Who could forget how shortly before the end of the 2010-2011 Beko BBL season as ratiopharm Ulm head coach Mike Taylor was rudely dismissed from his duties.  The Pennsylvania native who coached the club from 2003-2011 and was responsible for so much in shaping the team in a new direction and putting the team on to the correct path where they are now as a top 5 BBL team was let down by the organization and never got the chance to work in the new arena and ripe the fruits of the success that he had built up. The list goes on and on on how he shaped top German national players Per Guether and Robin Benzing and bringing them to the next level, finding an overweight John Bryant and keeping ratiopharm Ulm in the Beko BBL after getting them there in 2006 and keeping them there when other teams like BG Karlsruhe, Paderborn or Jena only had short stays in the top German league. ratiopharm Ulm continued to make strides the last two seasons as they reached the Beko BBL final in 2012 ending the regular season in second place playing a great playoffs getting to the final, but then coming down to reality being swept by the Brose Baskets Bamberg and having to accept that there was a distinct level difference between both teams. Last season, they didn´t have any sophomore blues under head coach Torsten Leibenath reaching the playoffs again finishing the season in third place and getting to the 2013 Beko BBL cup final, but losing a spirited game to eight time Beko BBL champion Alba Berlin. The club also moved into a new state of the art arena and have played Eurocup the last two seasons and welcomed top Europeam teams and players to the small German city Ulm. With the Beko BBL getting more competitive each season, what can ratiopharm Ulm accomplish this season and what can the fans look forward to each weekend besides the usual things as seeing competitive games, an amazing arena atmosphere and top players. However this season one could possibly if one is creative shout these initials T.G.I.F T.F.T.J.J.I.D.H.I.U.T.W.  This could be a very difficult riddle to solve what the initials stand for so the solution is Thank God Its Friday Time For Till Joscha Joenke In Da House In Ulm this weekend.  Ratiopharm Ulm has another very talented roster with exciting players to watch like NCAA finalist Matt Howard, scorer Cameron Long, exciting Dominican Republic guard Edgar Sosa, NBA draft pick and big man Trent Plaisted or German national player Per Guenther who is always worth the admission to watch. However like in Frankfurt where it took two years for German Danilo Barthel to develop into a future superstar, Til Joscha Joenke is slowly on his way to becoming a very good young German player. Joenke is a 21 year old 190cm guard that started his career with the Bayer Giants Leverkusen and is playing his second season in Ulm having a double license to also play for Pro B team Weissenhorn. Last season for Weissenhorn he played 28 games averaging 18.0ppg, 6.6rpg, 4.4apg, 1.6spg, FGP: 45.2%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 80.4%. This season he is tearing up the Pro B averaging 24,6ppg, 3,9rpg and 4,1apg. The U-20 national player already played 13 Beko BBL games and five Eurocup games last season and credit also goes to his head coach Thorsten Leibenath showing trust in the kid and giving him experience. Last season he stepped up like a veteran in the playoff series against Oldenburg when Per Guether was injured.This season, ratiopharm Ulm is packed with much talent at each position, but he is clenching his teeth together and fighting for playing time and is averaging 4,0ppg and 1,0apf. He has had some solid games scoring eight points the last weeks against Tuebingen and Vechta. He is a very exciting young German guard to watch that plays with that high self confidence in the mold of a Konstantin Klein. Last season his teammate Myles Hesson was able to watch him play each day who sees him being able to become a sort of second type of Per Guether. “I think that he can. He plays with so much heart. He plays every possession as if it is his last and never gives up. That resonates for the whole team. He has an incredible eye for the ball and always goes to the basket for the rebound”, warned Myles Hesson. He is definitely a guy to watch this season how much more he continues to develop and what better mentor to have than a Per Guether. One doesn´t always have to be excited to watch the experienced and more well known players, but also look forward to watching a young kid who is trying to make the jump from the playground to the men´s club.

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