– David Hein
FC Bayern Munich added two more victories this week to remain atop the easyCredit BBL while MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg won their sixth straight and also have just one defeat. Last placed WALTER Tigers Tübingen for their part brought in Mathias Fischer as their new head coach - but lost in his debut.
In this section, we break out our English language skills and inform you about the latest news from the German easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga. If you’re short on time but still want your fill of Germany’s top basketball league then you are in the right place. Every week David Hein (www.heinnews.com) brings you up-to-date in German basketball – the easyCredit BBL short and sweet:
Bayern roll on with wins over Bonn, Jena
After the national team break, FC Bayern Munich continued their roll in the easyCredit BBL with victories over Telekom Baskets Bonn and Science City Jena to remain atop the league. In a Round 15 game moved up, Bayern took control in the first half and eased to a 78-50 win at home over Bonn. Munich used a 15-0 run in the second quarter to pull away for good with Nihad Djedovic coming off the bench for 18 points, six rebounds and three assists. Maik Zirbes added 11 points, eight rebounds and two steals for Munich while Julian Gamble’s 10 points could not stop Bonn from seeing their two-game winning streak snapped. After beating Bonn on Friday, Bayern needed a strong second half to fend off Jena 85-78 to push their winning streak to eight games for an 11-1 record atop the league. Jena led by 11 points in the second quarter and the game was even 74-74 with three minutes left. But Munich scored on their final five possessions - with four players scoring - to finish strong. Braydon Hobbs nailed four three-pointers in scoring 14 points while Milan Macvan was close to a triple-double with nine points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Julius Jenkins picked up 24 points, five rebounds and seven assists but they were not enough as Jena dropped their second straight to fall to 4-7 in 13th place.
.@DevinBooker31 lässt es krachen! Es bleibt aber weiterhin eine ausgeglichene Partie, der #FCBB führt mit einem Punkt. Noch knapp 4 Minuten im 3Q. #FCBB_Live pic.twitter.com/BYUcdq2tFc
— FC Bayern Basketball (@fcb_basketball) December 3, 2017
Berlin remain on Bayern’s heels with easy win over Giessen
ALBA BERLIN remained close to FC Bayern Munich in second place with a comfortable 88-66 home win over GIESSEN 46ers for a 9-3 record. Berlin picked up their second straight win thanks to a 28-15 second quarter. Dennis Clifford led the way with 23 points while Peyton Siva collected 16 points, four rebounds, four assists, four steals and one block. Giessen have dropped three of their last five games to fall to 5-6 in 11th place despite Darvin Davis scoring 20 points. Giessen shot just 37 percent for the game.
LIVE: @StefanPeno schaltet schnell und Dennis Clifford stopft das Ding. Die Führung gegen Gießen wächst wieder. pic.twitter.com/2USHjLSSyf
— ALBA BERLIN (@albaberlin) December 1, 2017
Ludwigsburg pick up sixth victory in a row - still have just one loss
ALBA BERLIN are second in the easyCredit standings but MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg are the only team besides FC Bayern Munich with just one defeat as Ludwigsburg rolled by BG Göttingen 93-61 for their sixth win in a row. Johannes Thiemann had 17 points and eight rebounds for Ludwigsburg, who used a 29-13 first quarter to move to 8-1 for third place. Thiemann was one of five Ludwigsburg players with double figures in scoring including Adika Peter-McNeilly (15 points) Elgin Cook (13) and Dwayne Evans (12) off the bench. Harper Kamp tallied 19 points in his season debut for Göttingen, who lost for the third time in four games to fall to 4-8 in 14th place.
LIVE auf TelekomSport.de: Von Defense zu Offense im Handumdrehen! pic.twitter.com/6NnaUdprUX
— MHP RIESEN (@MHP_RIESEN) December 3, 2017
Bayreuth come back to nip Würzburg in Franconia derby
medi bayreuth came back with a big fourth quarter to beat s.Oliver Würzburg for their third straight home victory, 86-80 to jump to 8-3 in fourth place. Bayreuth made all 10 of their free throws in the final 2:50 minutes to decide the game after trailing by 13 points in the first quarter and by 10 points in the third. Nate Linhart had 13 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and two steals for Bayreuth, who turned the ball over just nine times. Würzburg lost on the road for the fourth straight time and fifth time in the last six games to drop to 6-5 in ninth place. Robin Benzing had 21 points and Maurice Stuckey had 18 points but combined to hit just 5-of-15 three-pointers.
Bamberg race away from Bonn in second half
Reigning champions Brose Bamberg raced away from Telekom Baskets Bonn in the second half for an 83-65 victory at home to pick up their fourth win in the last five games. Ricky Hickman scored 17 points off the bench for Bamberg, who are fifth in the standings at 7-4 after a 17-5 run at the end of the third quarter to take control. Maodo Lo picked up 15 points, five assists and three steals while Patrick Heckmann scored a season high 14 points, which was the first time he has scored more than three points since scoring eight points on October 6. Bryce Taylor and Augustine Rubit both went to the bench injured in the middle of the first quarter and did not return for Bamberg while Bonn are still waiting for new addition Tomislav Zubcic to receive a clearance from his former team. Bonn got 14 points from Josh Mayo but they turned it over 21 times for their second straight loss in dropping to seventh place for a 6-5 record.
