If there is one thing that you can´t criticize about rookie Fraport Skyliner Sean Armand is having the bravery and audacity of speaking his mind even if it doesn´t always seem logical or plausible. Sometimes saying those well-chosen radical words can pull a team together or make an individual heighten their game while other times it can backfire. For Armand who is a 23 year old 196cm shooting guard from Brooklyn New York, he had some of those moments at Iona(NCAA) where his verbal input might have made headlines and given the press great quotes, but in the end, it didn´t profit his team. A prime example was before the game against top ranked school Kansas where he called future NBA player Andrew Wiggins overrated, but Wiggins his team coming away with a victory. After 40 minutes, the winner was Kansas 86-66 while the senior Armand had 14 points and the freshman Wiggins poured in 13 points. Another prime example was when Armand was a junior and predicted that if Iona ranked 15Th at the time beat #2 Ohio State in the NCAA tournament that it wouldn´t be an upset. The result wasn´t an upset, but moreover an easy and programmed 95-70 win for Ohio State as he finished with 17 points on 5/17 shooting. Armand may not have had much success with electing how to verbally express himself in school before a big game, but there is always going to be a guy like Armand that is sprouting with extra self- confidence for his team and himself. Even if you are a low ranked team, any player would be lying if they didn´t want to go into every game no matter if it is a Kansas, Duke, Kentucky or Arizona and want to leave the floor after 40 minutes with a win. A healthy touch of self-assurance never hurts and that is exactly what Sean Armand has. However just timing and the content was something that didn´t mesh in college. Armand may only be a rookie as a professional player, but so far his play on the court has been more than exemplary and just how much his verbal ability has had an impact on the Fraport Skyliners has been unknown as so far he has led by example. When Armand was a freshman at Iona, there were more experienced guys like future NBA player Scott Machado that had the leadership duties, so now he may be listening more to guys like Quantez Robertson. However one thing is certain since the arrival of fellow rookie Justin Cobbs, Armand has had his most consistent span as a rookie.
Frankfurt Skyliners
Johannes Voigtmann Plays Fast Break Slam Dunk Basketball Leading The Fraport Skyliners To Their Seventh Win In A Row Defeating MBC 93-76
Sometimes a player gets that distinction of being too critical about certain offers and sits at home working out and waiting for the phone call to ring for that perfect offer that will get him a little bit more than what the previous team was offering. In the case of Fraport Skyliner Jacob Burtschi, it wasn´t so much about waiting for a team to call, but more that he wasn´t 100% healed from his back injury. He joined the Fraport Skyliners in February and two other players also returned to the Beko BBL late to the Mitteldeutscher BC with Beckham Wyrick in January and Mark mr fantastic Dorris in February. Over the years Dorris has made a name in the BBL having made incredible off balance shots for Phoenix Hagen where he looked like a gumby that has given headaches to his friend Quantez Robertson not only in Germany on the court, but also on the play grounds in their home town of Cincinnati. So far Dorris has played in only two games contributing to a 72-67 win against Braunschweig, but had misfortune shooting 0/6 and then scoring nine points against Oldenburg. In the last few weeks, Dorris got a taste of what Josh Parker experienced last season sitting on the bench because MBC keeping one too many import players. Wyrick on the other hand has had more luck having played five games averaging 7,0ppg and 3,6rpg. In his first game he mustered 11 points in a bitter 96-81 loss to Alba Berlin, but last weekend poured in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but was unable to help get the team over the hump losing to Crailsheim 87-84. Wyrick like Burtschi is the teams glue guy that will do the extra on the court and little things that don´t get noticed on the stat sheet to help the team win. Wyrick has played numerous times against Frankfurt with teams like Bayreuth Bamberg and Leverkusen and still has memories of the breathtaking five game series in 2008 that Leverkusen lost on the last play not letting them reach the semi final. Dorris and Wyrick returned back to Frankfurt wanting to do damage while Burtschi was looking to stay perfect as he was 6-0 with Frankfurt since returning back to his old stomping ground for the third time. After 40 minutes Burtschi was 7-0 since returning while the MBC Cincinnati connection of Dorris and Wyrick combined for 14 points as it wasn´t enough as the Fraport Skyliners won their seventh game in a row defeating the Mitteldeutscher BC 93-76. “I thought that we played well. There were times in the game where he had problems moving the ball, but there will always be ups and downs in a game. Joe Voigtmann had an awesome game. We played decent as a team”, stressed Fraport Skyliner guard Justin Cobbs. The Mitteldeutscher came into the game reeling off a loss in Oldenburg 96 hours earlier and were without top scorer American Patrick Richard who saw close up from the bench why his team was unable to secure the win. “I thought that we competed well, but in the third quarter Frankfurt took over game. They started to hit shots and Cobbs did a great job controlling the game without having to score much. We couldn´t capitalize on their turnovers in the third quarter and took too many three pointers”, stressed Louisiana native Patrick Richard. “It was a close first half and we were able to pull away by stopping their energy and getting rebounds”, added Oklahoma native Jacob Burtschi.
