Polas Bartolo carries Ludwigsburg to 2-0 lead / Bonn win BCL title / Ulm surprise Berlin

The 2022-23 playoffs started with a surprise as ratiopharm ulm went to ALBA BERLIN and stole the first game, and the first week of action saw MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg grab two road wins over EWE Baskets Oldenburg. Telekom Baskets Bonn meanwhile became the fifth German club to win a European cup by capturing the Basketball Champions League crown.

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:

Ludwigsburg steal second game in Oldenburg, head home hopeful to end series

MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg took a major step to reaching the Semi-Finals as they grabbed a second road game at EWE Baskets Oldenburg with a 73-72 victory for a 2-0 series lead. Ludwigsburg built a 10-point second lead and fell behind in the third period but led the whole final frame. Ludwigsburg grabbed 14 offensive rebounds which led to 14 more shots - and eventually to the win. Yorman Polas Bartolo paced Ludwigsburg with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Sam Waardenburg scored 13 points and Prentiss Hubb added 11 points in the win. TJ Holyfield led Oldenburg in scoring with 15 points as Ludwigsburg limited DeWayne Russell to 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

Ludwigsburg snatch home court advantage with first game win on road

MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg stole home court advantage of their first round playoffs series with EWE Baskets Oldenburg by grabbing a 90-80 road victory in the first game. Ludwigsburg built a 15-point lead in the second quarter but watched as the hosts eventually went ahead midway through the fourth quarter. Ludwigsburg responded with a 12-0 run to pull ahead by 11 points with 86 seconds to go. Ludwigsburg committed only 12 turnovers and forced 19 Oldenburg miscues and knocked down 14 three-pointers. Yorman Polas Bartolo scored 24 points to pace five Ludwigsburg players in double figures including Will Cherry with 20 points and Prentiss Hubb with 16 points and 10 assists. Oldenburg could not take advantage of DeWayne Russell scoring 31 points as Trey Drechsel was the only other player in double figures with 10 points.

Ludwigsburg retain Coach King for another season

MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg provided some clarity going into the playoffs for the team as they announced head coach Josh King would remain with the team for next season. Rumors had started to circle about possible coaches who could become Ludwigsburg’s next coach, but club management silenced those as they elected to keep King, who replaced long-time coach John Patrick last summer.

Ludwigsburg keep captain Polas Bartolo for another season

MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg managed to lock up another important part of their success this season as they extended their contract with defensive ace and captain Yorman Polas Bartolo for 2023-24. The 37-year-old Cuban, who also has a German passport, has played with Ludwigsburg since 2020 after joining from FRAPORT SKYLINERS. Polas Bartolo has three times won the league’s Best Defender award - 2018, 2019 and 2021.

Oldenburg extend deal with Pjanic until 2025

EWE Baskets Oldenburg showed how much they valued the strong improvements of Alen Pjanic by extending their deal with him until the end of the 2025 season. The 26-year-old small forward is missing the 2023 playoffs with a broken arm.

Bonn win Basketball Champions League, TJ Shorts named season MVP

Telekom Baskets Bonn became just the fifth German club to win a European cup as they knocked off Hapoel Jerusalem 77-70 to claim the Basketball Champions League title. TJ Shorts, who was named the BCL season MVP, scored 29 points with 3 assists as Bonn joined ALBA BERLIN as 1995 Korac Cup winner, SYNTAINICS MBC as 2004 FIBA Europe Cup champs, BG Göttingen as 2010 FIBA EuroChallenge winners and FRAPORT SKYLINERS as 2016 FIBA Europe Cup champions. Bonn knocked off BCL Final Four hosts Unicaja 69-67 in the Semi-Finals.

Bonn clobber Chemnitz to open playoffs

Telekom Baskets Bonn quickly re-focused on the German playoffs after winning the Basketball Champions League by clobbering NINERS Chemnitz 94-63 at home in the first game. Bonn led by double figures in the first quarter and then blew the game open with a 39-15 third quarter. Bonn’s defense held Chemnitz to just 32.8 percent shooting including 18.5 percent on three-pointers. Sebastian Herrera came off the bench and scored 24 points with 6 three-pointers to lead Bonn while TJ Shorts had 17 points and 7 assists and Collin Malcolm added 13 points. Jonas Richter was Chemnitz’s top scorer with 14 points.

Chemnitz, captain Richter agree to another season together

NINERS Chemnitz retained an important figure in their team’s success over the years in extending their contract with team captain Jonas Richter for next season. The 25-year-old Chemnitz native is playing his 10th season with the club. Other clubs had shown interest in Richter, but Chemnitz have made sure he will be with them for 2023-24.

Procida shooting helps Berlin even series with Ulm 1-1

ALBA BERLIN responded to losing the first game of their series with ratiopharm ulm at home by taking the second game on the road 91-77 thanks to some hot shooting from Gabriele Procida. Berlin were up 70-69 with under 8 minutes to play when the Italian youngster hit two three-pointers in a 21-4 run to take over the game. The guests dominated the glass 42-23 and shot 53.2 percent for the game, including a red-hot 64.7 percent from long range. Jaleen Smith led Berlin with 18 points and 5 assists while Procida made 4-of-4 triples for 14 points off the bench and Luke Sikma also had 14 points. Ulm wasted Brandon Paul scoring 20 points and Karim Jallow scoring 16 points.