LIVE Gutes Spiel von @pheck33! Und elegant punkten klappt heute auch ganz fantastisch. #Basketballherz pic.twitter.com/vZZ8O1YOeJ
— Brose Bamberg (@BroseBamberg) December 3, 2017
Scrubb on fire from long range with 34 in Frankfurt win over Erfurt
Philip Scrubb torched Oettinger Rockets for 34 points in leading FRAPORT SKYLINERS to a 77-56 victory in snapping a two-game losing streak. Scrubb drained eight three-pointers while Tai Webster collected 18 points, five rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block for Frankfurt, who moved to 7-4 in sixth place as they pulled alway in the third quarter. Erfurt, who got 17 points from Darrel Mitchell, still have not won at home this season and are 2-9 in 17th place.
Heute nicht zu stoppen ... pic.twitter.com/Y4pMuCE6Ue
— FRAPORT SKYLINERS (@skyliners1999) December 3, 2017
Skyliners go very young against Rockets
Lost in the shooting exhibition of Philip Scrubb in FRAPORT SKYLINERS’ win over Oettinger Rockets was Frankfurt going extra young. The 10-man game roster, which did not include Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann, included four players aged 20 years or under. The average age was 22.7 years. Take away 32-year-old Quantez Robertson and the 28-year-old Mike Morrison and that average drops to 20.9 years. The game saw the easyCredit BBL debut of 21-year-old Great Britain talent Jules Dang Akodo while 20-year-old Niklas Kiel scored his first point of the season to go with five rebounds, one steal and one block in 15:19 minutes of his second game of the year following his major concussion.
Ulm grab fifth straight win
ratiopharm ulm continue to roll in the easyCredit BBL with their fifth straight victory in easing past Mitteldeutscher BC 93-76. Jerrelle Benimon came off the bench for a team-high 26 points while Ryan Thompson scored 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter - in which Ulm took control 26-12 and never let MBC back into the game. Ulm moved to 6-5 in 10th place. MBC got a career-high 25 points off the bench from Sergio Kerusch but they dropped their fifth straight game in falling to 3-8 in 15th place.
LIVE: Kann den ersten Advent später mit seinen Fingern anzünden: @RyT5 mit 9 Punkten bei 100% Trefferquote bislang. #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/I2s790ZArn
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) December 3, 2017
Braunschweig out-race Oldenburg
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig got a big double-double from Scott Eatherton as they out-paced EWE Baskets Oldenburg 99-88 in a Lower Saxony derby. Eatherton had 26 points and 13 rebounds while DeAndre Lansdowne picked up 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in helping Braunschweig to a 29-18 lead in the first quarter. Braunschweig won their second straight game in moving to 5-6 in 12th place. Rickey Paulding scored 19 points for Oldenburg, who have lost two in a row for a 6-5 record for eighth place. Oldenburg turned the ball over only 10 times but made just 25 percent of their three-pointers.
Braunschweig sign recent Erfurt wing Jaramaz
Nemanja Jaramaz returned to the easyCredit BBL after a short time out of the game as Basketball Löwen Braunschweig signed the Serbian wing, who was recently released from Oettinger Rockets. Braunschweig brought in the 26-year-old as a replacement for recently departed Jarekious Bradley. Jaramaz, who averaged 12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals in eight games for Erfurt, signed a deal until the end of the season. He scored 20 points for the Rockets against Braunschweig earlier this season.
Bremerhaven snap losing streak, beat winless Tübingen
Eisbären Bremerhaven picked up their first home victory of the season and snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 78-73 win over winless WALTER Tigers Tübingen. Johnny Berhanemeskel scored 19 points and Ivan Elliott picked up 17 points and nine rebounds in helping Bremerhaven to a 2-8 record for 16th place. Tübingen got 14 points from Reggie Upshaw but they were not enough as the club dropped to 0-11 in last place in Mathias Fischer’s debut as new Tübingen head coach.
Carl Baptiste mit dem Ausrufezeichen im Kellerduell ge-gen Tübingen! pic.twitter.com/SDwvapnBl2
— Eisbären Bremerhaven (@Die_Eisbaeren) December 1, 2017
Fischer takes over as Tübingen coach
Winless WALTER Tigers Tübingen hope they have found the solution to their problems as they named Mathias Fischer as their new head coach. The 46-year-old most recently coached Polish top flight side PGE Turow Zgorzelec and was assistant coach for the German national team. The Poland native coached GIESSEN 46ers in 2012-13 and Telekom Baskets Bonn in 2013-15. Fischer signed a contract until the end of the season which will automatically be extended for the 2018-19 season if Tübingen avoid relegation.
