When making tasty American Tollhouse cookies, delectable Frankfurter Wuerstchen or scrumptious maultaeschen and 
Spaetzle from the Schwabenland, you cant just add ordinary spices, but you need that special mix that will get your stomach itching for more and more. In sports its no different as in order to be successful, a team needs the right gusto. The ex Skyliner trio of Gordon Herbert, Derrick Allen and Dashaun Wood want to follow trios like Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen who won 6 NBA Tiles in Chicago, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Adam Vinitieri that won 3 Superbowls in Boston and Fox Broadcasting Company, Matt Groening and Homer Simpson that have been on the air for 24 years and be successful and get that first title together with Alba Berlin together. Only Herbert has won a title in the BEKO BBL while Wood has his 2011 Beko BBL MVP trophy and has stated that winning is the first order on the agenda for the road runner who will go that extra distance down the long and lonely road is looking for his first and Derrick Allen who has supplied the league with his beautiful ballerina moves for years and is itching for that first title and is as motivated as Karl Malone once was with the Utah Jazz. Alba Berlin last won a title with the Beko BBL Cup in 2009 and with this trio have as much motivation and heart as any team would ever want to have. Any
male that has watched TV will have seen reruns of the well knows 70s detective show Charlies Angels or the movie version with Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu with the man in the backround Charles Townsend pulling the strings. It is no different in Berlin with Marco Baldi who brought in his trio of basketball angels Derrick Allen, Dashaun Wood and Gordon Herbert who don´t solve crimes, but solve ways to bring titles to the Spree. “I think these guys will help Berlin out a great deal this season and as far as who you can compare them to is hard to say. DA does deserve a title as hard as he plays and what he has done for the BBL. He is a reps Ted player around the league and hopefully he will get his chance before his time is up”, warned TBB Trier guard John Bynum. “Baldi has done a good job getting his angels. First it was Derrick Allen and now Gordon Herbert and Dashaun Wood. Frankfurt has shown in the last years doing a good job developing basketball talent. Herbert always has a trick up his sleeve and I think this year that a title is in the making for Alba Berlin”, stressed Skyliner Fabian Franke.
Frankfurt Skyliners
Dane Watts Leaves His Surfboard At Home Riding The Basketball Wave Elegantly With ratiopharm Ulm Past The Fraport Skyliners 85-79
All good and sometimes less pleasant things come to an end sometime like the wild baby hit me one more time days of 
American singer Britney Spears before becoming a mom, actor Jaleel White famous for his whining line “Did I do that” from his days at the sitcom Family matters to finally getting some respect at age 34 for a new sitcom called “Love that girl” or Alba Berlin losing their seven year Beko BBL champion title run in 2004 to the hands of Bamberg. On December 9th ratiopharm Ulm will move into the new ratiopharm arena across town in Neu-Ulm and will depart from the Kuhberg Halle which had a small like American style high school gym where the loudness and fan presence near the court will always be remembered. With the good play of ratiopharm Ulm perhaps the team should think twice about leaving the loved Kuhberg halle. “I feel very good in this gym, but I am sure that we will feel good in the new arena as well”, smiled ratiopharm Ulm headcoach Thorsten Leibenath. Young Skyliner Danilo Barthel has had a great season so far, but found himself with a big DNP, but still had memories of the Kuhberg Halle. “I always had good games here with the NBBL teams, but never played in front of so many people as tonight. If they can get an atmosphere in the new arena like here then that should be good”, commented Skyliner forwar Danilo Barthel. For Skyliner Jon Leuer, he was more used to playing 15,000 NCAA arenas, but liked the high school gym atmosphere. It was a very small gym and the fans were really in to it. It would have been nice if we had won, but I am glad that I am not coming back”, expressed Jon Leuer.