The Fraport Skyliners Eke Out Trash Ripe Ugly Victory Against medi Bayreuth 90-89
The one guy comes from Texas and the other from California, but Beko BBL players Justin Cobbs and Jason Brickman have some things in common as they both come from big states, are rookies, are point guards and since they came to their new teams Frankfurt and Bayreuth have infected their teams to winning games as combined they have led their teams to a 15-4 record. Granted Cobbs has done the most damage leading the Fraport Skyliners to a 7-3 Beko BBL record and is 6-0 in Eurochallenge play while Brickman has helped Bayreuth beat Bonn and Ulm while getting clobbered in Berlin 91-60 a place where Cobbs also lost shortly before Christmas 2014. The similarities don´t end as both have lost to Berlin and both have had a taste of bitter winter blues as both had short stints in Russia and Latvia with Dynamo Moscow and VEF Riga , but had to pack their bags. The biggest difference that they have is in height as Cobbs is 10cm bigger and style as Brickman is the classic pass first point guard in the mold of a Jared Jordan while Justin Cobbs is the versatile point guard in the mold of a Derrick Rose who can change the pace and score or find his teammates whatever the defense gives him. At California(NCAA) he played for head coach Mike Montgomery and learned in young years to obey in that if he was asked to take the next 30 shots in a row he would or asked not to shoot once he would. Brickman dazzled the NCAA his last two seasons averaging 9,1apg while averaging 9,8 as a senior, but didn´t have real NBA interest and despite winning three Nec tournaments with LIU Brooklyn, because the conference isn´t as skilled as say the Pac 10 where Cobbs played. Cobbs had his first taste of the NBA being the last cut of the Charlotte Hornets as the club went with experience instead of youth. Brickman played against schools like Lehigh, Lamar, Wagner or Sacred Heart while Cobbs dueled against heavy weights like Oregon, Washington State, UCLA or Arizona. Both definitely are good enough to showcase their talent in the NBA, but for now they have to continue to craft their game and continue to get better to get that NBA shot one day. Brickman came to Frankfurt ready to play his fourth Beko BBL game while Cobbs was prepared to battle in his 11th Beko BBL game as it was baby Mr pass against the general Justin Cobbs and the California native came out victorious as the Fraport Skyliners eked out a trash ripe ugly victory against medi Bayreuth as Cobbs had 15 points and seven assists while Brickman finished with 12 points and three assists. “Sean Armand had told me about Jason Brickmann that he led the NCAA in assists. He is a great passer and had two back to back games with 10 assists and he played well tonight. It was fun playing against him”, stressed California native Justin Cobbs. “I had heard of Cobbs in college. He is a good point guard and decision maker. I knew it would be a tough battle and it was fun playing against another rookie”, added San Antonio native Jason Brickman. “Brickman is a good floor general, great shooter and found his teammates while Justin Cobb is a bit more athletic. It was definitely a good battle”, stressed Oklahoma native Jacob Burtschi.