Player of the Week
Jerelle Benimon picked up Player of the Week honors after collecting 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 8-of-10 free throws, nine rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block and an efficiency of 34 for ratiopharm ulm off the bench in a win over Mitteldeutscher BC.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Per Günther, ratiopharm ulm
Günther played a major role in Ulm beating Mitteldeutscher BC with eight points, two rebounds and six assists. It was the first time Günther dished out six assists since October 15.
Live auf TelekomSport.de: Zonenmonster @Benimonster20Der #uuulmer Big Man nach 10 Minuten Einsatzzeit schon bei 10 Pkt. & 5 Reb. #weareone pic.twitter.com/I1ofkPIm8I
— ratiopharm ulm (@ratiopharmulm) December 3, 2017
G: Maodo Lo, Brose Bamberg
The German international point guard continues to be one of the best German guards in the league as he picked up 15 points, one rebound, five assists and three steals in Bamberg’s win over Telekom Baskets Bonn.
LIVE @maodolo12 übernimmt jetzt! AND ONE! #Basketballherz pic.twitter.com/HNynPBWWyC
— Brose Bamberg (@BroseBamberg) December 3, 2017
F: Robin Benzing, s.Oliver Würzburg
The German national team captain is back on this list despite a Würzburg loss as he picked up 21 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block against medi bayreuth.
LIVE: Robin Benzing gegen Robin Amaize hieß es im Nationalmannschaftstraining, auch aktuell im Frankenderby. Und Benzing macht auf Captain! #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/39QQ8AAseO
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) December 2, 2017
F: Sergio Kerusch, Mitteldeutscher BC
Kerusch is just a few weeks removed from chemotherapy and yet he drained four three-pointers in scoring a career-high 25 points in MBC’s loss to ratiopharm ulm. He also had six rebounds and one block.
LIVE: @powerserge1 trifft hier den Dreier, hat schon 19 Punkte und sorgt im Alleingang dafür, dass @mbcwoelfe noch hoffen können! (einen unterhaltsamen Instagram-Account hat der Mann obendrein). #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/uX6oUroJ49
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) December 3, 2017
C: Johannes Thiemann, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg
After picking up a double-double for Germany against Austria, Thiemann tallied 17 points to go with eight rebounds for Ludwigsburg against BG Göttingen.
Young Guns
Louis Olinde, 19, SF, Brose Bamberg
Olinde had a career game for Bamberg against Telekom Baskets Bonn with personal bests of 10 points and four rebounds. The 19-year-old made 4-of-6 shots and 2-of-2 free throws in 12:25 minutes.
Leon Kratzer, 20, C, s.Oliver Würzburg
The 20-year-old big man had a strong game as a starter against medi bayreuth with seven points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Kratzer went 3-of-3 from the field and 1-of-2 from the line in 22:18 minutes for an efficiency of 15.
Tim Schneider, 20, PF, ALBA BERLIN
Schneider picked up six points on 2-of-3 shots and 1-of-2 free throws with three rebounds and one assist in 15:45 minutes against GIESSEN 46ers.
LIVE: Not in my Geburtsort! Auch wegen solcher Defensivaktionen wie von @LeonKratzer führt @soliver_wue bei @medibayreuth. #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/Y5CBN7vaSw
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) December 2, 2017
Bonga Watch
Isaac Bonga was part of a very young FRAPORT SKYLINERS team against Oettinger Rockets as the 18-year-old point guard was one of four players aged 20 years or younger. Bonga went scoreless for the second time in 11 games this season and first time since October 11 in missing all three of his shots. Bonga did pick up two rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block with one turnover in 21:09 minutes.
NOPE - Heute nicht! Isaac und Tez verweigern den Block - Nach dem dritten Viertel führen wir 41:54 pic.twitter.com/s8p4i3FhkK
— FRAPORT SKYLINERS (@skyliners1999) December 3, 2017
Germans Abroad
After three seasons of playing in the easyCredit BBL and most recently for RASTA Vechta, Christian Standhardinger has moved abroad to the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions and has had a great start to the season. He had 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals against CLS Knights after collecting 26 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two steals against Alab Pilipinas two weeks ago.
“Daddy Cool” Derrick Taylor new head coach at ProB side BBC Coburg
One of the former greats of the easyCredit BBL is back on the sidelines in German basketball as Derrick “Daddy Cool” Taylor was named new head coach of third division ProB club BBC Coburg. The 54-year-old replaces Simon Bertram, who helped the club to promotion to the ProB last season but is dealing with health issues. Taylor played in Germany’s top flight until he was 41 years old, winning the league title with GHP Bamberg in 2005. He moved into coaching as an assistant with Bamberg and head coach with BBC Bayreuth and Nürnberger BC. Taylor coached for Bayreuth’s second team in the 1st Regionalliga from 2013-15 and most recently worked as an individual coach including for Brose Bamberg’s Australian talent William McDowell-White. Taylor’s son David is playing currently for Oettinger Rockets.
