion Bilbao Basket. He was a solid player in his first four seasons in Belgium and in the D-league, but didn´t really break out until his first season with BG Goettingen in 2013 where he and fellow American Harper Kamp helped the team get back to the BBL winning the Pro A title. It wouldn´t be wrong to say that both guys benefited from each other and helped each other make their coming out as professionals. “Harper Kamp is such a dominating player and has a high basketball IQ. He plays at the skill level of a guard at the forward position”, stressed Alex Ruoff. In his second season with BG Goettingen and first in the BBL, he quickly displayed that he could play at a higher level finishing fifth in scoring averaging  14.8pp, 4.1rpg, 5.1apg, FGP: 48.7%, 3PT: 36.8%, FT: 83.0%. Last season he was rewarded and moved to Dominion Bilbao Basket (Spain-Liga Endesa) 32 games: 6.3ppg, 2.3rpg, 1.4apg, FGP: 48.2%, 3PT: 30.0%, FT: 90.5%; Eurocup: 16 games: 9.6ppg, 3.2rpg, 1.6apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 53.9%, 3PT: 43.3%, FT: 76.0%. Ruoff is a player that has the complete package and is a fighter on the court that has a great shot, is an underrated passer and has a high basketball IQ. “I have the ball in my hands so often that I think that my passing gets overlooked. I passed more in college and now am playing more the position two. I loved watching Steve Nash. He was so good passing on the pick and roll”, stressed Alex Ruoff. Due to his overall great versatile game, he also has a very good shot selection which has shown in the early going this season. In John Patrick´s system where there are many scoring options, it isn´t always easy to sparkle in the scoring department, but that isn´t his role, but moreover to be a leader and do many things well on the court. He has found hid Eurocup shooting touch from last season and this should be the season where the “nobody is really aware of” phrase becomes a “Alex Rouff belongs to the top 5 best players in the BBL that everyone is aware of. At least now we know where Ruoff got some of his basketball IQ from. “The intelligence of Joe Herber brought his game to another level. He was one of the smartest players that I ever played with”, warned Alex Ruoff.At least now Johannes Herber knows that he did his good deed as a senior at West Virginia(NCAA).

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Robert Kulawick Retires From The Beko BBL

For that novice fan that entered a basketball gym for the first time and was scoping the participants on the court might have yelled “hey surfer boy, you might find waves off the coast of Holland, but not the way you are parked in the corner behind that line”. Of course for any one that followed the Beko BBL in Germany in the last years knew that that was no Travis Burke with the long blond hair, but really German basketball player Robert Kulawick who only sported that look after games as on the court he always had his hair in a bun. Kulawick will no longer sit in the corner waiting for the pass and amaze fans with his unorthodox shooting style and golden smile as he has decided to hang up his sneakers in the Beko BBL. The 30 year old 192cm guard has decided to head to Berlin and concentrate on his family and life there. “In the end there were more points that spoke for Berlin than against it. It wasn´t an easy decision and it wasn´t a decision against Goettingen. I have much ties to Goettingen and have many friends here so one will see me here again. I had many nice and successful seasons with Goettingen with the Eurochallenge win or the last game of the season. That will stay forever”, warned Robert Kulawick. The German really picked the perfect time to go as he was instrumental in helping the club remain in the Beko BBL as on the last game day where the team had to win to hinder moving down to the Pro A, he stepped up and rattled the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg with 20 points and called it his best season and career game.

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The Fraport Skyliners Display Beautiful Basketball Like Art And Music Blowing Out BG Goettingen 100-65

