Frankfurt Skyliners

Travis Thompson Unravels The Acrobatic Lay In Leading The Fraport Skyliners Juniors Past BG Karlsruhe 66-63

It really doesn´t matter in what gym Ricky Easterling has played in Germany the last 11 years, you can be as sure as Donald Trump thinks he is always correct that the Baltimore native of BG Karlsruhe has lit it up no matter what circumstances there were. In his six seasons in the Regionalliga with Saarlouis, the American had Michael Jordan consistent season scoring averages including averaging 32,3ppg and 34,5ppg in two seasons and averaged 29,0ppg each season. He needed absolute no kind of transition period when he moved up to the Pro B in 2014 with Saarlouis as he prompt led the league in scoring two years in a row and had a spectacular streak of scoring in double figures in 55 of 56 games as he dominated the Pro B like he did in the Regionalliga. This season the guy who´s middle name could be Mr mid distance as he is as lethal from anywhere form the mid distance the way Anthony Davis is in the paint doesn´t roam around on offense as freely as his days with Saarlouis mainly because BG Karlsruhe have many more viable scoring options. Currently his Pro B scoring in double figures streak is 70 out of 74 times and not only was he and BG Karlsruhe coming off a huge win against city rival PS Karlsruhe, but the American was returning back to a special stomping ground as in the last two seasons he shot out the lights connecting for 36 and 31 points and also had a massive game years before in the Regionalliga against Eintracht Frankfurt. This time however the Fraport Skyliners Juniors not only had Easterling under control limiting him to a hard to believe 6 points, but were fortunate to come out alive with a grind out 66-63 victory.

After the game the usual soft voice of Easterling sounded more like that of an elderly gentleman as the Baltimore native seemed a bit broken and was trying to reflect on his return back to an old stomping ground. “Frankfurt really had me under control tonight. I give a lot of credit to them as they really knew how to come off the screen and roll and slow me down. I am now 1-2 in the Pro B in this gym. It is not as good as I would like, but I am just thankful to get that opportunity to play here again. Stats are fine and dandy, but I am just happy to be able to play and get a win here and there”, smiled ex Saarlouis guard Ricky Easterling.

(more…)

The Fraport Skyliners Experience Black Sunday Getting Plastered By Brose Bamberg 76-57

In the 80´s in the NBA, each teams season game that separated them from the other games was battling against top teams Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers while in the early 90´s and late 90´s, the big draw for each team was when the Chicago Bulls came town especially for the autograph collectors who would never see a Michael Jordan until he was in the arena because he never stayed in the same hotel with his team. Now a days the Cavs and Lebron James and Golden State Warriors with the Splash brothers and Kevin Durant excite the fans most when they come to town while in Europe, the arena´s, players and excitement level may all be a tad less than in the NBA, but in the EasyCredit BBL, there is almost that yearly NBA flair with Brose Bamberg as they are always sporting that ex NBA player like the last two seasons with Kentucky Wild Cat stand out Darius Miller and this growing Euroleague team is the absolute draw in every arena in Germany as the season isn´t complete with having annoyed them at least a bit or having accomplished the impossible sending them home with a loss and being disgruntled. This season, Brose Bamberg haven´t been a one man show at the top, but have had fierce competition from the Rising BBL team ratiopharm Ulm that have surprised the whole league at 19-0 and have snatched away the number one position from freak city, but are still mowing down the BBL teams having a 18-1 record at the moment and have a five game winning streak and are the best ranked defensive team and third best offensive team in the league. The Fraport Skyliners continue to be a team finding itself as they rebounded off a nasty blow out loss in Munich by carving out an impressive 90-80 Champions League win five days ago and are in good position to advance thanks to the Mike Morrison show as he scored a career high 35 points owning the paint area for a day. However in the EasyCredit BBL, rebounding from their tough defeat in Munich wasn´t going to be easy against defending champion Bamberg as they never had a chance on this night as the Fraport Skyliners experienced Black Sunday getting plastered by Brose Bamberg 76-57. Frankfurt started off slow and never got into the game trailing by as much as 20 plus points. They did play a better second half, but had given up too many points in the first half to have any kind of chance. “We lost this game in the first half. Bamberg took us out of our offense. We never got into our sets as one guy always was forced to do it alone as they switched very well on defense. We had no ball movement and Bamberg did what they wanted to on offense as we weren´t on the same page on defense. We played with better intensity in the second half and had a good mentality where we all defended well”, stressed Fraport Skyliner German Stefan Ilzhoefer. For Brose Bamberg it was another normal day at the office as they worked hard to get a big lead and hold it for 40 minutes even if they did suffer very minor lapses in the second half. 2012 NCAA champion Darius Miller of Kentucky was pleased with the victory of his club. “This was a good win for us. Frankfurt is a talented team and it is always hard to play here. We lost here last year and were very focused to win tonight. We were very disciplined on defense and had a normal offensive game attacking whenever it was most advantageous”, said Darius Miller. For Quantez Robertson it was also another normal day at the office as the autograph requests were as never ending as usual after the game even after a loss and one could feel that he took this loss very hard. “Bamberg ran their plays well. We were unable to execute on offense and didn´t talk on defense or rebound the ball well. We also didn´t play tough or together”, added ex Auburn standout Quantez Robertson.

