With the exception of always new injuries popping up in Fraport Skyliners land that tries to put a dent in the flow and rhythm of the team which is as unnerving as being sat on by Shaq after he had a meal at Mcdonalds, basketball life is pretty awesome for the 2004 Beko BBL champion at the moment. After the team had a big winning streak of 13 games in the first half, it then suffered losing some focus losing to ratiopharm Ulm and medi Bayreuth, but since that fateful December 23rd in Bayreuth, the club hasn´t lost since, having strung a long new winning streak of 9 games. In the last week, they were super impressive reaching the 2016 Beko BBL cup top 4 beating top Eurocup team EWE Baskets Oldenburg despite being without German national players Danilo Barthel and Konstantin Klein and then 4 days later in Europe Cup action were missing them again plus Canadian national player Aaron Doornekamp and whipped strong Turkish team Royal Hali Gaziantep 91-79 displaying that team feeling once again and just having other players step up for the injured players. With the win against Royal Hali Gaziantep, the Fraport Skyliners moved to 11-0 in Europe Cup play and clinched a berth to the next round. With all this basketball hoopla having happened in the last week, now it was time for the Fraport Skyliners to continue to work on that supreme basketball chemistry and continue to carve steady focus into their minds for each game. With medi Bayreuth entering into the cozy living room of Frankfurt, the club still had that last bitter 82-69 loss on their minds where they were out dueled by a hot shooting Jeff Xavier nailing timely three pointers, but this time around there would be no Xavier around to annoy Frankfurt with his precision shooting as he had been released recently. The Fraport Skyliners had revenge on their mind and there was no way they would allow getting swept this season and despite playing a less than satisfactory first half, the 2000 Beko BBL cup winner heightened their defense in the second half, never gave up and witnessed as Cincinnati native Quantez Robertson unleashed the complete freak athlete in crunch time leading the team to a come from behind 75-71 victory, which was their 10th in a row. After the game and a win, it is standard procedure to chat with American Jordan Theodore and get the full game analysis in a basketball Shakesperean manner and even before he has finished some Skyliners were already heading back into the locker room after the obligatory autographes with fans. The American was relived after getting the huge come from behind win against medi Bayreuth and as so often this season credited the win to the club´s never die attitude. “Coming in we knew that this would be a very tough game. We owed them for the first bitter loss in Bayreuth. They may only have 7 wins, but you can´t underestimate anyone in this league. The last three minutes were back and forth, but the way we played, you could see how much we wanted to win. When we were down 18 points, we continued to fight back and when we were down 12 points the same. We made the right plays at the end, got stops and never gave up. What we played was Skyliners basketball”, stressed ex Seton Hall guard Jordan Theodore. For medi Bayreuth having misfortune in two of the loses in the last three games was nothing new as they had combined lost to Bremerhaven and Phoenix Hagen by 7 points and against Frankfurt they let another nail bitter slip by. “I thought that we did a good job doing our game plan sticking to it for 38 minutes. The second half was our downfall as we continued to give up leads. We made costly mistakes at the end and when you do that to a good defensive team, then it is hard to win”, stressed ex Joensuun Kataja Basket forward Ken Horton.
Frankfurt Skyliners
Andrew Rautins (Royal Hali Gaziantep) Aaron Doornekamp Is One Of The Most Underrated Players That I Have Played With
Andrew Rautins is a 29 year old 193cm guard from Jamestown, New York that is playing his sixth professional season and first with Royal Hali Gaziantep (Turkey-BSL). He started his basketball career at Syracuse in 2005 playing there until 2010 reaching tow NIT Elite 8 tournaments and the NCAA Sweet 16. In 2010-2011 he started his professional career being drafted by New York Knicks (NBA,2rd(38). He played 5 games for the New York Knicks averaging 1.6ppg.In the 2011-2012 season he went to Europe and played for Lucentum Alicante (Spain-ACB): 17 games: 7.3ppg, 1.8rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 35.3%, 3PT: 34.8%, FT: 80.0%. In the 2012-2013 season he played for the Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA), released in Oct.”12, in Nov.”12 signed at Tulsa 66ers (D-League): 51 games: 13.3ppg, 2.7rpg, 2.4apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 45.2%, 3PT: 43.8%, FT: 76.6%. In the 2013-2014 season he played for the Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt (Germany-BBL): 15 games: Score-3(17.6ppg), 4.3rpg, 3.6apg, FGP: 46.3%, 3PT: 42.4%, FT: 91.2%. Last season he played for Openjobmetis Varese (Italy-Serie A) playing 28 games averaging 12.0ppg, 4.6rpg, 2.3apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 32.9%, 3PT: 39.5%, FT: 81.4%. He spoke to German Hoops before the Europe Cup game against the Fraport Skyliners.