22-0 run gives Ulm surprise opening win in Berlin

ratiopharm ulm wrestled away home court advantage with their first round series with ALBA BERLIN with an 88-64 victory on the road thanks to a 22-0 run. After a close game for nearly three quarters, Josh Hawley scored 8 points in a 22-0 run to break the game open 76-54 with less than 5 minutes to go. Ulm committed only 12 turnovers and held Berlin to just 35.5 percent shooting including 25.0 percent from long range. Yago dos Santos led the way with 24 points, Bruno Caboclo scored 16 points, Brandon Paul had 14 points and Hawley finished with 10 points. Johannes Thiemann was Berlin’s top scorer with 11 points.

Bayern survive Göttingen comeback for 2-0 lead

FC Bayern Munich gave up a double-digit fourth quarter lead but managed to stave off an upset by BG Göttingen with an 87-85 home win for a 2-0 series lead. Bayern took a 12-point lead late in the second half and were still up by 11 points in the fourth quarter when Göttingen reeled off an 18-7 run to even the game with 22 seconds. Bayern’s Cassius Winston made the first free throw with 3.3 seconds left and then intentionally missed his second foul shot and grabbed the rebound and went back to the line with 1.3 seconds left for another free throw to secure the win. Bayern shot 55.9 percent on two-pointers compared to 46.2 percent for the guests. Winston finished with 13 points, Nick Weiler-Babb had 12 points and Andi Obst scored 11 points. Geno Crandall scored 28 points in the loss.

Bayern avoid bad start, pull away in second half over Göttingen

FC Bayern Munich avoided a slip-up to their start of the playoffs as they used a strong second half to beat BG Göttingen 87-67 in the opening game. Bayern took an eight-point lead and pushed it to 19-point advantage midway through the third quarter and cruised to the win. Bayern controlled the boards, 38-26 including 11 offensive rebounds and also shot 53 percent for the game. Nick Weiler-Babb paced five Bayern players in double figures with 15 points with Zylan Cheatham picked up 12 points and 9 rebounds and Niels Giffey added 10 points and 8 rebounds. Mark Smith’s 16 points for Göttingen were not enough.

Heidelberg extend captain Vargas, lose Ugrai

MLP Academics Heidelberg have extended their contract with their captain Akeem Vargas but at the same time will see important German Max Ugrai leave the club. The 33-year-old Vargas agreed to stay another season with Heidelberg after joining the team last summer. The 27-year-old Ugrai meanwhile departs after two seasons - though his destination has not been announced yet. Ugrai was the third-best German scorer in the league with 11.7 points per game.

Wolfpack, Callison agree to another year together

SYNTAINICS MBC have made one of the first moves looking ahead to next season in the easyCredit BBL as they agreed to another year together with Charles Callison. The 27-year-old American arrived at the club in November 2022 from Dutch side Donar Groningen and he averaged 12.7 points and a team-high 4.8 assists to help the team stave off relegation.

Rostock lock up Theis for two more seasons

ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES have started to look ahead to next season and one of the early moves was to lock up Sid-Marlon Theis for two seasons. The 30-year-old joined Rostock in 2020 and helped the club earn promotion to Germany’s top flight for the first time in 2022.

Player of the Week

With the final game of the second games still to be played we are handing out just one Player of the Week award. And the top honor for the first game of the playoffs goes to Yorman Polas Bartolo of MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg and his outstanding showing against EWE Baskets Oldenburg. He picked up 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 6-of-8 free throws, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals for an efficiency of 27.

German Top Five of the Week

G: Maodo Lo, ALBA BERLIN

Lo collected 10 points and 4 assists in Berlin’s first game loss to ratiopharm ulm and bounced back with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 block in Berlin victory in the second game.

G: Isaac Bonga, FC Bayern Munich

Bonga had two solid games in Bayern’s two wins over BG Göttingen. He started with 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal and followed that with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

F: Karim Jallow, ratiopharm ulm

Jallow contributed 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in Ulm’s first game win over ALBA BERLIN. In the second game, Jallow had 16 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals

F: Jonathan Bähre, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg

Bähre was a solid contributor in Ludwigsburg’s two road wins over EWE Baskets Oldenburg. He had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in the first game and then picked up 9 points and 4 rebounds in the second game.

C: Till Pape, BG Göttingen

Pape tried to get BG Göttingen a victory at FC Bayern Munich but was unsuccessful despite 11 points and 5 rebounds in the first game and 10 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist in the second game.

Germans Abroad

Ferdinand Zylka has helped Antwerp Giants to reach the Belgian finals as the former ALBA BERLIN farmhand scored 25 points to go with 2 assists and 3 steals in the deciding third game win over Hubo Limburg United.