Basketball BL, FRAPORT SKYLINERS - BROSE BASKETS BAMBERG

12.02.2017 / Basketball BBL / -4- Kwame Vaughn / FRAPORT SKYLINERS

The Fraport Skyliners played in front of a sellout crowd and the first thing that stood out was their untypical black jerseys that they once wore before back in the 2003-2004 season, but this time it was an early promotion for the club´s benefit gala to be held in March where the motto is always come in a black tuxedo and sneakers. The black jersey´s could later have been seen as a bad omen as after 40 minutes they had witnessed their own Black Sunday.

(more…)

Mike Morrison Explodes For 35 Owning The Paint Leading The Fraport Skyliners To 90-80 Champions League Win Over Pinar Karsiyaka

Many Boston Celtic fans will remember the date May 22nd 1988 probably not as much as February 5th, 2017 like New England Patriots fans, but for AJ English senior who had finished his sophomore season at Virginia Union might have caught the legendary playoff game between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks where Boston won 118-116. Fans witnessed the fourth quarter sniper attack between legends Larry Bird and Dominque Wilkins who combined for 34 points. It was a display of scoring magic and abilities that would never be repeated again between two players in such an important setting, but amazing individual scoring masterpieces have been on the menu currently in the NBA as Isaiah Thomas can soon warrant a patent on fourth quarter magic while guys like Lebron James and Steph Curry do it on a regular basis. These feats do happen in European basketball, but not as frequently, but last weekend it happened in Munich as AJ English´s potent scoring was lost in the aftermath of an embarrassing 95-70 Fraport Skyliners loss. English eclipsed the 20 points of Bird form 1988 and scored all of his teams 22 points in the fourth quarter like a slithering snake waiting to bite every time he got the ball and the only thing missing was having an opponent who also shot out the lights on a regular basis like he did. This shooting performance probably won´t be remembered very long simply because it wasn´t a close game, but English surely won´t forget that he got his first loss in a Fraport Skyliners jersey as he had been perfect 8-0 going into the contest. However, English was able to go into the Champions League playoffs against Pinar Karsiyaka with confidence as he was still perfect in this competition at 4-0 and had scored in double figures in each game averaging 17,3ppg, 4,0rpg and 2,5apg. English was looking to have his slithering snake instincts again for the basket and stayed perfect in the competition and scored in double figures again with 10 points, but this night belonged to a player that isn´t known for his scoring power, but Mike Morrison exploded owning the paint and scored a career high 35 points eclipsing his two other best marks of 28 points in Finland and Cyprus leading the Fraport Skyliners to an important 90-80 win over Pinar Karsiyaka. The big man always plays with a lot of energy, but on this night, he was a man playing against boys in the paint as it was his own domain. After the big win, Morrison was surrounded by a swarm of journalists, but the big man from St Petersburg, Florida handled the hoopla with grace and as always had an eloquent tongue while describing his unexpected burst of scoring. “My teammates did a good job on the pick and roll finding me a lot. I am focused on being consistent and not getting caught up with the highs and the lows”, smiled ex George Mason center Mike Morrison. Morrison finished with 35 points, seven rebounds, three assists and shot at a very high rate at 88% going 15/17. For his teammates of many years like Quantez Robertson, having a big game like this wasn´t surprising. “Mike had a very good week of practice and he is always very motivated to play. Tonight we got him going early and it carried all the way until the end. He got some easy put back dunks and moved well on the blocks to get into good position to score”, added ex Auburn guard Quantez Robertson. For new Skyliner scoring sensation from Iona AJ English seeing the big man own the paint all night long also wasn´t surprising as he has seen in a short time what he can do on the floor. “Mike is more than capable to have nights like this. I think that they were focusing more on our guards, so coach told us to go inside to Mike more. I think that he belongs in the NBA”, smiled AJ English. Even his ex teammates were thinking about him and had to get their two cents worth of jokes in. “Mike was a beast tonight. Aaron Doornekamp called me two minutes after the game was over and asked me if Mike Morrison´s stats were correct”, added Fraport Skyliners head coach Gordon Herbert.

