– David hein
This week’s action was highlighted by reigning champs FC Bayern Munich co-ming back from a 21-point deficit to defeat EWE Baskets Oldenburg on the road. HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim continued their magical start with another win to stay unbeaten while FRAPORT SKYLINERS finally picked up their first victory and Brose Bamberg and MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg both added scorers who had recently played in the easyCredit BBL.
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 erase 21-point deficit to win in Oldenburg
FC Bayern Munich showed their class by coming back from a 21-point deficit to win at EWE Baskets Oldenburg 90-83 to remain perfect in the league. The reigning champions fell behind 34-13 in the second quarter but turned around the game by winning the second and third quarters 49-32 after dropping the first frame 29-13 to move to 4-0 while Oldenburg dropped their first game for a 3-1 mark. Bayern out-rebounded Oldenburg 36-22 including 12 offensive rebounds while shooting 53.7 percent from the field and hitting 23-of-26 free throws with Oldenburg hitting 10-of-12 free throws. Petteri Koponen led Bayern with 18 points with 4 three-pointers and 3 assists while Maodo Lo collected 17 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists and Danilo Barthel added 11 points and 8 rebounds. Gerry Blakes was Oldenburg’s top scorer with 19 points while Rasid Mahalbasic tallied 14 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists and Nathan Boothe scored 14 points. Oldenburg’s starters were held to just 32 points.
Crailsheim magic continues, roll past Göttingen to stay perfect
HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim continued to be the story of the early season as they rolled past BG Göttingen 82-57 at home to remain perfect. Crailsheim took over the game with a 24-10 third quarter after having scored only 34 points in the first half to move to 4-0 while Göttingen dropped to 0-4. Crailsheim shot only 36.7 percent but held Göttingen to 32.2 percent from the floor while also forcing 19 turnovers compared to giving it up only 11 times. Quincy Ford had 16 points, 10 rebound and 3 assists off the bench while Javontae Hawkins scored 13 points and Sebastian Herrera added 12 points and 3 assists. Bennet Hundt was Göttingen’s main weapon with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists with Dominik Lockhart chipping in 10 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists.
Frankfurt knock off Hamburg in overtime for first season win
FRAPORT SKYLINERS won their first game of the season by knocking off Hamburg Towers 83-78 in overtime. Eight points was the biggest lead for either side and Akeem Vargas forced overtime with a steal and layup with 31 seconds left in regulation - though Hamburg’s Marvin Ogunsipe’s three-quarters court prayer went in, albeit after the buzzer. Quantez Robertson delivered the knockout punch with a dagger three-pointer with 18 seconds left to make it 82-78 as Frankfurt moved to 1-3, which is also Hamburg’s record.
Frankfurt forced 21 Hamburg turnovers and held Hamburg to 40.0 percent shooting for the game. Lamont Jones paced Frankfurt with 25 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals while Vargas had 14 points and 5 rebounds and Robertson finished with 14 points. Marshawn Powell was Hamburg’s top scorer with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Heiko Schaffartzik picked up 16 points, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Berlin roll past Frankfurt at home in Round 3 closer
ALBA BERLIN finished Round 3 of play with a blowout 87-53 victory at home against FRAPORT SKYLINERS. Berlin pulled away in the third quarter thanks to a 17-2 run to move to 3-0 while Frankfurt dropped to 0-3. Berlin won the rebound battle 42-25 while also holding Frankfurt to just 35.3 percent shooting. Luke Sikma led the way with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists while Tim Schneider had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block and Peyton Siva chipped in 13 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists. Frankfurt’s leading scorers both came off the bench as Bruno Vrcic had 9 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist and Adam Waleskowski picked up 9 points and 2 rebounds. The guests’ starters scored only 25 points.
ALBA BERLIN blast by Würzburg to remain perfect
ALBA BERLIN remained perfect in the league with a 110-82 blowout of s.Oliver Würzburg on the road. Berlin led 32-15 after 10 minutes and never looked back to push their record to 4-0 while Würzburg fell to 2-2. Berlin forced 18 Würzburg turnovers and out-rebounded the hosts 42-31, including 16 offensive rebounds. Berlin also shot 57.3 percent from the field including 62.1 percent on three-pointers. Niels Giffey scored 21 points with 5 three-pointers and 3 steals while Rokas Giedraitis had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Landry Nnoko picked up 13 points and 11 rebounds, Peyton Siva tallied 12 points with 4 three-pointers, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals and Tyler Cavanaugh pitched in 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Cameron Wells paced Würzburg with 21 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, Jordan Hulls tallied 15 points and Luke Fischer added 14 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in the loss.