Andrew welcome back to Germany. It has been 2.5 years since you played your last game in a Fraport Skyliners jersey. Since then you played in Italy and now playing in Turkey with Royal Hali Gaziantep (Turkey-BSL). Has time flown by for you?
Time has really flown by since I played for the Fraport Skyliners. One is always starting some new kind of chapter in Europe and it just goes by faster with the short summers.
How much are you looking forward to playing in the Fraport arena where you had some big games. You had your biggest games on the road in Bremerhaven, Trier and Ulm, but is there a game you remember most fondly from the Fraport arena?
I don´t have one specific game that I can say I remember most in the Fraport arena. I remember that I always had a good feeling in the Fraport arena. It was always fun to play in that gym. The fans were amazing and Frankfurt is a great city. Everyone treated me very well there and the Fraport Skyliners is a great organization.
The Miles Basketball Minute: The Fraport Skyliners Own Strong Team Chemistry And Just Need To Carve Steady Focus Into Their Minds For Each Game
With the second half of the Beko BBL season already in full swing, one could categorize the season of the Fraport Skyliners into three parts with nonstop Europe Cup winning, mostly winning in the Beko BBL with big wins against the Brose Baskets Bamberg and FC Bayern Munich and a few loses on account of minimal focus and concentration. For head coach Gordon Herbert, the season has been a success so far, but in reality the season could have been even better for the perfectionist. Not to forget the Fraport Skyliners could actually have 15 wins instead of 13 had they not lost on the last possession against Oldenburg and Wurzburg and could have even had a few wins more had they just been able to play Skyliners basketball the way they know how instead of losing road games to ratiopharm Ulm and medi Bayreuth. One can always lose to a team like Alba Berlin when they are hitting the ocean like Jordan Taylor and Wil Cherry did, but in reality the Fraport Skyliners are already a very good basketball team at this point of the season one really has to wonder how good it could be now if they hadn´t had injury problems early in the season and had the big German three of Johannes Voigtmann, Danilo Barthel and Konstantin Klein been at full strength. They were without the big three in their first two loses against Oldenburg and against Wurzburg and only had a full rotation against Bayreuth while not having the services of American Jordan Theodore in the loss in Ulm. Frankfurt has been able to have a perfect 10-0 record in Europe Cup thanks mainly to always having a full rotation, but only because the international competition started in late October.