The Fraport Skyliners will return back to Turkey in two weeks and try to wrap up the playoffs series not allowing Pinar Karsiyaka of scoring more than ten points. The Fraport Skyliners played a solid first half, but had their problems with keeping the Turkish team under wraps as they were able to get too many easy baskets and bitter turnovers also didn´t help their game. However in the second half, they picked up their defense and got more support on the offensive end keeping up their consistency despite Pinar Karsiyaka getting a potent effort from American guard J´ Covan Brown dropping 29 points.

(more…)

AJ English Is A Slithering Snake That Isn´t The Saviour Of The Fraport Skyliners, But Just Another Piece To The Puzzle

From November 2014 until October 2016, the Fraport Skyliners were able to have a very stable time in that there was little roster movement as head coach Gordon Herbert had brought in the right mix of players which translated into a Eurochallenge Final 4 appearance, Fiba Europe Cup title and two BBL playoff appearances in a row. In this time, the club had grown massively with their team chemistry as the two point guards Justin Cobbs and Jordan Theodore as well as the big German 3 of Johannes Voigtmann, Danilo Barthel and Konstantin Klein were the main components that held the team together and in a way guaranteed success. However this season was another story as suddenly head coach Gordon Herbert who has been known for reeling in the right point guards in the last years with guys like Dashaun Wood, Justin Cobbs and Jordan Theodore was dealt the wrong card in Markel Starks who had to depart early as another American Kwame Vaughn was brought in. Overall players coming and goings continued to be as prevalent the way new American President Trump has fired cabinet employees in his first two weeks of office as ex Maryland(NCAA) forward Ekene Ibekwe and buzzer beater champion Antonio Graves had to pack their bags. On December 11th, the Fraport Skyliners were sinking quickly in the standings after a  brutal 77-57 loss against FC Bayern Munich at home and head coach Gordon Herbert had 10 long days to figure something out until the next game in the Champions League against Slovenian team Helios. Herbert had some candidates to choose from and also heard the same normal bla bla from agents telling how great their clients were and in the end chose AJ English who like Justin Cobbs two years ago was also a rookie and known to having shot out the lights at Iona(NCAA).Ex Skyliner Sean Armand surely didn´t play a role in helping make Herbert´s appetite grow for his ex teammate and the 2004 BBL champion decided to haul in English and one could carefully say the rest is history for the time being. English very much like Cobbs two years ago has been Veni, Vidi Vici as he has come seen and conquered. Since the arrival of English, he has been nothing short of spectacular helping the team to an 8-0 record and helped move to the Champions League playoffs and has scored in double figures in each game, made a buzzer beater and in the lone game Frankfurt lost in Oldenburg, he was unable to play. During the Pro B game of Fraport Skyliners farm team Juniors against the Dragons Rhondorf where the BBL players often watch and support when they have time, English was able to deny in his soft voice that he is the savior for the team. “I don´t believe that I am the savior, but just another piece to the puzzle. You need to have the right pieces for success. The team just has been meshing together in the time that I have been here”, warned AJ English.