Vasturia game-winner makes it two straight for Vechta
RASTA Vechta grabbed their second straight victory in the league with Steve Vasturia hitting the game-winning layup with 1.7 seconds left for an 84-83 home win over medi bayreuth. Vechta gave up their 10-point lead in the third quarter but were up 82-80 on Josh Young’s three-pointer with 15 seconds to play. Bryce Alford countered with a three-pointer with 5 seconds remaining, setting up Vasturia’s layup after dribbling through the Bayreuth defense for a 2-3 record. Vechta shot 50.0 percent for the game with 23 assists while holding 0-4 Bayreuth to 45.3 percent from the floor. Ishmail Wainwright paced Vechta with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while Young had 19 points with 5 three-pointers, 4 rebounds and 4 assists and Vasturia chipped in 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Alford led Bayreuth with 27 points with 7-of-14 three-pointers, 4 assists and 1 steal while James Robinson picked up 20 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists and James Woodward added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Bayreuth bring back Nate Linhart to replace injured Lucky Jones
medi bayreuth reacted to the injury to Lucky Jones by bringing back to the club Nate Linhart. The 32-year-old Linhart will help compensate for the loss of Jones for the next six weeks as he knows the club, league and coach. The small forward played for Bayreuth from 2016 to 2018. Linhart played for Belgian side Spirou Charleroi and Telekom Baskets Bonn last season and was originally signed this season with Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva but left after just one game.
Bamburg beat Giessen again following cup win
Brose Bamberg defeated JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers 93-81 at home in a rematch of the MagentaSport BBL Pokal German Cup Round of 16. Bamburg built a 17-point lead in the third quarter and saw it dwindle to five points with less than 3 minutes left. But the hosts scored nine straight points to move to 3-1 while Giessen are still looking for their first victory at 0-3. Bamberg shot 57.4 percent while out-rebounding Giessen 31-18 including 12 offensive rebounds. Paris Lee collected 17 points, 10 assists and 3 steals, Assem Marei tallied 17 points and 4 rebounds, Kam Taylor had 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists and Retin Obasohan chipped in 7 points 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in his debut for Bamberg. John Bryant paced Giessen with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists and Teyvon Myers scored 17 points.
Bamberg sign Obasohan to help backcourt
Brose Bamberg picked up some backcourt reinforcements by signing Retin Obasohan. The 26-year-old Belgian knows the German league after he averaged 13.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.0 steals for Rockets Erfurt in 2017-18.
Ludwigsburg bounce back with runaway win over Ulm
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg bounced back from their loss at EWE Baskets Oldenburg in grabbing a comfortable 106-75 home victory against ratiopharm ulm. Ludwigsburg pulled away for good in the third quarter for a 3-1 record and Ulm are now 1-2. Ludwigsburg turned the ball over only 10 times while forcing 22 Ulm turnovers and holding the guests to 39.3 percent from the field, including 23.1 percent from long range. Khadeen Carrington was Ludwigsburg’s leader with 27 points, 5 assists and 5 steals while Marcos Knight had 24 points, 3 assists and 6 steals in his return to the team, Tanner Leissner tallied 20 points and 5 rebounds and Nick Weiler-Babb chipped in 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Derek Willis was Ulm’s top scorer with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists off the bench while Per Günther picked up 12 points.
Ludwigsburg bring back Marcos Knight
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg picked up a major addition in their hunt to reach the post-season as they signed Marcos Knight to return to the club. The 30-year-old American penned a deal until the end of the season, coming back to the team where he played last year and averaged 18.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals.
