– David Hein
Germany captured two victories to start their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers. A number of non-Germans were also playing for their national teams in the newly re-introduced in-season FIBA windows - with a mixed bag of success. The other fascinating news is that FRAPORT SKYLINERS became the first German professional basketball team with a team exclusively for eSports
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:
Germany race past Austria on road for 2-0 start to World Cup qualifiers
Germany were one of nine teams to open their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers with two victories. Johannes Thiemann of MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg collected a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds to pace five Germans in double figures in a 90-49 drubbing of Austria on the road in Group G. Danilo Barthel of FC Bayern Munich had 15 points while Dominic Lockhart tallied 10 points as he scored for the first time for Germany. Joshiko Saibou of ALBA BERLIN added eight points - also his first scoring for Germany - in his second cap for his country. Germany are 2-0 now in Group G while Austria fell to 0-2 despite 10 points and seven rebounds from Rasid Mahalbasic of EWE Baskets Oldenburg, 11 points from FC Bayern Munich’s Marvin Ogunsipe, and four points from Thomas Klepeisz of Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.
Germany start World Cup qualifiers with tough home win over Georgia
Germany started the new era in international basketball with a 79-70 victory at home over Georgia in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers. The fans in Chemnitz saw Henrik Rödl’s head coaching debut with the German national team and captain Robin Benzing and Co did not disappoint.
The s.Oliver Würzburg star paced the Germans with 25 points while FC Bayern Munich big man Maik Zirbes collected 17 points and five rebounds. Another ace performer in Germany’s Group G opener was Andi Obst, who made his senior national team debut with nine points on three three-pointers to go with two assists. The 19-year-old Isaiah Hartenstein of the NBA G-League chipped in nine points, a team-high 10 rebounds as well as two assists and one block. FC Bayern Munich’s Danilo Barthel added seven points and eight rebounds in helping Germany dominate the glass 40-28. And it was Germany’s tough defense that won the game, giving up just nine points to Georgia in the fourth quarter.
Macvan, Peno go 2-0 for Serbia, Lesic plays one qualifier
Serbia are also in Germany’s Group G and FC Bayern Munich’s Milan Macvan and Stefan Peno of ALBA BERLIN both played in Serbia’s two home victories. Macvan had six points, three rebounds and three assists while Peno had one point and four assists in an 85-64 win over Austria. Macvan was actually playing against his club mate as second team power forward Marvin Ogunsipe had zero points, four rebounds, three steals and one block in the game. And Austria’s star Rasid Mahalbasic of EWE Baskets Oldenburg had 15 points and four rebounds while Thomas Klepeisz of Basketball Löwen Braunschweig had eight points, three rebounds and two steals in the loss. In Serbia’s second win - a 105-87 decision over Georgia - Macvan collected 18 points, four rebounds and six assists while Peno had 17 points, three rebounds, nine assists and three steals. Sava Lesic of Oettinger Rockets went scoreless in four minutes against Georgia.
Williams helps Netherlands to upset of Croatia, fall to Romania on road
Leon Williams of BG Göttingen helped Netherlands grab one of the first upsets of the World Cup qualifiers with a 68-61 win at home over Croatia. Williams picked up six points and one assist in the Group D game in Rotterdam. But Netherlands could not build upon that success and dropped their first road game in the group, losing 75-68 at Romania. Williams had four points, one rebound, one assist and one steal in the defeat.
Gegic, Bosnia and Herzegovina take one win at home
Another FC Bayern Munich player was in action as 19-year-old Amar Gegic split two games with Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group E. He had four points, four assists and two steals in 11 minutes of an 81-76 home victory against Russia before going scoreless with two rebounds and two assists in an 84-65 loss at France.
Webster, Fotu lose to Korea with New Zealand at home, rout Hong Kong
Tai Webster of FRAPORT SKYLINERS and ratiopharm ulm’s Isaac Fotu meanwhile suffered a disappointing home loss with the New Zealand national team before bouncing back to blast Hong Kong. Playing against the third placed team from FIBA Asia Cup 2017, New Zealand lost at home to Korea 86-80 in their opener in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers - which was also the first game played in the new Competition System. Webster collected 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals and Fotu had 10 points and three rebounds, but they were not enough in front of the home fans in Wellington. The Tall Blacks - the official nickname of New Zealand’s national team - bounced back in fine form with a 133-74 drubbing of Hong Kong in the second Group A game. Fotu was one of seven Tall Blacks in double figures with 14 points to go with four rebounds and three assists and Webster picked up six points, two rebounds and nine assists. Webster and Fotu did help the Tall Blacks give the home crowd one special haka.
The historic #FIBAWC Qualifiers started with @basketballnz ???????? performing this amazing HAKA ???? Korea ????????
— FIBA ???? World Cup (@FIBAWC) 23. November 2017
➡️ https://t.co/KcHZeBYgw7 pic.twitter.com/lem1FJUVYf
Huff, Finland 1-1 in first Qualifiers window
Finland and Shawn Huff of FRAPORT SKYLINERS also went 1-1 in the first window of the 2019 qualifiers. The forward picked up 14 points, two rebounds and two assists in an 82-80 win at Bulgaria. And then Huff picked up 13 points and three rebounds in a 64-56 loss at home to Czech Republic in Group F.
Zinn plays for Switzerland in FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifiers
Robert Zinn of WALTER Tigers Tübingen did not play in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers but he did appear with a national team. The point guard has a Switzerland passport and he went scoreless in six minutes of Switzerland’s 83-68 loss to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifiers.
