There was a time when winning titles in bunches was as frequent for the Brose Baskets Bamberg was as it has been witnessing complete domination and beast mode of Pittsburgh native Brad Wanamaker in the BBL this season, Oldenburg forward Ricky Paulding showing his constant unselfishness and team player side as his passing abilities can be as dangerous as his scoring at times, or Alba Berlin head coach Serb Sasa Obradovic making his unending hand movements on the sidelines when one could wonder if it’s a secret communication of his own special form of sign language. However the last time that the Brose Baskets Bamberg won a BBL title was in 2013 where they brought home the league title and one has to go back even further to 2012 when they last won a cup title. After seven titles in four years, not winning anymore in Bamberg was a very difficult habit to break for Freak City fans like refraining from beer for a longer of period of time. After a stellar performance in the semi´s against 8 time Beko BBL champion Alba Berlin, where Bamberg showed a nasty combination of physicality and bang, bang, bang intensity the club had to face off against 2009 Beko BBL champion EWE Baskets Oldenburg. Oldenburg made a great comeback against the Telekom Baskets Bonn in the other semi final and just buckled down on defense thrashing most Bonn scoring opportunities in crunch time. Under the watchful eyes of ex Bamberg head coach and new German national head coach Chris Fleming, the Brose Baskets Bamberg were unable to win their first title after he had won seven titles with the Bavarian team as the EWE Baskets staged a late comeback in the five minutes to prevail 72-70 winning their second team title after the 2009 league title. Ex NBA player Casper Ware who could pose as a Chris Rock double with his expression has had some huge games this season, but also less big games, but when it counted he stepped up hitting big shots and winning his first professional title and second after winning the Big West in college. “It feels really good to win a title again as I hadn´t done it in three years. It seems like Bamberg was shocked. Nobody thought that we could win a title, but we always believed in ourselves. We never gave up. Our new coach Mladen Drijencic really brought energy and motivated us. He prepared himself and us for beating Bamberg”, expressed Oldenburg point guard Casper Ware. The Brose Baskets Bamberg played almost flawless basketball against Alba Berlin 24 hours earlier, but just couldn´t shake off Oldenburg as they were always in striking distance and even led at times, but were unable to stop a late fourth quarter push by OLdenburg. Ex Pittsburgh(NCAA) point guard Brad Wanamaker was on MVP course as he combined for 40 points in both games, but in the end was unable to do what he does best score and his teammates also had problems with their shooting accuracy. “We weren´t as efficient as in the semifinal. They made the big plays when they had to and we didn´t. Basketball is a game of runs and usually the team with the last run wins and that is why they are the champs. We really wanted this win. This loss is tough and now we will focus on the BBL”, stressed Bamberg American Brad Wanamaker.

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