Braunschweig never threatened by MBC
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig eased to a 102-88 home victory over SYNTAINICS MBC to bounce back from their first loss of the season. After falling to FC Bayern Munich on the road last week, Braunschweig raced ahead 32-15 after 10 minutes and never looked back to move to 3-1 while MBC fell to 1-3. Braunschweig shot 52.2 percent from the field with 30 assists while keeping MBC to 42.2 percent shooting. Scott Eatherton collected 20 points and 9 rebounds for Braunschweig while Joe Lawson had 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and Kostja Mushidi and Karim Jallow both scored 13 points. MBC’s leading scorer was Kaza Kajami-Keane with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals and Strahinja Micovic had 15 points and 4 rebounds.
Player of the Week
Khadeen Carrington takes Player of the Week honors for his outstanding showing in MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg’s victory over ratiopharm Ulm. Carrington scored 27 points on 7-of-12 shots, including 6-of-8 three-pointers and 7-of-8 free throws to go with 1 rebound, 5 assists, 5 steals and just 1 turnover for an efficiency of 31.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Bennett Hundt, BG Göttingen
Hundt has been the revelation of the season thus far and he continued his superb play despite another loss. The 21-year-old scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting including 2-of-4 three-pointers to go with 5 rebounds and 5 assists against HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim.
G: Maodo Lo, FC Bayern Munich
Lo played a major role in Bayern’s comeback win over EWE Baskets Oldenburg with 17 points including 3 three-pointers, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal.
LIVE auf https://t.co/VEV5MuZBDX: @deencarrington hat wohl gehört, dass mehrere NBA-Scouts in der Halle sind. Wenn so die Reaktion darauf aussieht, gibt's liebend gerne weitere Einladun-gen. #ihrundwir #AllesfürGelb #Season1920 pic.twitter.com/JmVoihq4PE
— MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg (@MHP_RIESEN) October 20, 2019
G: Akeem Vargas, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Vargas had a decent game against his former team ALBA BERLIN with 5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assist and 1 steal, but he then collected 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals as Frankfurt beat Hamburg Towers for their first win of the season.
F: Niels Giffey, ALBA BERLIN
Giffey did a bit of everything in Berlin’s win over FRAPORT SKYLINERS with 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block and then he picked up 21 points with 5-of-7 three-pointers to go with 1 assist and 3 steals against s.Oliver Würzburg.
F: Tim Schneider, ALBA BERLIN
Berline’s 22-year-old power forward was co-leading scorer against FRAPORT SKYLINERS with 15 points to go with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. He then had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 1 block against s.Oliver Würzburg.
LIVE-VIDEO: Akeem Vargas ist mit den @skyliners1999 zu Gast bei seinem ehemaligen Team @albaberlin; Und so sieht es aus, wenn Du deiner alten Flamme zeigst, dass Du es immer noch drauf hast! #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/O78N3wQ4ae
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) October 15, 2019
Young Guns
Jonas Mattisseck, 19, PG, ALBA BERLIN
Mattisseck has been excellent off Berlin’s bench and the 19-year-old picked up 2 points on 1-of-4 shots, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and just 1 turnover in 19:21 minutes against FRAPORT SKYLINERS. Against s.Oliver Würzburg, Mattisseck had 6 points on 2-of-2 three-pointers and 1 assist in 11:05 minutes.
Bruno Vrcic, 18, SG, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Vrcic had an impressive easyCredit BBL debut for Frankfurt in picking up 9 points on 2-of-3 three-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws to go with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 turnover in 16:03 minutes, leading Frankfurt in scoring. In Frankfurt’s win over Hamburg Towers, Vrcic went scoreless as he missed his only field goal attempt and grabbed 1 rebound in 3:01 minutes.
Kostja Mushidi, 21, SG, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Mushidi returns to the Young Guns section as he collected 13 points on 5-of-12 shots, including 1-of-6 three-pointers and 2-of-3 free throws, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block against SYNTAINICS MBC.
Bald patentfähig @albaberlin? Der Mattis-Check von Jonas Mattisseck. ???????? ???? #mitleibundseele #easyCreditBBL https://t.co/xorJ4SGtLg
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) October 15, 2019
Germans Abroad
Philipp Hartwich is spending his second season in Spain’s second division LEB Gold and playing for Melilla. He picked up 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block against Caceres. The Cologne native attended the University of Portland for four years in the United States until 2018 and played last season in the LEB Gold for Huesca. The 24-year-old had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in Melilla’s season opener against Palencia.
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