Jordan Theodore Remembers Dyckman Playground Leading The Fraport Skylines Into The Beko BBL Top 4 Over Oldenburg 80-68
In the past 25-40 years there have been very little birds chirping anything positive about the New York Knicks who had success in the 70´s with the leadership of Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe winning titles in 1970 and 1973 or the Detroit Pistons with their success with Isiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman winning back to back titles in 1989 and 1990 and not to forget their win in 2004 and one could hardly call these two basketball cities a rivalry, but both cities have two exceptional players balling in Europe with Ricky Paulding and Jordan Theodore. Paulding who was drafted by his home town team Pistons in 2004 coming out of Missouri(NCAA) has had a brilliant career overseas and has been with the EWE Baskets Oldenburg since 2007 and most likely will be built a special statue the day he hangs up his sneakers, while Theodore is a guy who hails from Engelwood, New Jersey, but was quicker in New York city on the I-95 than Spike Lee could depart Madison Square Garden after a Knicks win. While Paulding has won the 2009 Beko BBL title and 2015 Beko BBL cup, the ex Seton Hall star Theodore hasn´t won anything meaningful in hardware playing for losing teams in Turkey and France, but this season with the Fraport Skyliners, he could pull even with Mr Oldenburg, because the New Jersey native who hung around in New York growing up has good chances to win the Europe Cup where Frankfurt is 10-0 so far and the cup, but to do this he needs to win three games. However Paulding was standing in the way in that first win for the ticket to reach Munich in the cup top 4 at the end of February. Theodore was seeking revenge after the first loss in Oldenburg where Frankfurt lost on the last possession 82-80. In that contest, Paulding had 10 points, four boards and five assists while Theodore led his club with 17 points and was so close to escaping with a victory. With the Pistons and Knicks far away from their minds, it was the Beko BBL showdown between Detroit and New York and it was the big apple that prevailed, but Jordan Theodore didn´t have the motor city and Rickey Paulding on his mind, but actually Dyckman playground in the Bronx as he had some added fuel in his tank playing against his childhood friend Scott Machado who was injured in that first meeting of the season. Machado has made the NBA playing 6 NBA games for the Houston Rockets and led the NCAA in 2012 in assists with 9,9 with Iona feeding the ball to ex Fraport Skyliner Sean Armand all night long and had had enough friendly games against Theodore on the court, but never in a professional game. Theodore and Machado had played a lot at the Dyckman playground in the Bronx so playing this so important game for the ticket to the cup top 4 meant a lot to both players. Theodore got the best of his close friend Machado leading the Fraport Sklyiners to a 80-68 win against the 2015 Beko BBL cup winner EWE Baskets Oldenburg. “This wasn´t something personal, but something I looked forward to. He is from Queens and I am from Engelwood, Nerw Jersey which is 5 minutes from New York. When he was a senior he was #1 in the nation in assists and I was something like fifth or sixth. Our match ups were pretty even growing up. But we played street ball so there was a lot of talent around with NBA players around”, stressed Jordan Theodore who scored 12 points and dished out eight assists in the win against Oldenburg. After the win a disappointed Scott Machado who has played in France and Estonia departed from the locker room and quickly was put into a land of reminiscing as he was reminded of his childhood basketball days with Theodore. “As kids we played streetball against each other. We work out with the same trainer and Jordan is like a brother to me. He works so hard and would run through a brick wall. He just loves the game so much. He got the better of me tonight”, warned Scott Machado.
Pit Bull Little Wins Round One Against Bully Boone as Jordan Theodore Paces The Fraport Skyliners Past The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 83-78
Even if the basketball life of professional players can be a “I am here today, but 1000 miles away tomorrow living and experiencing a new style of play and culture, basketball friendships tend to be built very easily and continue as time goes by as distance can a big factor in keeping them alive. With today´s technology group chat is something that many players live by as Shawn James who had his best years with Macabbi Tel Aviv, but even now after a stay in Spain with Bilbao and now with Euroleague power house Olympiacos S.F.P. Pireus (Greece-A1) still maintains contact with his ex Macabbi players Devin Smith, Tyrese Rice and Ricky Hickman via that route. The most common way to develop a basketball friendship is by having a guy around daily not for just one season, but for many as current Fraport Skyliners Junior Marius Nolte and current Gotha(Pro A) assistant coach Steven Esterkamp had seeing the highs and lows of professional basketball from 2004-2009 with Paderborn as they moved up to the Beko BBL together in 2006 winning 50 games in a row and forcing Alba Berlin to a 5 game playoff series in 2009. Since then if you ask Nolte about Esterkamp, he would say that the Ohio native is one of his best friends as going on vacation with their respective