Big Hair Oklahoma Flavor Basketball General Cobbs And Basketball Lieutenant Armand Lead The Fraport Skyliners Past Alba Berlin 87-80
For 110 days the Fraport Skyliners were flawless winning 10 games at home in a row and posing the question if their comfy living room temperature that had kept the club so snug for such a long period of time had been turned down as clubs like six time Beko BBL champion Brose Baskets Bamberg and Russian Eurochallenge opponent Avtodor Saratov arrived in the Fraport arena at the end of January 2014 and beat them. The last time the 2004 Beko BBL winner Fraport Skyliners lost two consecutive games at home. It was at the start of the season on the first weekend where they lost to Phoenix Hagen and ratiopharm Ulm. It was such a long time ago that the recently crowned 2015 Super Bowl champions New England Patriots were 2-2 and coming off a crushing 41-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and were as far away from a fourth Super Bowl win as is nose tackle Vince Winfork is from ever getting lost at the take out drive through line at Mcdonalds, the Atlanta Hawks were in training camp getting ready for the 2014-2015 season as only the very few would have predicted them being the best team in the NBA at the start of February 2015 having a stellar 40-8 record and the San Francisco Giants and manager Bruce Bochy were near to winning their third MLB World Series in the last five years. However streaks are there to be broken as the Fraport Skyliners lost to the Brose Baskets Bamberg and Avtodor Saratov. Having lost key players German national player Danilo Barthel and Los Angeles native and rookie Justin Cobbs to injury, the club lost a third consecutive game to 2010 Eurochallenge winner BG Goettingen on the road. Despite injuries and a brisk winter wind having taken over in the usual warm and cozy Fraport arena that disrupted the success of the club, the Fraport Skyliners returned home, but the competition didn´t get any easier as 8 time Beko BBL champion Alba Berlin arrived, but Frankfurt had big hair, Oklahoma flavor, basketball general Justin Cobbs and basketball lieutenant Sean Armand who led the 2004 Beko BBL champion past 8 time BBL winner Alba Berlin 87-80 in overtime starting a new winning streak at home. Quantez Robertson had big hair again something he usually displays at the start of a season as a gesture of good luck and success for the season, three is a charm as Jacob Burtschi was back in Frankfurt for a third tour of duty bringing that Oklahoma flavor while Justin the basketball general Cobbs and basketball lieutenant Sean Armand took care of business in overtime as it was another normal day at the office even if it was an ugly win the club gave Alba Berlin only their second loss of the season. “It was an ugly game, but sometimes when you are overmatched playing against an Euroleague team where you should lose by 20 points on paper, you need to turn it into an ugly game. We were lucky, stuck together and got the win”, warned ex Bremerhaven forward Jacob Burtschi. For Alba Berlin, it was only their second loss of the season and something they definitely weren´t used to as lowered heads came out of the dressing room one by one as so little words escaped their mouths that one could of asked “cat got your tongue”? “We lost and Frankfurt played well. It was a good game and exciting, but Frankfurt had the advantage with the home court. They always had answers and shot very well from outside”, stressed ex Skyliner Alex King.
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.
The General Justin Cobbs Leads The Fraport Skyliners And A Crushing Seven Man Double Figure Stampede Over Oldenburg 93-74
It isn’t that often that very good friends battle year after year against each other in the Beko BBL, but from 2007-2014 each season Detroit native Rickey Paulding and St Louis native Jimmy Mckinney battled each other at least twice a year for off season bragging rights. Especially in Frankfurt, both guys always had big duels with both guys shining on the court, but this meeting between the two excellent athletes has been absent the last two seasons as Mckinney played for the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg. This season Paulding was all alone in the Beko BBL without his friend Mckinney as the St Louis native was home waiting for the phone to ring and catching more college football games as well as from his alma mater Vashon high school where he won titles as a kid something he was unable to do the last years as he was in Germany the last 8 years playing. Recently it was made public that Mckinney had signed with the Walter Tigers Tuebingen to help out in the scoring department as American Jonathan Wallace was recovering from an injury. Paulding help lead the EWE Baskets Oldenburg to a 98-89 win at home against Tuebingen before the arrival of Mckinney where he steered 13 points. Paulding will have to wait until March 14 where he will meet his old friend again for the ninth straight season in a game in the Beko BBL. Until then Paulding has much time to rekindle the old memories from their battles on the court and might even had a blur memory of their combat on the court. Since their last battle in Frankfurt in 2011 where Oldenburg won 72-53 only two Skyliners were on the floor then are still with Frankfurt now with Quantez Robertson and Danilo Barthel, but even two Mckinneys most likely wouldn´t have helped Oldenburg on this afternoon in Frankfurt as the 2004 Beko BBL champion Frankfurt Skyliners defeated Paulding and co 93-74 giving Oldenburg their fourth loss in their last five games and after the loss the St louis native was sentimental about the game and his friend Mckinney returning back to Germany. “It is always good to have Jimmy around especially in Germany in the Beko BBL. I am happy that he has caught on with Tuebingen. We had some strong battles here but that was some years ago. I didn’t have that too much on my mid. I was concentrated more on this game. I hope to talk to Jimmy sometime before March when we play against each other. Frankfurt played harder than us, were more aggressive, ran on us, made shots when they had to and were just the more aggressive team”, stressed 2009 Beko BBL champion Rickey Paulding. “I am also happy that Jimmy is back in Germany. I was a bit surprised that it took him so long to get a new team. I am always motivated to play and will be extra motivated when we play Tuebingen because Jimmy is one of my closest friend”, expressed Quantez Robertson. The Fraport Skyliners keep rolling winning their sixth win in a row and it was a tale of two halves where the first was even, but in the second Frankfurt made adjustments on defense and Oldenburg had problems hurting Frankfurt inside like they did in the first 20 minutes. “The first half was close and both teams were scoring. In the second half we improved our pick and role defense. Coach had got on me and Johannes Voigtmann to get up higher on pick and role to get more dribbles and let our guards get over and we were able to clog the middle and force them to tough shots. This led to more turnovers and easy transition buckets for us”, added Fraport Skyliner center Mike Morrison.
