Brose Baskets Bamberg

Can The Deutsche Bank Skyliners Stop The Playoff Run Of The Brose Baskets Bamberg In The 2010 BEKO BBL Final

The last time that The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were in the BEKO BBL Final, Miley Cyrus was not yet being hounded by the media or banks where to unload her bucks, Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat were still one year away from their first NBA title, The Boston Red Sox were still on cloud 9 having broken the curse of the bambino and winning their first MLB title in 86 years winning 10 months earlier, Lady Gaga was unknown and a go-go girl and Miss umbrella Rihanna was on the brink o stardom as Pon De Replay was being released. The year was 2005 when Frankfurt lost 3-2 against GHP Bamberg as they were last called as they lost a bitter game five 68-64 in Bamberg as Demond Mallet led the winners with 19 points and Skyliner Malick Badiane who was best remembered for missing  a key lay up in the waning minutes. The only player remaining from this series is Skyliner captain Pascal Roller. A good omen for Frankfurt is that new coach Gordon Herbert led the club to the title in 2004 against Bamberg. Herbert will be good for the team, because he has experience and will help the team stay calm in such an exciting series.

In the last five years, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners have had a miserable 0-10 record in Bamberg and slowly one has to contemplate if secretly a curse has been set upon the club. The Boston Red Sox couldn´t win a title for 86 years as they were plagued by the curse of the bambino(Babe Ruth traded to New York Yankees) after title win in 1918. Hopefully there is no curse against the Skyliners at Bamberg, but since Game four of the 2004 BEKO BBL finals, nothing has gone right. There have been no memorable games in this winless streak, but just forgettable side notes like an 80-60 loss in 2006 where Antonio Meeking got injured in a humiliating 88-51 loss, but two close games like the 80-74 OT loss in 2006 where Frankfurt and Jimmy Mckinney were so close to winning and the 66-61 loss last season where American Anthony King showed his best game scoring 16 points and hauling down 11 rebounds. Even though German National coach Dirk Bauermann has not been coach in Bamberg since two years, Frankfurt still hans´t been able to win in Bamberg. The days where coach Dirk Bauermann could unknowingly scare a small child with his stare, Steffen Hamann whining and raising his shoulder in disbelief of a foul all day long, and a truck(Jason Sasser) mowing over a Skyliner are long over. The only thing remaining from the Bauermann era are lovable ex Skyliner Robert Garrett, faithful assistant coach Volker Stix and unbearable and cruel 70 months since the last win in Bamberg in game four of the 2004 BBL finals.

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The Deutsche Bank Skyliners Allow Predrag Suput To Get Hot Losing The 2010 BEKO BBL Final To Bamberg 76-75

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.

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BG Goettingen-Brose Baskets Bamberg BEKO BBL Top 4 Preview

The first semi final in the 2010 BEKO BBL Top 4 pits the Brose Baskets Bamberg against BG Goettingen as both clubs have faced each other 10 times in the last 18 months making the distance of 286 autobahn kilometers seem like their own German subway series similar to the New York Yankees-New York Mets series and making the frequency of their meetings going down the same path as NBA legend Allen Iverson did with his love for say ing practice in a press conference a few years ago. The Brose Baskets and BG Goettingen will square off in the first BEKO BBL Top 4 semi final on April 10th at 16.25 while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners face off against The Eisbaeren Bremerhaven in the second semi final at 19:15.

The Brose Baskets Bamberg lead the head to head series since the 2007-2008 season winning eight games and losing only four games. Last season, after BG Goettingen was one of the top teams in the BBL and big surprises, their 40 minutes of basketball hell lost their strength in the playoffs running out of gas losing the quarterfinal playoff series 3-1. This season, the teams have split the season series winning their respective games at home.

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Bamberg Is In Play-Off Shape Now

With 9-10 games left to play in the regular season it becomes more and more obvious which teams should end up in the top 8 and qualify for the 2010 BBL Play-Offs.

It looks like a safe bet that we should see 8-time champion Alba Berlin (19-5), reigning champion EWE Baskets Oldenburg (17-6), surprise team BG Goettingen (17-6) and vice-champion Telekom Baskets Bonn (17-8) in the post season.

But from position 5 to 12 teams are still battling hard to see some play-off action in May. It is like playing musical chairs with just four seats left for 8 teams: Bamberg (15-10), Frankfurt (15-10), Bremerhaven (15-10), Braunschweig (14-11), Artland Dragons (13-12), Mitteldeutscher BC (13-12), EnBW Ludwigsburg (12-12) and the Walter Tigers Tübingen (12-13) eye the post-season, but just four of those teams will be able to compete in May and June.

A team that has stood out in the last few weeks is Bamberg.

Similar to the last few years the Brose Baskets Bamberg had a difficult start into the season. Starting Point Guard John Goldsberry had to miss 6 games due to an injury and it took some time for new players like Casey Jacobson, Brian Roberts and Tibor Pleiss to adept to their new roles. A four game losing streak in November really made some fans question whether Chris Fleming should be replaced. But it seems like the same old story every year: After the usual false start Bamberg’s team is getting better and better from game to game.

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Teamcheck: Brose Baskets Bamberg

[updated October 7] After losing 1-3 in the 2007/08 play-off quarterfinals against EWE Baskets Oldenburg the era of Dirk Bauermann had come to an end in Brose Baskets BambergBamberg.

Bauermann’s record with Bamberg looked absolutely impressive. He took over a financially almost ruined and in sports terms struggling team and with manager Wolfgang Heyder helped to turn this squad in a commanding force in Germany’s elite division.

In his second year with Bamberg in 2003 he managed to not only reach the post season but also make it to the finals. But Alba Berlin did not show any mercy with Bamberg and finished them off with a 3-0 sweep.

But the core of this team stayed with Bamberg and with guys like Chris Ensminger, Mike Nahar, Uvis Helmanis, Rick Stafford and young Steffen Hamann established a reputation of being something like the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys of the BBL. For sure their style was not the most aesthetic and at times they their style was really rough, but this squad turned out to be very successful under the guidance of Dirk Bauermann. Certainly they lacked talent compared to other top teams, but with heart and fighting spirit these guys personified the typical outsider who does not give up and battles hard for every possession.

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