A big trend this season for the Fraport Skyliners has been coming off a Fiba Europe cup victory and going into the next Beko BBL contest with a special added dip of self-confidence as just about everything the Fraport Skyliners touched in the international club basketball competition turned to gold, except for their bitter 88-84 OT loss against Maccabi Rishon in Israel last week where their more than impressive 15-0 record which brought them wins against teams from countries like Holland, Slovenia, Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Turkey and Cyprus was snapped. Now for the first time this season, the 2004 Beko BBL champion had to prepare for a league game with a loss in the back of their minds. The sign of a great team is always being able to forget the last game and perform big in the next game which they did winning in fine fashion in Tuebingen Frankfurt arrived in the game against BG Goettingen with a one game losing streak in the Fiba Europe Cup, but had won their last home game in the Beko BBL with a huge 78-48 romp against the Telekom Baskets Bonn while the 2010 Eurochallenge winner who was sitting in 16th place had a four game losing streak and had lost six of the last seven games. In the last three games between Frankfurt and Goettingen, there was no star point guard duel as in the last game last season, Fraport Skyliner Justin Cobbs was out with an injury as ex NBA player Khalid El Amin paced BG Goettingen with 17 points. In the first meeting this season in Goettingen, Frankfurt won 84-71 where Jordan Theodore led the visiting team with 28 points and 10 assists, but ex Chicago Bulls point guard El Amin was still with Sigal Prishtina (Kosovo-SuperLeague) so the big duel never took place and for the last meeting in Frankfurt, El Amin was injured so fans had to observe and enjoy other duels and match ups. Every game now is a game seven for BG Goettingen as they need to find a way to crawl out of the cellar while the Fraport Skyliners continue to look to the top to get the best standings position. El Amin was in the arena and acted like an extra assistant coach on the bench and experienced the great play of the Fraport Skyliners as well as the stellar conducting job of Jordan Theodore. After the easy 100-65 victory, a thrilled Theodore marveled about the game as well as what an impact an El Amin had on him as a player in the last 18 years. “Gottingen played hard, but when we are shooting and defending well and in the zone then we are hard to compete with. When we get stops and get out on transition, we are unstoppable. I watched El Amin when I was growing up. He was a player that made his teammates better and was a real winner. I remember matching his game to the other great point guards in the Big East and later also watched film on him. He won many titles and even played in the NBA. There aren´t many guys that have achieved what he did. I met him in Turkey when I played there. I was sad that I couldn´t play against him. I wanted to play well tonight, but also learn from him”, stated ex Seton Hall point guard Jordan Theodore. BG Goettingen had a good six minute spurt in the second quarter, but for the rest of the game they were dominated in all aspects of the game. EX Florida State standout Luke Loucks who is playing for the Hebeisen White Wings Hanau has caught a few games this season and left the arena impressed once again. “That was another routine win for the Fraport Skyliners. They exhibit real Skyliner basketball when they make great passes, hit open shots and play hard defense. There are so many examples in the game of their great ball movement like at the end where Klein and Doornekamp passed up shots for the totally open Mike Morrison underneath or near the end of the first half where Frankfurt  had four guys had good shots, but all waited for the great shot that that fifth player had”, added Hebeisen White Wings guard Luke Loucks.

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Taylor Rochestie (Maccabi Fox Tel-Aviv) I Have Always Wanted And Worked Hard To Be A Professional Player And Feel Everyday Like I Have Won The Lottery

Taylor Rochestie is a 30 year old 185cm guard from Santa Barbara, California playing his seventh professional season and first with Maccabi Fox Tel-Aviv (Israel-Winner League). He played at Tulane(NCAA) and then finished at Washington St. (NCAA) and as a senior played 33 games averaging 13.2ppg, 3.6rpg, 4.5apg, FGP: 39.2%, 3Pts: 37.9%, FT: 89.1%. He started his professional basketball career in 2009 with MEG Goettingen (Germany-1.Bundesliga) playing EuroChallenge: 16 games: 14.7ppg, 2.9rpg, 2.7apg, 1.5spg, FGP: 47.1%, 3PT: 38.9%, FT: 79.6%; German League: 38 games: Score-3(15.1ppg), 2.8rpg, 3.2apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 50.2%, 3PT: 39.5%, FT: 84.1%. In the 2010-2011 season he played for Galatasaray Cafecrown Istanbul (Turkey-TBL): Turkish League: 16 games: 7.9ppg, 3.5rpg, 3.1apg, FGP: 42.3%, 3PT: 40.5%, FT: 84.2%; EuroCup: 11 games: 6.0ppg, 3.2rpg, 2.5apg, 1.6spg, FGP: 38.3%, 3PT: 38.9%, FT: 81.8%, left in Feb.’11, later that month moved to ALBA Berlin (Germany-1.Bundesliga) playing 27 games: 8.7ppg, 2.7rpg, 3.9apg, FGP: 46.0%, 3PT: 38.1%, FT: 76.6%. In the 2011-2012 season he played for Le Mans Sarthe Basket (France-ProA) playing EuroCup: 8 games: 12.5ppg, 3.6rpg, 4.4apg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 40.0%, FT: 82.4%; French League: 37 games: 16.3ppg, 3.4rpg, Assists-2(6.4apg), FGP: 56.4%, 3PT: 42.8%, FT: 89.3%. In the 2012-2013 season he played for Caja Laboral Vitoria (Spain-ACB): Euroleague: 4 games: 1.5ppg, 1.0spg; Spanish ACB: 7 games: 6.1ppg, 2.6apg, 2FGP: 52.9%, 3FGP: 54.5%, in Jan.’13 moved to Angelico Biella (Italy-SerieA) playing 16 games: 13.4ppg, 2.1rpg, 2.6apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 57.0%, 3PT: 27.9%, FT-3(92.1%).In the 2013-2014 season he played for Montepaschi Siena (Italy-SerieA): Euroleague: 10 games: 6.5ppg, 1.5rpg, 1.7apg, 2FGP: 41.0%, 3FGP: 39.1%, FT: 85.7%; Italian SerieA: 13 games: 7.1ppg, 1.6rpg, 3.0apg, 2FGP: 56.9%, 3FGP: 22.2%, FT: 94.1%, in Jan.’14 moved to BC Nizhny Novgorod (Russia-VTB): 17 games: 14.9ppg, 2.6rpg, 3.9apg, FGP: 40.9%, 3PT: 47.4%, FT: 88.7%; Eurocup: 12 games: 14.3ppg, 1.5rpg, 4.8apg, FGP: 51.3%, 3PT: 37.5%, FT: 89.7%. Last season he played for BC Nizhny Novgorod (Russia-VTB): 31 games: 14.7ppg, 3.2rpg, 5.3apg, FGP: 54.3%, 3PT: 38.8%, FT: 89.9%; Euroleague: 21 games: Score-1(18.9ppg), 1.6rpg, 5.7apg, FGP: 51.9%, 3PT: 50.0%, FT-3(92.5%). He spoke to German Hoops before the Euroleague clash in Bamberg against the Brose Baskets Bamberg.