Justin Cobbs (Fraport Skyliners) Has The Look Of Thompson And Style OF Wood But Is His Own General
The NCAA life can be very exciting, hectic and experience nourishing where at times a player can feel like a traveling salesman as you are in different cities each weekend playing the game you love while juggling classes somewhere in between. Since finishing his three year college career at California(NCAA) last spring, the last six months have been a real basketball adventure for Los Angeles native Justin Cobbs as traveling continued for him. He is a 23 year old 191cm guard that is a professional rookie as he has bounced around the States at NBA workouts over the summer, played NBA Summer League in Orlando with the Memphis Grizzlie, practiced with Laboral Kutxa Vitoria (Spain-Liga Endesa, was on the training camp roster of the Charlotte Hornets and already got a taste of early winter in Latvia getting experience with VEF Riga (Latvia-LBL) as having snow on Christmas day in Los Angeles is rare as you can go surfing on off Venice beach. His journey continued to Germany where he is currently playing with the Fraport Skyliners helping out their injury plague that has hit their point guard rotation of Richard Williams, Konstantin Klein and Max Merz.
Quantez Robertson Unveils The Super Tez Offense Leading The Fraport Skyliners Past Tuebingen 79-63
It has been almost been 8 months since the Walter TIgers were another Beko BBL team that defeated the Fraport Skyliners in a narrow crunch time game and the unlucky goat was Oklahoma native Jacob Burtcshi who tried to make the cute extra pass to Danilo Barthel inside instead of taking the possible game winning shot. If Burtschi who is back home living in Oklahoma is aware that the FRaport Skyliners were playing the Walter TIgers Tuebingen is unknown, but if he does come upon the name of that yellow colored team with the cute tIger, it is almost probable that he will remember that fateful day last season. The question was how much was this memory from last season which was a bitter crunch time loss and the buzzer beater loss a few days earlier in Eurochallenge play against Boras Basket have an effect on the German players like Johannes Voigtmann and Danilo Barthel? Both Germans still remembered the difficult defeat last season against Tuebingen and played their hearts out against Boras Basket, but weren´t rewarded at the end with a win as the rocket man Adama Darboe beat the Fraport Skyliners with a buzzer beater mid distance jumper which pierced the hearts of not only both Germans, but also the complete team which played without 5 players. With the walking wounded still long and seemingly never ending, the Fraport Skyliners had to fight against all odds and play against a feisty Tuebingen team who wanted to start a way out of the cellar with a victory on foreign ground in the Fraport arena, but were denied as the Fraport Skyliners gave a great team effort for 40 minutes having a consistent game and never letting Tuebingen match their game and before I forget their good luck charm me was in the Fraport arena for the fourth complete game of the season and the club is 4-0. After the unneeded crunch time loss to Tuebingen last season and crunch time loss to Boras in Ruesselsheim 96 hours earlier, German national player Johannes Voigtmann was relieved to breathe more smoothly in the last minutes as defeat was as far away on that night as the family of Skyliner Kyle Fossman in Alaska. “It was nice to win a game again having a good lead and not having it be tight. Even when Tuebingen got a bit closer, we learned from our past mistakes and were able to pull away again. We were rewarded with a win for our efforts”, stated Johannes Voigtmann. After the game, the Walter Tigers Tuebingen players looked like a beaten Tiger that had just lost a fierce battle and gotten pounded hard without any remorse and basketball is a very simple sport as Nick Wiggins who is the brother of NBA player Andrew Wiggins explained on the floor during his postgame stretching. “They made shots for 40 minutes and we didn´t. It is as simple as that”, expressed Nick Wiggins. Despite the walking wounded list still being long, the club did welcome back the cool Finish sniper Mikko Koivisto who had much to explain after the victory. “We may have many injuries, but we cant make excuses. We just came out and played as hard as we could under the circumstances and with what we had. It helped that we hit many three pointers tonight. We moved the ball well, had many assists and did a good job rebounding in certain phases. We have had problems in the past rebounding, but we took the challenge up against Tuebingen”, expressed Mikko Koivisto.