families each summer is nothing uncommon. However the most unique friendship are those that continue to live on year by year as players continue to grow and move on from team to team with that same person. Fraport Skyliner guard John Little and Jason Boone share a very special friendship in that one could easily call them brothers. Boone and Little played together at BG Goettingen from 2008-2011 experiencing their best time there reaching the playoffs each season finishing 2009 and 2010 in second and third place as the club´s 40 minutes of hell on the court gave the BBL a new dimension, winning the Eurochallenge in 2010 and were on the same court playing against Allen Iverson in a Eurocup game in 2011 as he played for Besiktas ColaTurka Istanbul (Turkey-TBL). They then moved to the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg where they played together from 2011-2014 where they reached one playoff in 2012 kicking out Alba Berlin, but also having woes in their last season as the club finished in 17th place and moved to the Pro A. Of course along the way their head coach and mentor John Patrick played a role in their staying together. Last season Little played in Ludwigsburg and Boone had his first experience outside Germany with Torku Konyaspor (Turkey-TBL). This season Boone moved to Ludwigsburg to be reunited with Patrick, but at times it seems like Boone is a part of the Fraport Skyliners as he is seen as often as possible at games supporting his good friend Little making the 2 hour car drive as a sort of sixth man and good luck charm when he is free. Even last season he came from Turkey and supported Little at games as they beat Alba Berlin. Now for the first time in their career, they faced off as opponents as Boone who forms the Bully brothers in Ludwigsburg with Jon Brockman met the pit bull Little which charachterizes his aggressive defense as both teams fought until the end, but the Fraport Skyliners were able to grind out the win 83-78 as they executed in the last minute on offense and Ludwigsburg didn´t. One could of found countless adjectives to describe the game and ex Seton Hall guard Jordan Theodore had no problem either finding the right words. “This was a tough, gritty, hard fought, down and out dirty game, with both wanting to win where both teams fought to the buzzer. A few days ago in Bayreuth we played cocky as if we had won a title or something where we let them dictate the game. Today we dictated the game and were able to pull it out at the end”, stressed Engelwood, New Jersey native Jordan Theodore. 2010 Eurochallenge winner Jason Boone was happy to play against his friend, but disappointed with the result. “This wasn´t the most entertaining game to watch. A game can become ugly when two teams like to grind out the way we do. They grinded a bit harder than we did. I always try to go into the game with the same mentality. If you get too motivated it can be a disadvantage. Little is a real fighter and gets his team to fight harder. He never backs down against anyone”, stressed ex BG Goettingen center Jason Boone. Little lost two teeth, but it was worth it getting the win against his friend. “It was crazy playing the first time against him. He is one of my best friends and we are always rooting for each other. It wasn´t the best day for either as we were both in foul trouble. There will be a next battle in Ludwigsburg”, smiled Illinois native John Little. “We rebounded very well and got every loose ball which was the difference. We outworked Ludwigsburg which we didn´t do in Bayreuth”, said Aaron Doornekamp.
Alba Berlin Halt Fraport Skyliners 13 Game Winning Streak With Wild 95-82 Victory On The Road
It has been ages since Alba Berlin captain Alex King strapped on a Frankfurt Skyliners jersey as he was a mainstay with the team from 2002-2008 achieving some big moments like winning the 2004 Beko BBL title or reaching the final in 2005 losing a tough fifth game in Bamberg or reaching the semi-finals in his last season in 2008 losing in a bitter five game series against his future team Telekom Baskets Bonn where Skyliner legend Pascal Roller was denied on the last play. The Munich native also had some bad moments like the seasons 2005-2007 where the team fell into a losing rut that had never ever been seen before in the organization under coaches Ivan Sunara and Charles Barton or having to play for Turkish head coach Murat Didin twice and getting to know his dog house on more than one occasion as it wasn´t a cake walk playing for him. In the years after, King contributed to the ongoing curse in Bonn that held on to 10 years where Frankfurt couldn´t win and also help supply wins against his ex team with the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg and in the last three years also left the court as the winner on more than one occasion with top club Alba Berlin. Now as it is habit each season, King returns back to the Fraport arena, but under very special circumstances as both teams are experiencing runs that for the one team has brought history to their organization while for the other just sheer surprise. Like years ago when the Fraport Skyliners were trying to end the Bonn curse, now King is trying to end this amazing winning streak of his ex team that currently stands at 13 games while Alba Berlin has a surprising 5 game losing streak that the players know need to be broken, because with every new loss the patience of Sasa Obradovic grows and grows