– David Hein
FC Bayern Munich are the 2017-18 easyCredit BBL champions after winning Game 5 against ALBA BERLIN. It is Bayern’s fourth league title and completed the club’s first cup and league double. Danilo Barthel was named Finals MVP and Alex King finally worked his way back to the top of Germany. In non-playoffs news, Mitteldeutscher BC have named their coach and s.Oliver Würz-burg added a double-double machine.
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 in Game 5, win fourth German title, complete first double
FC Bayern Munich are the 2018 easyCredit BBL champions! Bayern rolled past ALBA BERLIN 106-85 in Game 5 to collect their fourth Bundesliga title following 1954, 1955 and 2014 and complete their first cup and league double. Danilo Barthel was named the MVP of the Finals - the first time a German-born player won the award as the 2013 MVP Anton Gavel was born in Slovakia. Bayern started in fantastic fashion and opened a 32-19 lead after 10 minutes. And Munich never looked back, never letting Berlin get closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Nihad Djedovic, who was also on 2014 title-winning team, led Bayern with 19 points off the bench while Jared Cunningham had 16 points and five assists, Devin Booker scored 14 points and Barthel picked up 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Despite being supported by some 700 Berlin fans in the Audi Dome, Berlin could not come up with enough energy to slow down the Bayern offense, which shot 60 percent from the field and dished out 29 assists. Spencer Butterfield nailed seven three-pointers in scoring 29 points for Berlin. But the rest of the Berlin starters combined for just 22 points.
Bayern celebrate the way Bayern do
FC Bayern Munich survived a long, gruelling season and ended it on top of the easyCredit BBL. And the regular season champions celebrated their title in earnest - here some of the best scenes:
Berlin deserve praise from their fans
Hats off to a fantastic season by ALBA BERLIN, who came into the year with so many question marks with such a new and young team with a new but veteran head coach. But Aito Reneses Garcia worked his magic and the Berlin fans in Munich for Game 5 let the players know how proud they are of them.
King returns to the top of Germany after 14 years
FC Bayern Munich’s winning the title means something a little bit more to one of their players as Alex King became a German champion for the second time - with an amazing 14 years coming since his last crown as the great Jörg Bähren noted.
Alba keep Bayern from celebrating in Berlin, force Game 5
ALBA BERLIN kept FC Bayern Munich from celebrating in their home arena - as they did in 2014 - by defending the home court with a 72-68 victory in Game 4 to force a do-or-die Game 5 in Munich. The game was tight throughout with Bayern’s biggest lead being seven points and Berlin never being up more than four points. Luke Sikma, Peyton Siva and Niels Giffey combined for five of six free throws in the final 48 seconds to secure the win. Giffey led the way with a career-high 20 points while Sikma collected 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Berlin played tough defense in holding Bayern to just 38 percent shooting. Jared Cunningham and Danilo Barthel both had 11 points to top Bayern’s scoring.
MBC hand coaching reins to former assistant Scepanovic
Mitteldeutscher BC have stayed in house for their head coaching spot in naming Aleksandar Scepanovic as the new man in charge, bumping him up from assistant coach to the departed head coach Igor Jovovic. Scepanovic’s deal is for one season but has perspectives for a longer term relationship. The 35-year-old Croatian came to MBC before last season after having led Karlsruhe Lions from the fourth division Regionalliga to the second flight ProA.
Marelja joins MBC as Pantelic replacement
Mitteldeutscher BC have found their replacement for Djordje Pantelic as Aleksandar Marelja will fill the center position. The 26-year-old Serbian last played with Polish top flight AZS Koszalin and was given a one-year contract. He averaged 16.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 blocks for Koszalin.
Bamberg terminate contract with Trincheri
What was more of a formality became finally a reality as Brose Bamberg officially terminated the contract with fired head coach Andrea Trinchieri. Bamberg cut ties with the Italian coach back in February but the contract remained in tact, actually running until the end of the 2018-19 season. But now the 49-year-old coach is a free agent.
Bamberg power forward Mitrovic undergoes knee surgery
Some more bad news for Brose Bamberg in regards to Luka Mitrovic as the Serbian international had knee surgery and will need about four months to rehab. The 25-year-old has been dealing with knee problems for some time as he played only 19 games last season, averaging 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
Ludwigsburg’s John Patrick rumored as candidate as Bamberg coach
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg’s John Patrick is reportedly a candidate as head coach for Brose Bamberg. The claim was made on the Abteilung Basketball podcast from TelekomSport. Signals point to Bamberg not continuing on next season with Luca Bianchi, who joined the team during last season to replace Andrea Trinchieri. Patrick has had plenty of success with Ludwigsburg, reaching the easyCredit BBL semi-finals and the Basketball Champions League final last season, also winning the BCL Coach of the Year award.
