– David Hein
RASTA Vechta pulled off the sensation and reached the semi-finals of the easyCredit BBL playoffs by knocking off Brose Bamberg in Game 4. But the surprise of the season could not pull off the next coup as reigning champions FC Bayern Munich won Game 1 of their semi-finals series. In the other semis, ALBA BERLIN grabbed home court advantage by winning at EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
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 slow down Vechta express at home in Game 1
FC Bayern Munich took care of business in Game 1 of their semi-finals series against RASTA Vechta with a 98-88 victory at home. Bayern built a 16-point lead in the third quarter but Vechta wiped that out and led early in the final frame. Bayern bounced back and reeled off an 11-0 run in the fourth for the win. Vladimir Lucic collected 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block for Bayern while Devin Booker picked up 21 points and 9 rebounds, Maodo Lo chipped in 15 points and Danilo Barthel added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Bayern won the rebound battle 34-19 and stopped Vechta inside the three-point line to the tune of 37.5 percent. Vechta did excel from the outside, hitting 17-of-31 treys for 54.8 percent. But it was not enough. Seth Hinrichs was able to get back onto the court and led the way with 21 points and 6 assists while Austin Hollins scored 17 points and TJ Bray tallied 14 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in 39:36 minutes. Robin Christen, who like Clint Chapman also returned, went 4-of-4 from downtown for 12 points for Vechta, who were without 19-year-old Philipp Herkenhoff. Game 2 is Tuesday in Vechta.
Vechta finishes off Bamberg with road win in Game 4
RASTA Vechta finished off their sensational first-ever playoff series in the easyCredit BBL by eliminating Brose Bamberg 3-1 with a 90-86 victory in Game 4 on the road. The game was tight throughout with Bamberg only able to mount a 10-point lead early in the third quarter. Vechta used a 21-5 run to pull ahead only to see Bamberg answer with a 10-0 surge to start the fourth quarter. Bamberg were up by four points with 1:32 minutes to play before Philipp Herkenhoff nailed a big three-pointer and Josh Young stole the ball from Nikos Zisis and gave the promoted side the lead. An Augustine Rubit miss led to TJ Bray splitting two free throws and Tyrese Rice missed his attempt and Vechta became the first promoted team to reach the semi-finals since FC Bayern Munich did it in 2012. Austin Hollins paced Vechta with 22 points including 5 three-pointers while Michael Kessens collected 18 points and 7 rebounds, Bray had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 14 assists and Herkenhoff scored 15 points. Vechta shot 29-of-36 free throws compared to 18-of-25 for Bamberg. Rice paced Bamberg with 19 points and 6 assists, Bryce Taylor scored 15 points, Rubit had 14 points and Elias Harris tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Berlin snatch home court advantage with Game 1 win in Oldenburg
ALBA BERLIN snatched home court advantage in their semi-finals series with EWE Baskets Oldenburg as they grabbed Game 1 on the road 100-93. Berlin gave up a 10-point third quarter lead and the hosts were up early in the fourth quarter. But Berlin managed to foul out both Rasid Mahalbasic and Will Cummings with 4 minutes left and eventually handed Oldenburg their first loss at home since January, snapping a 12-game winning streak. Peyton Siva was outstanding with 26 points including 4 three-pointers, 2 rebounds and 4 assists while Martin Hermannsson and Landry Nnoko both scored 15 points, Rokas Giedraitis had 11 points and Luke Sikma chipped in 8 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Berlin grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over just 12 times while holding Oldenburg to 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from long range and forcing 17 turnovers. Cummings led the way with 21 points while Mahalbasic had 21 points and 8 rebounds and Nathan Boothe added 18 points and Frantz Massenat picked up 16 points and 8 assists. Game 2 is Wednesday in Berlin.
Bowlin to stay with Würzburg until 2021, Olaseni and Morrison leaving
s.Oliver Würzburg and Skyler Bowlin have agreed to a contract extension as the 29-year-old point guard added a year to his deal until 2021. Würzburg have already secured a significant part of their roster for next season as Bowlin, Jordan Hulls, Badu Buck, Joshua Obiesie, Philipp Hadenfeldt, Johannes Richter, Fynn Fischer, Julian Albus, Florian Koch, Cameron Wells, Felix Hoffmann and Brad Lösing all have contracts. Würzburg did also announce that the big man combo of Gabriel Olaseni and Mike Morrison will be leaving the club.
Brooks leaves Bayreuth after three years
medi bayreuth will be looking for a new power forward after De’Mon Brooks has left the club. The 26-year-old had spent the past three seasons with Bayreuth, twice leading them to the playoffs and two seasons playing in the Basketball Champions League as well.
Promoted Nürnberg still waiting to hear fate for next season
Nürnberg Falcons are still waiting to hear their fate for next season as a final decision on whether the promoted side from the ProA can play in the easyCredit BBL has been postponed until after the up-coming Pentecost holiday on June 9. The league’s ruling court met with Nürnberg team officials after they appealed the easyCredit BBL’s refusal of a license for the 2019-20 season.