English is a 24 year old 192cm combo guard from Middletown, Delaware who is the son of ex NBA player AJ English who played for the Washington Bullets from 1990-1992 and is playing his rookie season and started his professional career in Italy with Enel Basket Brindisi (Italy-Serie A) playing 8 games averaging 7.9ppg, 2.0rpg, 2.6apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 38.7%, 3FGP: 25.0%, FT: 75.0%. In his time there, the team went 4-4 and decided to make changes. The club had talented rookie Nicolas Moore who had a stellar career at SMU(NCAA) and was also on the radar of some NBA teams and also experienced 33 year old guard Phil Goss who has made a name for himself in Italy having played in Rome and Venice and English seemed to have gotten lost a bit in the mix and found himself unemployed in mid December. In his eight games with Enel Basket Brindisi, he was able to score in double figures in three games including 15 point games against Brescia and VF Pescaro. He started his professional career against Dolomiti with a 0/6 performance from the Parking lot, and was never able to fully gain a rhythm with his bread and butter as he shot only 32% from outside. Despite only being with Enei Basket Brindisi for a short time, the American didn´t see his departure as one that was due to poor play. “I didn´t necessarily have to go, but I had just come out of school and they wanted me to play a certain role. I can play the positions 1-3. They wanted me to play one position like you see in the NBA where guys are signed for one particular strength. I guess I wasn´t ready for that role, but I am happy that Frankfurt took me and saw me as a point guard, but also a guy that can also play the two position”, commented ex Iona(NCAA) guard AJ English.

(more…)

AJ English Releases The Fraport Skyliners From Their Start Funk Helping Crush The Walter Tigers Tuebingen 84-64

Sometimes there are certain factors that could come into play why a player wasn´t able to stay in a situation, but for Middletown, Delaware native AJ English, living in paradise in Brindisi, Italy on the beautiful Adriatic sea which was a far cry from the long grey winter nights in New Rochelle, New York where he worked on his basketball trade for 4 years at Iona(NCAA) didn´t seem to help his play that much there the last few months. So for his rookie season with  Enel Basket Brindisi (Italy-Serie A):where he played 8 games averaging 7.9ppg, 2.0rpg, 2.6apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 38.7%, 3FGP: 25.0%, FT: 75.0% to turn out so unspectacular most likely had nothing to do with his surroundings as he could of spent all his free time on the beach in early autumn and annoyed his friends back home with the exotic scenery via a Skype conversation. Since leaving the kodak picture scenery of Brindisi, Italy where he had an unspectacular 4-4 record with the club, he has been nothing short of spectacular with his new home in Germany and the Fraport Skyliners as he came and conquered as he has helped the team to a 7-0 record and aided the team to the Champions League playoffs while scoring in double figures in each game. The grey winter´s of Frankfurt would remind him more of New York city with the skyscrapers than anything else, but moreover there must be a reason for his stellar play and being able to feel so comfortable in his new location. English came into his eighth game with the Fraport Skyliners looking to remain perfect and had very fond memories of the Walter TIgers Tuebingen as shortly before the new year, he made all Tiger fans hearts sink as he dropped a spectacular off balance buzzer beater in traffic that would even have had NBA legend Larry Bird smiling from his French Lick living room sofa as the American finished with 21 points and six threes. English has been a type of spark plug for the team as head coach Gordon Herbert made the right choice in hauling in English who could be that missing piece for that playoff hope. English didn’t have any last second buzzer beater heroics this time, but still played an instruemental part in the game as he was a major force coming into the game in the first quarter with Frankfurt down 11-2 and stinking up the Fraport arena with their play worse than a dead skunk could on the side of the road. English didn´t play as many minutes as teammates Kwame Vaughn or Shawn Huff or have their stats, but the American made key plays, shots, passes and got the team ball movement rolling in the last 5.08 of the first quarter which helped turn around the game and lead the team on the right path to victory where they would never look back. At the end of the day, The American finished with 12 points, three rebounds and five assists and everyone noticed. “English hit a big shot in Tuebingen and did again today. He attacks well and is like a snake that slithers around the court. I saw him play at Iona(NCAA) and he put up good numbers there. He can definitely play”, stressed ex Telekom Baskets Bonn point guard Jared Jordan.