Taylor thanks for talking to German Hoops. You are back in Bamberg playing Euroleague. What memories do you have of games against this top team when you played with BG Goettingen and Alba Berlin? I guess you wont forget the finals loss to Bamberg in 2011 so easily?

My first year in Germany is when Bamberg started to win titles. I remember how tough it was to play at their gym, and over the years it didn’t get easier. Always well coached with players that play hard, Bamberg is a tough place for any team to come in and get a win, with a large credit due to their amazing fans.

Both Bamberg and Maccabi Tel Aviv are 1-2 and this is a big game for both teams to stay in the group hunt and not slip further back. Do you believe that this game will be won on the defensive end?

Most tough games are won with big stops defensively and also the ability to score big baskets when it counts. Momentum plays a big role as well and being able to control the pace of the game, especially on the road in a great environment.

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Which Point Guard Will Propel BG Goettingen To Success Again Like Last Season?

One thing that you can´t discredit BG Goettingen head coach Johan Roijakkers from having is enormous balls or in kinder terms giant guts for how he decided to put together the most important piece of his team with the point guard position. Its no secret the success of a team usually has to do with how well the point guard leads and guides the team coupled with a healthy team chemistry that is formed by the head coach and carried on by the complete team. Last season Roijakkers came up with the interesting, surprising, but right choice in hauling in former NBA player Khalid El Amin who played 50 NBA games for the Chicago Bulls and won the NCAA title with UConn. Alba Berlin swing man Nils Giffey and El Amin could go back to the Uconn campus in Storrs with their three NCAA rings and probably get a hero´s welcome. What makes the welcome of El Amin to the German Beko BBL so interesting and amazing is the risk that BG Goettingen took on the 35 year old 200 pound American. Not did El Amin look out of shape, but he didn´t play at all last season on account of an injury in a Turkish cup game and had many critics questioning the mind of BG Goettinge head coach Johann Roijakkers for making such an unpredictable and bold move. Of course, El Amin has had a stellar track record in Europe as BG Goettingen is his 12th team, but his numbers and titles don´t lie. He has played most of his career in Turkey and the Ukraine and even played two seasons for Besiktas Istanbul (Turkey-D1) where Allen Iverson played. His stats have always been immaculate as he has been at the top of scoring and assists for whatever league he played in. He won titles in Croatia and in Turkey and Ukraine the cup where he was MVP in two titles victories. Even if his appearance and one year off are questionable, his play in the Beko BBL was excellent as he played 32 games averaging 14.5ppg, 2.3rpg, 4.8apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 53.5%, 3PT: 32.3%, FT: 90.1%. With a little more luck and bounces here and there, the team would have reached the playoffs, but finished in 10th place. BG Goettingen would have liked to have kept the American this season, but with a limited team budget and many heads to feed, El Amin moved to Sigal Prishtina (Kosovo-SuperLeague). This season Roijakkers had more pressure to form a potent team as he lost key players like El Amin, Raymar Morgan and Alex Rouff, but instead of going a more safe route and bringing in a younger, equally talented point guard, he must have had that itch and special feeling in his stomach to do the more unconventional and risky again like last season by bringing in an older point guard in Ricky Minard who had two pluses over El Amin in that he is two years younger and actually played last season even if it wasn´t much for SPO Rouen Basket (France-ProA) playing 5 games: 4.4ppg, 1.4rpg, 2.4apg, 1.2spg. Minard is a 33 year old 196cm guard that can do it all filling up the stats sheet the way Monta Ellis does in the NBA scoring on the penetration, shooting from outside and finding his teammates. This is the first season for the American in Germany after having played in countries like Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and France. He was drafted in 2004 by the Sacramento Kings (NBA,2rd(48) after a stellar college career at Morehead St. (NCAA) and as a senior played 29 games: ScoreOVC-1(21.8ppg), RebOVC-4(7.3rpg), AssistsOVC-4(5.1apg), 2.1spg, FGP: 45.1%, 3PT: 32.6%, FT: 77.6%: Finished career at Morehead State as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,381 