Relegated Jena lock of Menz as head coach for four years
Science City Jena are starting to put together a plan to get back to the easyCredit BBL as the relegated team signed Frank Menz as head coach and sports director for four years. Menz, who coached Basketball Löwen Braunschweig into the playoffs this past season, will be returning to Jena, where he coached TuS erdgas Baskets Jena from 2002 to 2006.
Gavel to start coaching career with Ulm
Anton Gavel has resurfaced just one season after ending his playing career as the former champion will start his coaching career in the ratiopharm ulm system. The 34-year-old German-Slovakian signed a deal with Ulm until 2021 and will serve as head coach of the club’s OrangeAcademy, coaching the ProB and NBBL U19 teams.
Hamburg bring in Austen Rowland as assistant coach
Hamburg Towers’ planning for the next season in the easyCredit BBL continue as the promoted team added Austen Rowland as an assistant coach to head coach Mike Taylor. The 37-year-old Rowland played in Germany for Taylor at Ulm in 2009-10.
Göttingen promote van der Zweep to assistant, Ludwigsburg assistants stay
BG Göttingen have increased their coaching staff as they promoted Hylke van der Zweep to assistant coach after the 39-year-old Netherlands native had coached the last two seasons for the club’s NBBL U19 team. MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg meanwhile announced that their two assistants Josh King and David Gale will be both remain on the staff for next season.
Players of the Week
Two rounds of playoffs actions means two Player of the Week honors to hand out. For Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, there was just one game with RASTA Vechta beating Brose Bamberg. Michael Kessens and TJ Bray both picked up an efficiency of 23. Kessens had 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 2-of-2 free throws to go with 7 rebounds and 1 assist while Bray had 15 points on 3-of-11 shots and 6-of-7 free throws, 8 rebounds, 14 assists and 1 steal.
In Game 1 of the semi-finals, the winner is FC Bayern Munich’s Vladmir Lucic with an efficiency of 32 against RASTA Vechta with 24 points on 8-of-10 shots and 5-of-5 free throws, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
Lucca mit der richtigen Reaktion auf die Unstimmigkeit-en hier ????#FCBBVEC #FCBB #FCBBlive #BBL #PlayoffsBaby #Lucic pic.twitter.com/uv3uJ79UTl
— FC Bayern Basketball (@fcb_basketball) June 2, 2019
German Top Five of the Week
G: Max DiLeo, RASTA Vechta
DiLeo was a defensive force for Vechta in the Game 4 win over Brose Bamberg with 5 steals to go with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 0 turnovers in 32:04 minutes. In Game 1 against FC Bayern Munich, DiLeo had 8 points including 2 three-pointers, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.
G: Maodo Lo, FC Bayern Munich
Lo played a major role in Bayern opening their playoff series with RASTA Vechta with a victory as he had 15 points including 3 three-pointers, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
F: Philipp Herkenhoff, RASTA Vechta
The 19-year-old Herkenhoff continued his excellent playoffs in Game 4 against Brose Bamberg as he scored 15 points to go with 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block. He did not play in Game 1 of the semi-final series against FC Bayern Munich.
F: Elias Harris, Brose Bamberg
Harris did all he could to keep Bamberg in the playoffs as he collected 12 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block in the Game 4 loss against RASTA Vechta.
F: Danilo Barthel, FC Bayern Munich
Barthel picked his spots effectively on offense with 10 points on just 5 field goal attempts and 3-of-3 free throws to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal in Game 1 against RASTA Vechta.
LIVE-VIDEO: Blaupause der @rastavechta Mentalität: Steal, Ausschwärmen und dann das Sahnehäubchen auf die gute Defense! #PlayoffsBaby pic.twitter.com/BqVFiqlRdg
— #PlayoffsBaby (@easyCreditBBL) May 28, 2019
Young Guns
Franz Wagner, 17, SF, ALBA BERLIN
Wagner was very productive for Berlin in their Game 1 win over EWE Baskets Oldenburg with 8 points on 3-of-4 shots, including 1-of-1 three-pointers and 1-of-1 free throws to go with 2 rebounds and 1 turnover in 9:10 minutes.
Tim Schneider, 21, PF, ALBA BERLIN
Schneider hit his only three-point attempt in scoring 3 points to go with 1 rebound and 1 assist in 9:28 minutes in Game 1 against EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
Marcel Keßen, 22, C, EWE Baskets Oldenburg
Keßen did not play a major role in Oldenburg’s Game 1 loss to ALBA BERLIN as he had 0 points on 0-of-2 three-pointers, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 6:00 minutes.
Olinde Watch
The last edition of the Louis Olinde watch saw the 21-year-old have a strong game in Game 4 against RASTA Vechta. Despite not starting, the small forward had 7 points on 1-of-2 shots, including 0-of-1 three-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 5 steals and 1 turnover in 13:25 minutes.
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