The Miles Basketball Minute: Richard Williams Has The Heart And Dedication To Help Pull The Fraport Skyliners Out Of The BBL Cellar
It was a little more than six months ago where SC Rasta Vechta had suffered another one of their typical crunch time loses at home to the Fraport Skyliners where one was wondering who had infected whom that season as the 2004 Beko BBL champion Frankfurt also had lost their fair share of close games where one could of thought hmmmmmmmm does the basketball God have his fingers in this rude and cruel ritual for both teams? SC Rasta Vechta had lost a handful of buzzer beaters last season which ultimately paved their ticket back to the German Pro A. After the 76-75 buzzer beater loss to the Fraport Skyliners, California native Richard Williams was sitting in their V.I.P room munching on some dinner and it was apparent that he was only eating for a sake of being there and fulfilling the obligatory post game dinner with the team. Despite a solid 18 point game where he hit four three pointers and some timely ones at the end, one could of read his mind and sad face that he hadn´t been content on only setting up his teammates twice. He looked as sad as an eight year old kid who had walked out of Jack Murphy stadium back in the 80´s and been denied an autograph from his hero Tony Gwynn. You can go down the list in the Beko BBL with guys that would leave their jersey on the floor, but not many that would also add their shorts for a win. Williams is one of those players that wants to win as badly as Bamberg legend Casey Jacobsen did as these two guys belong to the top list of most professional players in the league. As the point guard, it wasn´t hard to understood that he took most of the blame last season for the woes of SC Rasta Vechta. He had promised me in an earlier interview that he would make sure that SC Rasta Vechta wouldn´t move down, a bold prediction that just shows how much responsibility was actually on his shoulders and what he was willing to sacrifice for. However Williams is the last to admit that it wasn´t his fault as it had to do more on a lack of execution and experience during crunch time that had to do with the whole team and not Wiilliams. In an age where the social media is the number one spot for self promotion and for many professional basketball players an outlet to escape the boredom of long hours in a lonely apartment, Williams took a break from the social media in the second half of the season to concentrate even more on basketball something the majority players wouldn´t have done.
The Miles Basketball Minute: The Fraport Skyliners Grab Bag Season Isn´t Rewarded With A Playoff Spot as Party Favor
Last season there were many up and down experiences for the 2004 Beko BBL champion Fraport Skyliners and the only thing missing to really make this season a tad more bizarre would have been having ex Skyliner Malick Badiane return and have a “who can catch the basketball better with Aziz Ndiaye,Hollywood legend Arnold Schwarzenegger watching a game and declaring Johannes Voigtmann his long lost son, Danilo Barthel white men can jump Barthel actually tearing down a rim on one of his crushing dunks, Konstantin Klein growling into the ear of German national player Heiko Schaffartzik and actually causing him hearing loss in one ear or Oklahoma native Jacob Burtschi having a fight over hair pieces with ratiopharm Ulm forward Keaton Nankivil. Before the season commenced, I predicted that anything could happen to the Fraport Skyliners in the standings as it was to be a grab bag season for Gordon Herbert and company. Back in the day even at the most boring children´s birthday parties like at the local pizza place munching on soggy pie, trying to find humor at the bowling alley while trying to hit a strike and stay clear of the gutter, riding lame donkeys up and down the tiny backyard in your home or playing boring board games while counting each second to when it was time to go home, there was almost always a constellation prize for kids when the party was over with the traditional grab bag or party favor. This going home present was a way to say thanks for coming and by the way here is a gift for you. Gifts range from tiny toys, candy and pencils. Once you are of a mature age and are able to visit a wedding, there a person has the chance to get a more sophisticated gift like classic favors that can go from the classic sugared almonds or delicious chocolates to candles and scented soaps. Modern gift trends include CDs with the most desired music of the bride and groom, shot glasses filled with colored candy or beautiful picture frames with a photo of the couple. So what did all this grab bag jibber jabber have to do with the 2013-2014 Fraport Skyliners? Well this was a team that had been constructed in a way that it would been hard to make a real defined prediction what this team was able to achieve and it was sort of like getting a grab bag served at a function and not knowing what was inside it. Guessing how many wins the Fraport Skyliners would achieve last season was no different than having had to predict how many cheese balls legendary comedian Chris Farley could have eaten in the cheese ball machine in a minute, how many times Allen Iverson would utter practice in a practice 2 press conference or how many goals soccer god Christiano Ronaldo would hammer into the goal this season. Just the notion of not knowing what this club was capable to achieve made the season so exciting and unpredictable for the Fraport Skyliners.
German Hoops 