The Fraport Skyliners entered the Kuhberg Halle having a less than satisfactory 2-3 record since ratiopharm arrived in the Beko BBL in 2006 and wanted to leave the small place with their first win as the Fraport Skyliners and somehow escape being trampled by the Incredible Hulk John Bryant and getting flooded by the waves of the surfer dude look alike Dane Watts, but returned back to Frankfurt with their second loss in a row with a bitter 85-79 loss in the last minute. After the game new coach Thorsten Leibenath had a grin as wide as three Michael Hakim Jordans put together and didn´t need to give difficult analyse about why ratiopharm Ulm won. “We hit tough three pointers all night long and were very consistent at the free throw line which helped us win a close game like this. We also won the rebounding”, stressed ratiopharm Ulm head coach Torsten Leibenath. The Fraport Skyliners played a lot better than again Bonn, but were missing that added luck and making the big play down the stretch. “We couldn´t execute our offense at the end or get the needed stops. Dane Watts hit two tough running shots at the end”, stressed Skyliner guard Justin Gray.
Can John Bryant And Dane Watts Sail ratiopharm Ulm On A Green Wave Into The Beko BBL Playoffs?
The Beko BBL have had many strong 4/5 combo punches the last years like Hines/Pleiss in Bamberg, Fenn/Boumtje Boumtje in Artland or now with Allen/Francis in Berlin, but if you happen to see a white incredible hulk and surfer dude look a like Jeff Spicolli from classic 80s movie Fast Times At Rindgemount high making the paint area in the Kuhberg gym a stomping ground misery situation for opponents with a likely wreckage and totally awesome cries after a block, then it wont be the two fictional characters from TV, but Americans John Bryant and Dane Watts going about their business and just playing the game that they love. Bryant was one of the most effective players in the Beko BBL last season playing 34 games: 14.6ppg, Reb-1(10.9rpg), 1.1apg, Blocks-2(1.5bpg), FGP: 60.4%, FT: 74.2%. He was one of the top centers in the league and was never a pleasant opponent to have. Dane Watts has belonged to the top power forwards the last years last season playing for the Walter Tigers Tuebingen playing 33 games: 13.7ppg, Reb-4(7.6rpg), 1.1apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 57.9%, 3PT: 36.7%, FT: 54.5%. Watts however always seems to have been a bit underrated possibly because he never played for a playoff team. “They are a great combo and they compliment each other very well. Bryant does a good job controlling the middle on both ends and watts is a great inside outside guy who does well at both ends of the court as well. If I had to describe them from a movie it would be Paul Bunyon and I cant think of one for Dane Watts. They complement each other very well and both are very talented players. They both do so much for that team and if you look how affective both of them and go by what they are doing so far, then yes they could be one of best 4/5 combos in league”, warned TBB Trier guard John Bynum.
Michael Thompson(Fraport Skyliners): The Most Important Thing Is To Win Games
Michael Thompson is a 22 year old 177cm point guard from Chicago, Illinois that is playing his first season with the Fraport Skyliners. He played at Northwestern from 2007-2011. In his senior year, he played : 34 games: 16.3ppg, 2.2rpg, 4.3apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 45.2%, 3PT: 39.3%, FT: 82.5%. Awards/Achievements in his career have been HS: Chicago Public League All-Academic Team -07, All-Big Ten Honorable Mention -10, All-Big Ten 3rd Team -11, Big Ten All-Tournament Team -11, and NIT Elite Eight -11. He took some time to talk to German Hoops about his rookie season with the Fraport Skyliners.
Does Muli Katzurin pull a lever when he wants Justin Gray to take control?
No coach doesn´t pull a lever when he wants Gray to take control. Gray has a lot of experience and a great understanding of the game and always knows when its time to step up.
You played four years at Northwestern and now had a three week try out phase with the Fraport Skyliners. What kind of experience was that for you?
It was a great experience, because I had the chance to play for a great team that has great players. I gave 100% each day and am very happy that my contract was extended.