points. Also finished 11th in rebounding (725) and second in assists (417). He felt most comfortable in Italy playing parts of 8 seasons there. His biggest titles was the 2011 Eurocup with Unics Kazan (Russia-PBL) and winning the league and cup in 2014 with Budivelnyk Kyiv (Ukraine-Superleague). However after two games he hasn´t lived up to expectations averaging only 5,0ppg, 2,5rpg and 2,0apg and the club now got a shock that the American is indefinitely injured. Now the question will be how well does BG Goettingen survive without Minard and if they compensate the loss by other means. The momentary solution was called Chris Jones who is a 24 year old quick 178cm guard that is a rookie that started with Yesilgiresun Belediye (Turkey-BSL), but never played a game. He played the last two years with Louisville (NCAA) and as a senior played 26 games: 13.7ppg, 4.0rpg, 3.6apg, 2.0spg, FGP: 40.3%, 3PT: 33.9%, FT: 73.0%. He had 15 points in his BBL debut in the loss to Bamberg. But he is already gone and headed to Paris. So who will be the new American point guard an old or another younger player? There are some well known players on the market just cut from NBA teams, but will they be in any way to finance? The club has had a rough start at 1-3 and now must do serious soul searching and hope the risk and question mark feeling doesn´t back fire.

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Justin Cobbs Goes From Slightly Invisible To That Much Needed Glow On The Court Powering The Fraport Skyliners With One Slick Move To The Hole Past BG Goettingen 74-70

When BG Goettingen arrived on the scene in the Beko BBL in the 2007-2008 season, head coach John Patrick and company brought a breath of fresh air to the league as their 40 minutes of basketball hell and unconventional style brought one or the other BBL opponents to unwanted head aches or annoying and painful cramps after a 40 minute battle in the trenches. The Frankfurt Skyliners also had their share of unforgettable games against the 2010 Eurochallenge winner as who could forget the amazing win in the mysterious Lok Halle in Goettingen where Murat Didin had a sick list as long as Shaq´s midnight snack list to Mcdonalds as he dressed 7 players and Maksym Shtein had the game of his life and showed a totally other side of him as he exploded on the court making just about every touch he had land in the basket as he led the club in scoring with 24 points. Other nice memories were in the 2009-2010 season where Frankfurt won in overtime 90-88 as Aubrey Reese tied the game at 88 with a three pointer and then won the game with two free throws with nine seconds to play and Seth Doliboa blocked the last BG Goettingen shot with two seconds to play. That season Frankfurt also got past BG Goettingen in the Cup Top 4 in Frankfurt only to later lose to Bamberg in the final. In the 2010-2011 season Frankfurt swept the season series and then won in the playoffs 3-0. In the last meeting between both teams, American Matt Bauscher preserved the win for BG Goettingen 62-61 with the classic buzzer beater. After two seasons in the German Pro A, BG Goettingen returned back into the Fraport arena with a new coach and all new players and wanted to continue their winning streak there, but couldn´t stop Justin Cobbs last minute transformation from slightly invisible to that needed glow at the end despite giving up a strong fight losing 74-70. After the win, Fraport Skyliner Quantez Robertson was happy that despite the tight win that he didn´t have to test his nerves even more with a buzzer beater and seeing his old teammate Dominik Bahiense De Mello “I remember BG Goettingen having a good look with that buzzer beater a few years back. Tonight we did a good job executing down the stretch. I made a stupid play at the end letting them get to the free throw line, but we held our composure at the end getting the needed stops. It was a good feeling playing against my ex teammate who I played two seasons with. He is still a good friend of mine today. He made some crucial shots at the end to get his team closer. I am happy there was no buzzer beater today”, expressed Auburn alumnist Quantez Robertson. After the 93-86 loss against the Brose Baskets Bamberg, BG Goettingen was looking to get back on track in the win column and gave a great fight against the Fraport Skyliners, but came up a bit short. After the game, BG Goettingen was more than unpleased about the narrow loss and had a lack of words for the reasons of the loss. “They made the plays that they needed down the stretch. Cobbs is a great player and future Euroleague player that came up big”, stressed former Michigan State forward Raymar Morgan.