and that so usual white tint that he displays on the side line may turn more ruddy with every new emotional explosion. The Fraport Skyliners came back home after an ugly win in Porto in Europe Cup action where they wobbled to victory after sustaining a mini hibernation in the second half, but one has to give the 2000 cup winner credit, when it counts, they instantly become a team no one wants to deal with as they suddenly execute without problems on offense and defense. It was interesting to see if Gordon Herbert could turn off this hibernation in this game and if both Frankfurt and Golden State would still be undefeated Sunday evening? On Sunday night only one team carried on with their winning streak as Golden State remained intact at 21 after a close 112-109 win over Toronto where Steph Curry poured home an electrifying 44 points while the Fraport Skyliners 13 game winning streak was halted at 13 games as they couldn´t get by Alba Berlin losing 95-82 as the game saw just about everything from untypical high scoring from the leagues top two defensive teams and an array of technical fouls and players fouled out as the scoreboard had an untypical red glare. It was a tight close game until halftime, but in the second half the Fraport Skyliners totally lost their rhythm and had an uncharacteristic unstable offense and an influx of turnovers that coast them the game even if they fought until the end cutting down the opponents lead. “We couldn´t score at all at the start of the fourth quarter. We fought until the end as our spirt never dies. However we have to be able to pull together better down the stretch. We did a good job cutting down the lead to six points, but then they increased back to ten points and more. Their guards Taylor and Cherry hit tough shots and made plays. We just didn´t played defense the way we are accustomed to”, stressed New York native Jordan Theodore. Alba Berlin came into the game with a five game losing streak and were testing the patience of head coach Sasa Obradovic, but their consistent offense in the second half and more aggressive defense helped them get the win. “ It felt good to get this win after 5 straight loses. Bouncing back here will help our self confidence. The first half saw much high scoring against the two best defensive teams which was untypical. They fought hard in the last three minutes and made it tough for us, but we stuck together and got the win”, added ex Wisconsin(NCAA) Badger Jordan Taylor.
The Miles Basketball Minute: The Fraport Skyliners Are The Little Darlings Of The Beko BBL And Gordon Herbert Is The Best Coach And Nobody Really Knows It
It has been more than 11 years since manager Gunnar Woebke of the Fraport Skyliners last sipped champagne after winning the second club title in the team´s history since it entered the league in 1999 and since then they have come close a few times to winning a third losing against the Brose Baskets Bamberg in the 2005 and 2010 finals both in 5 games something a Malik Badiane and Pascal Roller will surely never forget. The Beko BBL gets more competitive each season, the top teams seem to get bigger budgets while the Fraport Skyliners continue to be in the lower bracket of the league in terms of budget. Every now and then the team has had great spurts like last season as new November arrival Justin Cobbs led a team from almost last place to the playoffs and the Eurochallenge final 4. That moment of glory has arrived back with the Fraport Skyliners this season as currently the team is riding a 9 game winning streak and in reality should be in 11-0 had they been able to execute on the last play in Oldenburg and against the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg which would have got the team the victories. In the last few weeks it has been the same story after a game in the Fraport arena as the experienced FC Bayern Munich players who know the league snuck out of the catacombs like embarrassed little kids who had to enter school with their parents a no go since always while Americans Alex Renfroe and KC Rivers had more of the NBA style answering questions like professionals should or last weekend when the Brose Baskets Bamberg who were even a bit more perturbed as some exited with their heads bundled up in their hoodies as if they were to enter the Siberian winter when it was really only about 12c in Frankfurt. Beko BBL and Fiba Europe cup teams keep coming and leaving the Fraport arena as losers and if one didn´t see the game and put the two coaches side by side one wouldn´t really have known who had lost except for maybe a bit more of a ruddy expression on a Svetislav Pesic, but really if one watches a Gordon Herbert closely he pretty much always exhibits the same expression with the focused and straight ahead mentality and wanting to forget that amazing win as quickly as possible and get ready for the next basketball war. Gunnar Woebke paces up and down the catacombs calmly not getting excited about the amazing season start and just greets paying customers and sponsors and savoring every moment like a proud little kid that just got the high score on PS4. It is still very early, but there is something very very special about this team and the question is is this finally the year where the team wins it´s third title? Their best chance lies in the Fiba Europe Cup as well, but the Beko BBL is slowly noticing this extraordinary special basketball fairy tale that is being made in Frankfurt.