Basketball BL, FRAPORT SKYLINERS - WALTER TIGERS TÜBINGEN

The Fraport Skyliners arrived into the game in 12th place with a record of 7-11 and came into the game having won three of their last games and had lost their last BBL game in Oldenburg 71-64. Like in Oldenburg, they had problems against the Walter Tigers Tuebingen in the first quarter, but rebounded from their funk and then played a complete game for 35 minutes. “We played good defense for long phases of the game and did a good job not allowing them any open shots. We had good ball movement and when we can do that in the game, we usually have a good chance to win”, warned Fraport Skyliner point guard Max Merz. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen were clinging to their basketball lives at 16th place having a 4-15 record. They had lost their last eight games and last weekend to Science City Jena and in the first five minutes of the first quarter, one carefully could have thought that this may be the turning point of their long losing streak, but a basketball game has 40 minutes and Tuebingen was unable to offer any resistance against the Frankfurt offense for the last three quarters and couldn´t come to terms with the always aggressive and consistent defense. “We wanted to have a good start in Frankfurt something we hadn´t had in the last three games and did. But Frankfurt came back and did a good job making shots and getting to the free throw line. Shawn Huff gave them a huge boost with his shooting and they played good defense. You have to give Frankfurt a lot of credit with their defense. They play very good one on one defense, switch well and have good help. Coach Herbert always has good defensive teams”, added ex Marist(NCAA) point guard Jared Jordan. “We didn´t have a good start, but came back with our energy and defense. We did a good job staying calm and got back into the game”, added Fraport Skyliner forward Niklas Kiel.

(more…)

AJ English Supplies Magic Hands Again Powering The Fraport Skyliners Past The Giessen 46ers 65-61

Playing against the big 3 B´s of Bamberg, Berlin and Bayern Munich are the season highlights not only for the Fraport Skyliners, but for every other club in the easyCredit BBL, but battling the Giessen 46ers in the Hessen Derby each season would easily come in as a close fourth as the  most anticipated games each season. The two cities Frankfurt and Giessen are only 65 kilometers apart and both clubs possess special fans that get extra motivated for the two season duels each season. Giessen fans won´t forget the last game in Giessen as almost two months ago, the Giessen 46ers finally won in their living room against the Fraport Skyliners again something they hadn´t done since 14 years dating back to 2002. The last time Giessen was able to depart the court in Giessen with a win, current Giessen Americans Dwayne Evans and Justin Sears weren´t even in high school yet. In the memorable victory on November 19th, the Giessen 46ers gave their best defensive performance of the season as they held the Fraport Skyliners too only 52 points while they were led by Canadian national player Thomas Scrubb who steered home 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals to the historic win. This coming summer his brother Philip might carefully kid him that that loss might not have happened had he not been injured, but then again the Scrubb brother mentality never centers about them, but moreover what the team can do or not. The Fraport Skyliners entered the contest with a two game winning streak having celebrated big wins on the road in Jena and Tuebingen including an amazing buzzer beater by ex Iona(NCAA) guard AJ English while the Giessen 46ers came into the game having last suffered a tough 87-83 road loss in Vechta. Once again fans had to wait again for the professional head to head battle debut of the Scrubb brothers, but that didn´t damper the breathtaking Hessen derby atmosphere as 5,002 fans were in the loud Fraport arena witnessing a classic game that the Fraport Skyliners were able to grind out in Crunch time 65-61 getting their third win in a row in the BBL.

After the victory, the Fraport Skyliners practiced their first Humba ceremony which is to get on the floor and get up and dance around something hat the team practices on occasion after a home win. American Kwame Vaughn who has gained professional experience in countries like Italy, France, Belgium and Israel and learned the basketball game at Cal State Fullerton the same school that produced explosive ex BBL player Bobby Brown looked a bit confused and perturbed after the Humba victory dance had been completed. “The Humba was new for me. I had never seen something like that before. I think having a dance like that is engaging for the fans. You can see something like that in the NCAA, but it depends on the school. We did a good job in this game staying the course, fighting hard, executing which allowed us to come out with a win”, stressed Fraport Skyliner guard Kwame Vaughn. Giessen 46er Thomas Scrubb couldn´t repeat his strong effort from the first game against Frankfurt and scored only 9 points this time around and was disappointed by the team effort, but enchanted by the breathtaking atmosphere in the Fraport arena. “Our offense wasn´t great. We didn´t get in a flow on offense and our shots weren´t falling and we didn´t get out on transition. Our defense was ok, but we made a few mistakes and they capitalized on them which cost us the game. The atmosphere was great and one could feel the passion of the fans. I really felt the intensity in the arena and it felt good coming down at the end”, added Canadian national player Thomas Scrubb. “The atmosphere was great. I wish it could be like that in every game. I am thankful that I could be a part of it, but most important was that we got the win”, explained ex Iona(NCAA) guard AJ English.