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Khalid El Amin May Look Like A Dough Boy But His Heart And Will Could Bring BG Goettingen To New Heights This Season.

In the last eight seasons, basketball has always been alive in Goettingen, but after falling back to the Pro A three seasons ago, the club is finally back in the Beko BBL after playing in the top German league from 2007-2012. In this time, the two biggest highlights was the amazing 2010 Eurochallenge win where German Chris Mcnaughton had the game of his life leading the team to victory with 22 points and the time the club played Eurocup against Beisktas Istanbul with future NBA legend Allen Iverson. Former head coach John Patrick put Goettingen basketball on the map in Germany as well as his special brand of basketball of 40 minutes of basketball hell with his hectic full press type of annoying basketball. This season the club has reached that third major highlight with the acquisition of former NBA player Khalid El Amin who played 50 NBA games for the Chicago Bulls and won the NCAA title with UConn. Alba Berlin swing man Nils Giffey and El Amin could go back to the Uconn campus in Storrs with their three NCAA rings and probably get a hero´s welcome. What makes the welcome of El Amin to the German Beko BBL so interesting and amazing is the risk that BG Goettingen took on the 35 year old 200 pound American that looks like a dough boy that could probably keep up with Shaq for the first five big macs, but then kindly surrender from a Mcdonalds eating binge. Not only does El Amin look out of shape, but he didn´t play at all last season on account of an injury in a Turkish cup game and had many critics questioning the mind of BG Goettinge head coach Johan Roijakkers for making such an unpredictable and bold move. Of course, El Amin has had a stellar track record in Europe as BG Goettingen is his 12th team, but his numbers and titles don´t lie. He has played most of his career in Turkey and the Ukraine and even played two seasons for Besiktas Istanbul (Turkey-D1) where Allen Iverson played. His stats have always been immaculate as he has been at the top of scoring and assists for whatever league he played in. He won titles in Croatia and in Turkey and Ukraine the cup where he was MVP in two titles victories. Even if his appearance and one year off are questionable, his play in the Beko BBL has been excellent as he is averaging 12,5 ppg, 6,2apg and 1,7rpg. Even as he gets older, he continues to be a warrior as he can still battle with guys 10 years his junior as he has the perfect combination of skill, heart and will that could raise BG Goettingen to new heights. Already as a kid he was already focused as he made the North High Polars varsity team at age 14 and led them to three state titles in Minnesota. Before the season, many critics had this club as a team that could move back down to the German Pro A, but so far they have kept their own and are fighting for a playoff spot even if their goal before the season was too stay in the league. Hauling in the old dough boy has paid dividends as once again a she has led BG Goettingen and his experience and leadership skills is what has carried his teammates mostly a list of no name players that are playing their first season in the Beko BBL to new heights. At the start of the season ex Georgetown point guard Jason Clark had the pleasure of being the teammate El Amin in Goettingen and even if he was there only a few weeks before moving to Belgium to Okapi Aalstar, the American was thankful for the experience. “I remember watching him at UCONN winning the NCAA title. When I heard he was playing with BG Goettingen my first reaction was “Is he still playing”? He has had a great career in Europe. It was a great experience for me playing behind him in Goettingen and just learning how he can take over a game and I hope I could take some of his competitiveness with me. Learning from him is vital because everyone wants to reach the next level and get to the Euroleague or NBA”, stressed Jason Clark. It will be interesting to see how BG Goettingen continue to develop in the next months with El Amin leading the team. If the team makes the playoffs or stays in the Beko BBL, the dough boy probably will have no problems if he gets free bread and sweet pastries from local bakeries as a season ending reward.

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