Aaron Doornekamp Brings His Canadian Offensive Aggressiveness To A New Level Powering The Fraport Skyliners Past Bamberg 88-86
For a long stretch despite having a sound winning streak, the Fraport Skyliners weren´t playing their best basketball as usually when one wins it is a combination of offense and defense bringing you to the promised land and getting lauded, but instead head coach Gordon Herbert preached that the club hadn´t developed further in the last weeks. However that all changed last weekend as the Fraport Skyliners met Germany´s most famous sports brand FC Bayern Munich and won in spectacular fashion as Jordan Michael Theodore who has that Chicago Bulls flavor in his name so why shouldn´t he be able to play great as he crawled out of his funk in the second half scoring 21 of his game high 22 points and 14 of the last 17 Skyliner points to savior the pretty win. Not to forget to add the Fraport Skyliner´s new good luck charm 2010 Eurochallenge winner with BG Goettingen and good friend of John Little Jason Boone who can make an arena turn heads when he makes an entrance with his movie star smile and noticeable physic and he cheered the team to the victory behind the Frankfurt bench. Little had made the call bringing the New York native to the game as this trip was shorter than last season when Boone flew in twice form Turkey to help Little and Ludwigsburg defeat top teams Bamberg and Alba Berlin. Three days later without Boone, the Fraport Skyliners won their seventh game in a row finally showing that offensive production the way all knew they were capable of, but had been hiding for weeks as they dismantled FC Porto 89-81. Except for four minutes in the fourth quarter where they let up a bit allowing a 16-4 run, the club played an outstanding offensive game as Quantez “The Franchise” Robertson took charge leading the team to victory with 25 points as his three pointer was hot. The Fraport Skyliners wanted to continue their winning streak and move it to 8 games and after Theodore and Robertson combined for 47 points in the last two games, they now had to compete against the defending Beko BBL champion Brose Baskets Bamberg and had to do it without the aura and luck of Jason Boone who was on the court against his ex team BG Goettingen, but got 45 points combined from Aaron “Mr 7am practice player” Doornekamp and Danilo “White men can jump” Barthel as they escaped a close 88-86 victory as they allowed Bamberg to comeback despite 36 points from Brad Wanamaker. Ex Frankfurt Skyliner assistant coach Simon Cote took in the game after celebrating a big win against Trier the day before with German Pro A team Hebeisen White Wings Hanau and was thrilled about the win of his ex team and the coaching of Gordon Herbert. “This was a tremendous win for Frankfurt. Their defense is very very good. Wanamaker made some big plays at the end, but a win is a win. Frankfurt played very hard and Herbert is really so underrated and a great coach”, smiled Simon Cote. New York native Jordan Theodore was the last out of the locker room to go out and celebrate with the fans and had two huge ice packs on his knees, but whatever pain he had, he was able to replace it with a big smile and well-chosen words about the amazing team that he is proud to be a part of. “I love being a Skyliner. I have fit in from day one. I enjoy my teammates very much. It wasn´t easy as we had to battle injuries, but we all like to play together and want to win. For me this success is no surprise. This team is very good and reached the Eurochallenge Final 4 last year. I just wanted to fit in and am very happy that I can help the team win games”, warned ex Seton hall guard Jordan Theodore. The Brose Baskets Bamberg have only lost twice in the Beko BBL and it was too teams from Hessen with Giessen and Frankfurt. They didn´t want to take the Euroleague schedule as an excuse for the loss. “We can´t complain about the Euroleague schedule and need to come out focused. They played with a lot of energy and had more than we did. They executed very well and hit the big shots”, expressed ex Kentucky(NCAA) forward Darius Miller.