Mario Kasun(KK Zagreb): Gordon Herbert Is My Favorite Coach Of All
Mario Kasun is a 31 year old 213cm Croatian that is playing his second season with KK Zagreb. He has a phenomenal body for the position, and knows how to use it inside. Also, has fighting spirit, isn’ t afraid of contact and likes to dunk. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers (NBA,2rd(41) in 2002. He then played for the Frankfurt Opel Skyliners from 2002-2004 winning the Beko BBL title in2004. He played in the NBA from 2004-2006 playing for the Orlando Magic playing a total of 73 games. He then played two seasons for FC Barcelona and two years for Efes Pilsen before going home to Croatia to play for KK Zagreb. Last season he played Croatian League: 9 games: 8.4ppg, 2.9rpg, FGP: 64.4%, FT: 78.3%; Croatian League: EuroChallenge: 2 games: 17.5ppg, 6.0rpg, 1.0bpg; injured in Nov.’10 and was off for 1 month: EuroCup Qualifying Round: 2 games: 11.5ppg, 5.5rpg; Adriatic League: 21 games: 13.3ppg, Reb-5(6.4rpg), FGP: 63.3%, FT: 67.5%. He has played for the Croatian national team playing at the 2005, 2007 and 2009 European championships. He also has won the Spanish and Turkish cups. He is returning back to Germany to play Euroleague against The Brose Baskets Bamberg and spoke to German Hoops.
You are playing your second season for KK Zagreb. How does it feel playing in your country so late in your career?
Playing at home is good feeling and good for my wife to see where im from. Happy to be where I started my career, but it but I would still like to play out of Croatia, now reason is to stay home because my wife if pregnant.
The Fraport Skyliners Can´t Find Their Horse Shoe On The Rim As Bonn Display Fine Kochian Team Basketball Winning 79-64
Despite the strong 3-0 start by The Telekom Baskets Bonn this season, Michael Koch might have entered the Fraport arena with an eerie feeling, because 6 months ago, the last time he had set foot in the Skyliner living room, Bonn was on the verge of not making the playoffs for only the second time in their history and the club was closing out the miserable season with a 2-14 record and he was undergoing a personal basketball nightmare as sad as the attitude of Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon who was caught partying shortly after the most epic September slide in baseball history who had blown 18 of their last 24 games not reaching the playoffs, a fan who had nothing better to do then launch a hot dog straight at golf legend Tiger Woods, who was concentrating on a putt or actress Lindsay Lohan racking up a 90,000 Limo bill and not having the decency to pay it. In their last meeting last season, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners trounced Bonn 78-60 and Michael Koch had some revenge on his mind and left the Fraport arena with a very satisfying 79-64 victory. The difference between last years team and this years team is like night and day. “As a opponent you should always be happy to leave Frankfurt with a win. We started off well and I was happy with our play. It is obvious that not everything was working for Frankfurt. It is always nice in life when you can learn
from your mistakes. We are playing team basketball and that is always best. We still have a long way to go, but am very happy with our play after four games”, stressed Telekom Baskets Bonn sport director Andreas Bottcher. Bonn not only is a totally new team from last season, but already has made big strides from their last meeting with Frankfurt in the Maritim Cup in September. “Bonn is a very good team that is coached well and has improved a lot. They had a very nice inside/out game, but we didn´t do a good job defending”, stressed Skyliner guard Michael Thompson. The eyes of Bonn quarterback Jared Jordan lit up when he described the Kochian team basketball of Bonn. “This style is so different from when I was here two years ago. It is more European style. It reminds me of the offense we had at Marist. I had two wings and athletic guys that I could just throw the ball up into the lane. It is funny, we were so awful in our first pre season game, but since then we have improved every day. I have never seen a team in my playing career improve in such a short time like this. We just want to always win and have a lot of fun playing together”, commented Jared Jordan.
Can Michael Koch Lead The Telekom Baskets Bonn Return To The Playoffs With A New Trust And Less Mcdonalds?