(more…)

Thomas Scrubb (Gießen 46ers) Upholds The Low Key Manner And High Level Play In The Scrubb Family

Almost eight months ago a tall young man that looked like he could have just come from a long Caribbean trip or had fallen asleep under the tanning machine was in the Fraport arena and really stood out from the rest of the spectators as he was the tallest in his seating area. One might not have right away come to the notion that he was related to Fraport Skyliner Philipp Scrubb, but the Carlton University sweat shirt that he was wearing and his dark tint could have been the needed hint that these two people might be related. Six days after his rookie season had ended with Joensuun Kataja Basket (Finland-Korisliiga) where he had poured in 26 points in a loss to BC Nokia, The tall figure that was roaming the Fraport arena was in fact Thomas Scrubb the older brother of Philipp and was in Germany watching his brother play a game. After the Fraport Skyliners had easily disposed of the 2004 Fiba Europe Cup winner Mitteldeutscher BC 89-61 and Philip Scrubb had contributed four points and four assists, both brothers met after the game and had some brief small talk before the younger brother went to the fans to give the obligatory post game autographs. When one observes the two Canadian brothers who made watching basketball so much more enjoyable in the last five years at Carleton(CIS), Philip seems like he could moonlight as a ball boy at an NBA game getting balls for the players and being too shy to answer after getting asked a question or an altar boy who attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying and ringing the altar bell and just standing by the side of the priest like a loyal dog does his master. Thomas on the other hand could easily moonlight as a fitness trainer as his seemingly perfect looking body would be destined for that job or as a model gracing the cover of Fitness magazine. Even if Philip could get lost in the shuffle of a group of basketball players walking down a hall and Thomas rather be asked what the easiest weight lift plan could be instead of what the correct and easiest method is too getting a rebound, once these two brothers slip on their jersey´s and lace up their sneakers and step on the basketball court, they are in their perfect world and everyone would experience that their passion and biggest strength is basketball. One thing that stands out with both players, is their low key demeanor that seems to be cemented inside them as firmly as a new laid down drive way. There is no cockiness or self adulation present in their characters and that reflects their play as they display pure unselfishness on the court. Last season Philip explained how their parents set them on the right path to how to deal with success the correct way. “If you do a good job on the court then you feel good internally”, explained Philip Scrubb.

(more…)

AJ English Lets His Presence Be Felt Helping The Fraport Skyliners Overcome The Heilios Suns 72-62 In Champions League Play

It was once again time for a new basketball Champions League encounter between the Fraport Skyliners and Slovenian club Helios Domzale as in the first game the German squad escaped a tough Slovenian side sneaking back to Germany with a 61-56 grind out victory as American point guard Kwame Vaughn led the charge with 27 points and came up big in crunch-time. In the return game, it pitted a Frankfurt team that has been more than disappointing in the BBL and clinging for their lives in the international competition while Helios Domzale need a miracle to advance in this competition and need to go on a big winning streak now. The game was the tale of two guards as it had two guys coming into the contest with something prove with two Americans AJ English and Brandyn Curry. English is a 24 year old 192 cm shooting guard that is a rookie and started the season with  Enel Basket Brindisi (Italy-Serie A) playing 8 games and averaging  7.9ppg, 2.0rpg, 2.6apg, 1.1spg, 2FGP: 38.7%, 3FGP: 25.0%, FT: 75.0%. His first station in Europe didn´t work out the way he planned and he hopes to bring his killer scoring instinct and scoring in bunches ways to his new home with Frankfurt which he displayed in college at Iona in New York and played two seasons with ex Skyliner Sean Armand. Armand had the better three point accuracy than English, but the new Skyliner scored more than Armand did. If one once called Sean “you want buckets here you go Armand then you could name English AJ “you want more buckets here you go” English. The other guard that wanted to finally get that annoying Skyliner monkey off his back was Brandyn Curry who had an 0-5 record against the Fraport Skyliners with two loses with Dutch club Den Bosch, two loses with German club Eisbaeren Bremerhaven and one with Helios Domzale. He was 0-2 in the Fraport arena and still has uneasy memories of the loss in Frankfurt nearly two years ago in an Eurochallenge game where he stroked home 27 points on seven three´s, but had a long bus ride home to Den Bosch chewing on a loss. Both guys entered the game with chips on their shoulders and after 40 minutes, ex Iona standout AJ English came out as the winner as he helped the Fraport Skyliners to a 72-62 victory producing 12 points while Brandyn Curry hit some big shots in the fourth, but once again left the building as the loser for the third time and is 0-6 in his career against the Fraport Skyliners.