Jordan Theodore Switches On The Vinnie Johnson Microwave Propelling The Fraport Skyliners To 74-69 Victory Over FC Bayern Munich
One of the good things about an ugly win is and when its in Europe Cup play is that a club has a lot of time to watch film, correct errors and then also get prepared for the next opponent and with FC Bayern Munich in town Gordon Herbert needed as much time as possible to digest the disgusting game against Slovenian team Novo Mesto that Frankfurt won 67-65, but with their exhibition of lack luster offense,they would have been creamed by the Bavarian team by at least 25 points. Even after the ugly win Cincinnati native Quantez Robertson found a short instance to joke that the club could of scared away the team if Frankfurt had had 5 leatherface masks on, but really Novo Mesto wasn´t scared of Frankfurt the whole night. Frankfurt had no consistent rhythm on offense and except for a nice 14-0 run in the third quarter had no instant offense the whole game. Costly and untimely turnovers scared all observers as the Fraport Skyliners really showcased untypical Frankfurt basketball. Their defense is the only part of their game that continues to be in harmony as their chemistry is there as they have allowed 65 points on average in the last 5 games. But where is that good offense that comes from their strong defense which is usually the result? The Fraport Skyliners had 5 days to digest the weird win and prepare for FC Bayern Munich while Germany´s most famous sports brand had only 72 hours after playing Euroleague Friday night in Spain against Real Madrid. Two weeks ago fans may have experienced a horror show, but the club got some fortune as the German big three of Johannes Voigtmann, Danilo Barthel and Konstantin Klein are healthy again which makes their roster deeper again. However one needs a lot more than a deep roster when you have the eccentric character of Svetislav Pesic roaming the sidelines and a star ensemble of players like Bryce Taylor, Deon Thompson, Nihad Djedovic, KC Rivers and Alex Renfroethat could fill the Frankfurt Alte Oper and probably the one or the other dazzle with their footwork with a ballet cast with the biggest cheerleader being big country John Bryant applauding from the first row. However the Alte Oper or ballet wasn´t on the menu, but top notch basketball as The Fraport Skyliners entered the game with a five game winning streak and wanted to show the home crowd that their inconsistency of Eurocup offense was over as they met the 2014 Beko BBL champion FC Bayern Munich and were like reborn not being kicked out of the arena by 30, but by playing hard -nosed defense and being inspired in the second half by Jordan Theodore´s 21 points and Vinnie Johnson microwave steam as they won their sixth game in a row stifling FC Bayern Munich 74-69. After the win Theodore was humbled by the comparison to microwave great Vinnie Johnson of the Detroit Pistons, but after scoring only one point in the first half and no offense generated, his 21 points in the second half felt refreshing. “I wasn´t aggressive in the first half and I am an attacking point guard. I was trying to get a feel in the first half and getting guys involved, but I knew that I would be able to pick my spots in the second half. Vinnie Johnson was a great player. I started to hit shots and felt comfortable and the hole started to look big. I just tried to help the team anyway that I could. I credit my teammates for letting me take the shots. The big thing though was our defense. We want to hold teams to 70 or under and did that tonight. We also fed off the crowd as there was a great atmosphere in the arena”, stressed New York native Jordan Theodore. Skyliner good luck charm Jason Boone was in the arena watching good friend John Little play and was impressed by Theodore, but not surprised by his heating up. “Theodore hit crazy shots. He was in the zone and like a microwave. Munich didn´t do a good job keeping him out of his comfort zone. When you compete at this level and against a team like Munich you have to know what to do to win and Theodore knew what he had to do and once he got going took that to his advantage getting in a groove and securing the win”, said 2010 Eurochallenge winner Jason Boone. After a big win against FC Bayern Munich one can always be in a joking mood. “Theodore wasn´t a microwave. The way he played is what we expect from him. He hit tough shots and made free throws. He showed great leadership and found guys and made the right plays”, stated Cincinnati native Quantez Robertson. Fc Bayern Munich was reeling off a bitter 101-99 loss at Real Madrid, but made no excuses for the loss, but were honest. “This wasn´t one of my best games. We didn´t have the Real Madrid game in our heads. We play basketball for a living and know how to move on from game to game. We didn´t execute the way we know how and didn´t do the things that we know how to win games. We actually did nothing right”, stressed ex Brose Baskets Bamberg guard Alex Renfroe who remained scoreless.