Olaseni signs with Würzburg, comes back to coach Wucherer
Great Britain international Gabe Olaseni is returning to the easyCredit BBL as the center signed a two-year deal with s.Oliver Würzburg. The move to Würzburg means the 26-year-old big man will work again with Denis Wucherer, who was Olaseni’s head coach when he broke out in 2015-16 at GIESSEN 46ers. Olaseni played last season with Spanish ACB club Montakit Fuenlabrada and averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds. Last summer he starred for Great Britain at the FIBA EuroBasket 2017, averaging 16.8 points and 11.2 rebounds.
Loncar will play one more season, then join Würzburg management
Kresimir Loncar has announced he will play one more season with s.Oliver Würzburg and then retire from the game and join the club in a management role. That means the 35-year-old Croatian-German, who was the team’s captain the last two seasons, will end his 18-year playing career where it started as he joined Würzburg on loan from Benetton Treviso in 2000. In the last two seasons back in Würzburg, from where his German wife hails, Loncar has averaged 10.6 points and 3.3 rebounds.
Carter returns to Göttingen on two-year deal
BG Göttingen are doing well on their goal of creating more continuity as they will bring back Darius Carter on a two-year contract. The 25-year-old center averaged 12.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in 21 games. He missed 11 games and Göttingen lost all 11 of them. Carter is the fifth player Göttingen have kept from last season along with Dennis Kramer, Stephan Haukohl, Dominic Lockhart and Lenny Larysz.
Braunschweig add 21-year-old Hübner
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig hope to have found a player for the future as they signed 21-year-old Moritz Hübner on a two-year contract with an option for a third season. The former German youth international was the captain of third division ProB side Cuxhaven Baskets and averaged 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
Gamble leaves Bonn, stays in France
Julian Gamble has officially left Telekom Baskets Bonn and will remain in France. Gamble signed with JSF Nanterre, where German point guard Heiko Schaffartzik plays. After Bonn were eliminated from this season’s playoffs, Gamble transferred to ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne for the French playoffs. Now he will stay in France. He spent two seasons in Bonn and averaged 12.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 blocks a game. He also got plenty of attention at this season’s All-Star Day, dunking over a double of the US president Donald Trump.
Vechta keep Young in jump to Bundesliga
RASTA VECHTA have retained point guard Josh Young for their return to the easyCredit BBL as the sides agreed to a one-year deal. The 30-year-old Young averaged 9.2 points 2.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season. Young played in the top flight from 2011 to 2014 with WALTER Tigers Tübingen. The Vechta team now has five players set for next season with Robin Christen, Philipp Herkenhoff, Seth Hinrichs and Michael Kessens.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” -Martin Luther King Jr. pic.twitter.com/FQKhIiwzxv
— Julian Gamble (@TheRealJG45) 15. Januar 2018
Philmore allowed to leave Oldenburg
A German big man has entered the market as EWE Baskets Oldenburg refused to offer Isaiah Philmore a new contract for next season. The 28-year-old Philmore joined Oldenburg from Tigers Tübingen before last season and averaged 4.9 points and 2.1 rebounds.
McCoy joins Ulm as assistant coach
After the departure of Andreas Wagner as assistant coach at ratiopharm ulm, Tyron McCoy has taken over the vacant spot on the coaching staff. The 47-year-old has been in German basketball since 1998, playing in Giessen, Lich, Frankfurt, Oldenburg and Leverkusen before becoming a coach in 2008. He served as assistants in Oldenburg and Artland before taking over the head coaching spot with Artland Dragons in 2013. He coached Tübingen from December 2015 to November 2017, when he was fired.
What you will never hear from a basketball player
Okay, you might need some proficiency with the German language but this video is a good one - of things you would never hear a basketball player say.
Bamberg commits to Champions League for five years
Brose Bamberg made some major headlines in committing to the Basketball Champions League for five years. With the move, Bamberg turn their backs on the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup as they will play in the FIBA-organized competition for the next half-decade. One of the biggest reasons for the move was planning certainty as Bamberg would not know from year to year in which competition they would be playing so it was difficult to determine a necessary budget to cover the competitive needs of the team.
Berlin, Bamberg and Ulm included on list of possible EuroCup teams
Before Brose Bamberg decided to commit to the Basketball Champions League, they were included along with ALBA BERLIN and ratiopharm ulm as the three easyCredit BBL teams listed as possible participants for the 2018-19 7DAYS EuroCup season. The EuroCup Board met and came up with a list of 24 teams to be reviewed and voted upon by the ECA Shareholders Executive Board on June 19 and subsequently at the ECA Shareholders Meeting on July 6.