Scrubb, Canada split two games in Americas Qualifiers
Philip Scrubb of FRAPORT SKYLINERS and Canada split two games at the start of their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers. Scrubb had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Canada’s 93-69 home victory over Bahamas. Scrubb followed that with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists in Canada’s 88-76 loss at Dominican Republic. Scrubb is the only Canadian player currently in the easyCredit BBL but three others have played in the league recently: his brother Thomas Scrubb with GIESSEN 46ers; Owen Klassen of Phoenix Hagen; and Dyshawn Pierre of Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.
Obasohan, De Zeeuw twice lose double-digit leads in two Belgium losses
Belgium had two players from Germany’s top league and neither Retin Obasohan of Oettinger Rockets nor EWE Baskets Oldenburg’s Maxime De Zeeuw could keep Belgium from wasting double-digit leads in suffering two losses in Group E. Obasohan had 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 70-59 loss at home to France while De Zeeuw scored five points. In a 76-69 defeat at Russia, the Belgians once again failed to hold a double digit lead despite seven points, three rebounds and three assists from Obasohan and eight points and four rebounds from De Zeeuw.
Montenegro Djurisic split two games in Group A
Montenegro also had an easyCredit BBL player with whom they went 1-1 in the first qualifiers. Nemanja Djurisic of Telekom Baskets Bonn had two points and three rebounds in a 79-66 loss to Spain before tallying eight points, four rebounds and one steal in Montenegro’s 91-67 road win against Belarus in Group A.
Four clubs with no international players nominated
The only four clubs with no players nominated for international action were Mitteldeuscher BC, Eisbären Bremerhaven, GIESSEN 46ers and Science City Jena. German champs Brose Bamberg did have Maodo Lo, Lucca Staiger and Patrick Heckmann all nominated for Germany as well as Daniel Hackett for Italy and Ali Nikolic for Slovenia. But none of them could play due to EuroLeague obligations.
Abrams tops Top 10 of Week 8
We don’t have any action this week with the national team break but we can go back and check out the Top 10 from Week 8.
Top 10: @Fruit_96 nimmt die lange Flinte, @JayAbrams21 pumpt zwei Mal und @rpaulding23 ...naja, ist halt einfach Rickey! #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/cI7iCWd1TT
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) November 21, 2017
Würzburg sign reigning G-League champion E.J. Singler, cut Anderson
There was some player movement this week. s.Oliver Würzburg have shaken up things this week with the signing of former NBA G-League champion E.J. Singler until the end of the season while also releasing power forward Ryan Anderson. The 27-year-old wing Singler, who is the younger brother of NBA player Kyle Singler, is a three-pointer shooter who plays good defense and understands the game. The new Würzburg marksman, who will create more room for Robin Benzing and Vaughn Duggins, won the 2017 G-League crown with Raptors 905. Würzburg created roster space for Singler after the mutual termination of their contract with Anderson, who could not find a role in Dirk Bauermann’s team.
Bonn signs Croatian Zubcic to replace Parks
Telekom Baskets Bonn have reacted to the injury to Jordan Parks with the signing of Tomislav Zubcic. Bonn brought in the 27-year-old Zubcic on a deal until the end of the season. Zubcic played most recently with Trabzonspor Medical Park in Turkey after playing in the NBA G-League last season.
Jaramaz, Erfurt split ways
Nemanja Jaramaz and Oettinger Rockets have split as the club did not exercise their option on the Serbian, who had been brought in for two months in the middle of September as a replacement for the injured Niklas Wimberg. Jaramaz averaged 12.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in eight easyCredit BBL games.
Bremerhaven pick up backcourt help with addition of Bussey
Eisbären Bremerhaven added some help for their backcourt with the signing until the end of the season of Tre Bussey. The 26-year-old American last played for the Cypriot champions Keravnos Strovolou. The combo-guard played last season in the FIBA Europe Cup for Apoel Nikosia of Cyprus.
Skyliners create first NBA2K team
FRAPORT SKYLINERS continue to be on the edge of innovation and became the first German basketball club to form a separate team solely to complete in eSports. FRAPORT SKYLINERS eSports will compete in NBA2K on PlayStation 4 in ProAm modus. The players are Christopher Diaz Maceo (ChrisDiMa), Nico Conrad (SpeedoX2509), Dominik Beckhaus (NoXiousForLiFe), Bernd Siewert (I-SubZ3ro-I), Nenad Radanovic (A1R23JORDAN069), Daniel Ragusa (ShiroLaKuro), Björn Gollmer (ROUGH_CAT), Destiny J. Bazemore (BigEazy1312) und Thomas Nawrath (DerFurly). Frankfurt have said they would like to make it into the top 100 teams in the world.
Mr. Oldenburg Paulding heads Team International votes
And since we are talking voting … the leader in votes for the Team International team at this season’s ALLSTAR Day is Mr. Oldenburg Rickey Paulding. The second most votes thus far have been cast for Devin Booker of FC Bayern Munich.
Benzing top current vote-getter for Team National
Robin Benzing of s.Oliver Würzburg and the German national team captain currently leads all players in votes for Team National, ranking ahead of Maodo Lo of Brose Bamberg.
Bauermann leads Coach National Team voting
Bonn helps English language fans vote for ALLSTAR Day
Ziwschenstand beim #ALLSTARDay-Voting Team International: @rpaulding23 (@EWE_Baskets) @DevinBooker31 (@fcb_basketball) @ThryceBaylor (@BroseBamberg) @Treylew3 (@ratiopharmulm) @PeypeySiva3 (@albaberlin)
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) November 24, 2017
Noch bis zum 7.12. hier voten: https://t.co/YiqqQcwsRW #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/jvPMAF7olO
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