Jordan Theodore Unleashes Beko BBL Showtime Powering The Fraport Skyliners Past Tuebingen 92-64
The best news that the Fraport Skyliners got in the week leading up to the game against the Walter Tigers Tuebingen was that German national player Johannes Voigtmann would not have to get operated on his knee, but the exact time period when the big man could be in uniform was not available or known. However that good news which really wasn´t any news since the Fraport Skyliners still had a walking wounded list as long as the sudden expectations put on the shoulders of Steffen Effenberg the once German national soccer player who has been brought in to Paderborn to save their sinking sink as the Frankfurt team had to go against a strong and healthy Tuebingen team with a slim rotation. Not only did head coach Gordon Herbert have to fight against his million of inner thoughts asking him “Why me” about the ongoing injury bug, but also the question why the basketball god had to scold and torture the team two times in a row losing on the last possession in Oldenburg and last weekend at home against the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg. The game was robbed in Oldenburg through a bad call while the loss against Wurzburg came on a last second air ball from John Little who was as open on the wing as Steph Curry is when he is awaiting the ball and next splash to surface. The Fraport Skyliners could easily be 3-0 going into the game instead of 1-2, but basketball isn´t always fair as Gordon Herbert has experienced the last years. Bad luck can happen one time or maybe even two times in a row, but a third time? The Fraport Skyliners met the Walter Tigers Tuebingen in their second home game of the season carrying a 4-1 record against them in the last five games and didn´t let the Tigers cage them and have them for supper, but left the floor after 40 minutes with a top team effort letting Tuebingen crawl back on to the bus somewhat embarrassed with a 92-64 victory. The Fraport Skyliners got support from everyone from Quantez Robertson steering all his 14 points in the first half, stellar play from Aaron Doornekamp and John Little with 16 points a piece, the first BBL points of Niklas Kiel and a three from 17 year old Gari Zeeb in garbage time and leader Jordan Theodore unleashing some pretty Beko BBL showtime in the fourth quarter courtesy of the athletic presence of Lituanian Tomas Dimsa and balancing his scoring and playmaking perfectly. “This was a great team win. Each player contributed in some way. We played with high energy, shared the ball and played good defense. We took two tough loses in a row by a combined score of 4 points and we learned that to be successful we have to play good defense for 40 minutes. We all pulled together tonight and had no real lulls on offense”, stressed New York native Jordan Theodore. Shortly after the siren sounded the first word that Tuebingen head coach Igor Perovic uttered in the catacombs of the Fraport arena after looking at the stat sheet was 64, the amount of points his team scored, but he also knew that the Frankfurt win was well deserved. “Frankfurt played excellent and played with more power. They executed well on offense and hardly missed. We had problems to create and Frankfurt was more physical, better organized and supplied more pressure”, added Tuebingen head coach Igor Perovic. “We had a good week of practice and got better on defense giving up only 64 points. When we play good defense and hit shots then we always have good chances to win”, warned Florida native Mike Morrison. “This was not a good game for us. Credit Frankfurt because they are a great team. They took us out of our offense and forced us to too many turnovers which limited our shots and we didn´t get enough transition points”, said Sugar land Texas, native Jesse Sanders.
German Hoops 