Since head coach Michael Koch has had free reigns of gobbling up players each new season, his trust in American players and their abilities has been as strong as the Boston Bruins belief that their 2011 Stanley Cup win was no fluke and waiting another 39 years for the next one is out of the question, American singer Rihanna confident that her new album Talk Talk talk with hit single Take A Bow is a track that many people will rap about for years to come or Lindsay Lohan somehow not abruptly disappearing, but continuing to hang around in the news showing her support for legend Marilyn Monroe in her own essay for a new coffee book. In the last five years with 60 players on the roster, Koch has picked 35 Americans. It has been no secret that Michael Koch Has had faith in the Americans the last years as much as Skyliner fans have seeing Quantez Robertson take new athletic and breathtaking lift offs to the basket this season, Bastian Schweinsetiger doing some more trick shots with the basketball, or Dashaun Wood feeding Derrick Allen an ally-op pass, but being rejected from behind at the second from Super Tez Robertson. However after not reaching the playoffs last season for only the second time in their basketball existence, the German coach decided to go in another direction supplementing the roster with only three Americans which could give the few Mcdonalds in the Rhine city less business now with less of an influx of Americans playing there. For some Americans going to Mcdonalds is about as regular as Germans going to the beer garden, going to Mallorca for vacation for driving a Volkswagen and sometimes when your in a new country and are shy and see the big yellow arches, one just can´t resist. “I actually only visit Mcdonalds about once a month in Europe, but I think the Americans rather have a greasy Big Mac and French fries then good tasty Wiener Schnitzel”, smiled Steven Wright who is earning his bucks in Finland this season. With less Americans and players from other countries, there might be an influx to taste the real German classic food. “The Mcdonalds might be down, but the Wiener Schnitzel will be up”, laughed EnBW Ludwigsburg Mark Dorris.
Justin Gray Hits A Buzzer Beater From Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1 As The Fraport Skyliners Shock The S. Oliver Baskets Wurzburg 80-78
The last time Americans Ben Jacobson, Jason Boone and John Little were on the floor together before this season, they were celebrating immense success with BG Goettingen winning the Eurochalenge and reaching the Beko BBL playoffs on a regular basis. It seems that they could be successful at many things besides basketball like putting on aprons and baking delicious cookies for a late afternoon snack for president Obama, doing a slick basketball trick routine on American Idol ala Globetrotters style and getting Simon Cowell to utter a smile and thumbs up or being able to kick a soccer ball off a beer mug through the goal wall hole at the Aktuelles Sport Studio at ZDF the way German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer did because it seems like whatever they do on the court can also turn to gold in other activities. With the aid of John Patrick, the BG Goettingen connection has helped the s. Oliver baskets Wurzburg get out of the gates to a 2-0 record, but against the Fraport Skyliners there was no trick up the sleeve of the American coach or his players that was able to stop Justin Gray as he dropped a buzzer beater bomb in ala Eric Chadfield(2006 buzzer beater to beat ratiopharm Ulm) style as the Fraport Skyliners shocked the s.Oliver Baskets 
Wurzburg 80-78. Despite the disheartening loss, John Patrick knows that his three ex Goettingen players have many talents and will help lead the team to many more wins in the future. “All three guys know what it takes to get a winning team going. They know when to have fun, but when we are in practice they are all business. Jason Boone can eat a hamburger in one bite, Ben Jacobson is an Iowa guy and is the best golfer on the team and eats more dairy queen meals than anyone I know and John Little is simply indestructible and has run through more walls than anyone I know”, stressed s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg head coach John Patrick. “We have helped with the leadership and helped the other players translate over to the style of John Patrick. The Goettingen guys have a very close bond”, stressed Ben Jacobsen. Skyliner center Marius Nolte also noticed how important the ex Goettingen guys have been for the Wurzburg team. “I think everybody saw tonight how much Goettingen is sticking in the Wurzburg system on the court”, warned Marius Nolte.
Does The Blond In Dirk Nowitzki And John Patrick Guarantee New Instant Success With The S.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg?