“This arena isn´t a good place for me. I still haven´t figured out how to win here. However It is always great to play here and I hope that I can get a dub the next time. We lost the game in the third quarter. Frankfurt got going and we didn´t. Usually it´s the fourth quarter that does us in, but tonight it was the third quarter. We need to learn to play a complete game”, warned ex Harvard(NCAA) guard Brandyn Curry. After the game, AJ English had a hard task of reaching out to every journalist, but he took it in stride and is excited about playing in Frankfurt. “I didn´t feel pressure tonight. Italy was a good opportunity, but Frankfurt is a better one. I just try to play good defense and knock down shots and be ready every night. Sean Armand told me to be myself and let the game come to me. It is a long season and there are always ups and downs. That´s the beauty of basketball”, warned Fraport Skyliner guard AJ English. With the win, the Fraport Skyliners climbed into fifth place and have a playoff place for now, but with 4 games remaining, nothing is secure yet. “This was a much needed win. We controlled our own destiny. We missed easy shots in the first half. We came out strong in the third, but lost a little intensity in the fourth quarter, but our defense kept us in the game and gained intensity and got us the win”, added Fraport Skyliner point guard Kwame Vaughn.

(more…)

It´s Another Normal Day At The Office For Bryce Taylor And FC Bayern Munich Toppling The Fraport Skyliners 77-57

He still has that bushy beard that started as a routine playoff beard a few years ago, but with time Danilo Barthel has seemed to have developed a fascination with the facial hair something that his mother may still be coming to terms with. But what is different, the Hedielberg native isn´t sitting on the bench next to the X block in the Fraport arena, but on the right side and the colors of the blue and white have turned into the bright red and even if the beginning letter to his team does begin with an F, many Fraport Skyliner fans have had  a hard time adjusting to the FC instead of the Fraport. After 167 games in the jersey of the Fraport Skyliners from 2011-2016, Barthel made the logical step last summer and joined Germany´s most famous sports brand FC Bayern Munich where he got two things he couldn´t get with Frankfurt with more dough and BBL title aspirations. In his time with the Fraport Skyliners, fans will never forget his poster dunk over Patrick Ewing jr in 2012 or his neverending hustle under the boards where he received more elbows, bruises and bloody noses than any other Skyliner in the last years. This season with FC Bayern Munich, Barthel has seen less action than with the Fraport Skyliners, but done the best out of his minutes as he was averaging 8,1ppg, 2,9rpg and 1,4apg in 11 minutes and 16 minutes per game coming into the Frankfurt game. The German has received stiff competition from other German national player and power forward Maxi Kleber and so far has had to be second fiddle as the ex Wurzburg player has the starting job position. The 25 year old 211cm power forward who had his taste of the NBA in the summer of 2014 where he played NBA Summer League with the Miami Heat returned back to his old stomping ground and living room of the Fraport arena and helped his team round out another normal day at the office by toppling the Fraport Skyliners 77-57 as they rebounded nicely from their embarrassing loss in Bonn where they relinquished 95 points.

After the huge victory, most of FC Bayern Munich was already on the bus, but Barthel was still making the rounds of greeting old friends and well wishers and finally reached the locker room 35 minutes after the game had ended and was elated about his return back to Frankfurt. (more…)