Who could forget the tantalizing breathtaking scenes in Wurzburg last summer as 2011 NBA NBA champion Dirk Nowitzki returned home to his old basketball battle ground receiving a heros welcome looking more like a sea of fans at a soccer winners presentation than that of a basketball jubilation. With Beko BBL basketball back in Wurzburg for the first time in six years, it seems like the Nowitzki festivities was just the start of better things to come to the Bayern city where German basketball names like Dirk Nowitzki, Demond Greene, Robert Garrett and Marvin Willoughby were successfully selling the brand name basketball in the late 90s in fine style. New s. Oliver Baskets Wurzburg head coach John Patrick may have blond hair with a spray touch of orange and blue eyes like Nowitzki and never get the hero status of the NBA superstar, but the American coach could continue to use his magic hidden wand which he must have hidden in his pocket at each game and continue to somehow transform his incredible success from BG Goettingen where he led the club to three of four playoffs and won the Eurochallenge in 2010 and possibly become the second most famous basketball blond in Wurzburg that has given the world the tasty Franken wine. Its is no secret that Dirk Nowitzki was a tennis ace before he played basketball and John Patrick has blond hair with a touch of orange just like 1985 17 year old Wimbeldon winner Boris Becker. Patrick might not have that big serve on the court, but surely had the right stimulating successful boom boom words that has inspired his players the last years in Goettingen. “Well John Patrick is a great coach and will do a great job in Wurzburg. If they continue to win games then I think that he could become a very well known Basketball name in Wurzburg”, commented TBB Trier guard John Bynum. It doesn´t really matter where Patrick is, his basketball philosophy seems to stand for success as he also won a title in Japan and seems to know how to reach his players. “I think he just gets the best out of his players and they always play hard. His style differs from most coaches in the BBL and it is fun to play against and I am sure its fun for his players as well”, stressed John Bynum.
When The Going Gets Tough, Justin Gray Gets Going As He Leads The Fraport Skyliners Past The Walter Tigers Tuebingen 73-67
The last time that German national player Johannes Herber played in the Paul Horn arena, Bane Ratkovica was still performing
his playmaking magic, Dane Watts was flying to the hoop with his long hair like surfer dude Jeff Spicolli, Chris Oliver was displaying his quick first step from the baseline and Kenny Wiliams was inserting fear with his harsh demeanour despite not moving a face muscle and still having that lovable smooth going Miami character, but when the Darmstadt native Herber walked on the court during warm-ups, he had to look around for a while before seeing some recognizable faces like Nicolai Simon or Ruben Spoeden. After a less than satisfactory showing against Oldenburg, the German wanted to return back to his old stomping ground and help delay the transformation of the Tiger NCAA babies of Duggins, Nash and Hodzic as his shot still wasn´t falling consistently, but his defense was strong as he helped the Fraport Skyliners secure their first win of the season in a hard fought 73-67 victory in the pink jungle of Tuebingen. “I was happy to be back and get a win here. It is never easy to win in Tuebingen. It was nice to see that Ruben Spoden is playing well as well as Akeem Vargas getting minutes. As for my self, I seem to have my lost my rhythm a bit, but I am not worrying. I contributed with good plays”, stressed Johannes Herber. The game featured four NCAA rookies with Skyliner Jon Leuer being the most known of the bunch. “I played against Nash in the NCAA. I don´t remember him hitting three pointers like that. He will help them a lot this season”, added 2011 NBA pick Jon Leuer. It was the first professional game of ex Wright State guard Vaughn Duggins and he was amazed with the crowd input. “The atmosphere was amazing and the fans really touched my heart. They gave us unconditional love and you want to feed off that and give back. It was too bad we couldn´t reward them with a win”, stressed Vaughn Duggins. “Their youngs guys played well. Nash hit big shots and Young showed he can run the team and play good defense. I was a cheerleader today. I really wanted to play, but I just try to stay positive and cheer the guys on”, commented Beko BBL rookie Michael Thompson.
German Hoops 