– David Hein
There are no undefeated teams left in the easyCredit BBL this season as both FC Bayern Munich and ratiopharm ulm suffered their first loss - Bayern at EWE Baskets Oldenburg and Ulm at ALBA BERLIN. The week also so NINERS Chemnitz collect their first victory in league history - defeating JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers, who also made news by firing their head coach Ingo Freyer.
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:
Paulding shines as Oldenburg hand Bayern first loss
EWE Baskets Oldenburg handed FC Bayern Munich their first loss of the season as they collected a 100-95 victory at home thanks to another great showing by Rickey Paulding. Bayern trailed by 12 points in the fourth quarter but went on an 11-0 run to get back into the game. But Paulding converted a four-point play with 90 seconds left to secure the win and push Oldenburg’s record to 5-2 and drop Bayern to 6-1. Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri was not on the sidelines for Paulding's game-decider as he was kicked out of the game with his second technical foul with 6 minutes left in the game. Oldenburg committed only nine turnovers in the game. Paulding led the way with 26 points while Rasid Mahalbasic had 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and Philipp Schwethelm scored 11 points with three three-pointers in just 8 minutes. Wade Baldwin was Bayern’s top scorer with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists with Nihad Djedovic scoring 17 points and Paul Zipser chipping in 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
Ulm lose first game, Berlin too much at home
ALBA BERLIN continued to fight off a brutal schedule as they knocked off ratiopharm ulm 92-83 at home as the guests suffered their first defeat of the season. Berlin led by 10 points at halftime and extended the lead to 19 points in the third quarter in moving to 6-1 as they ended of a stretch of nine games in the easyCredit BBL and EuroLeague within 19 days. Ulm dropped to 5-1. Berlin shot 58.2 percent from the field, including 66.7 percent on 2-pointers, and forced 17 Ulm turnovers. Niels Giffey and Luke Sikma both poured in 17 points for Berlin while Louis Olinde tallied 15 points and Johannes Thiemann tallied 11 points 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Demetrius Conger led Ulm with 18 points and Troy Caupain had 12 points and 4 assists.
Chemnitz collect first ever easyCredit BBL win, down Giessen on road
NINERS Chemnitz made history as they captured their first victory in the easyCredit BBL by knocking off reeling JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers 95-83 on the road. Chemnitz pulled away in the fourth quarter to move to 1-6 while Giessen are still winless at 0-7 after their first game with Rolf Scholz as interim coach. Chemnitz shot 63.2 percent from the field, including a white-hot 72.2 percent on 2-pointers. Isiaha Mike paced the winners with 19 points and 5 rebounds, Terrell Harris had 18 points and 5 assists and Marcus Thornton collected 11 points and 8 assists. Brandon Thomas was Giessen’s top scorer with 20 points while Alen Pjanic picked up 18 points 2 rebounds 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
MBC down Gessen on road in Round 1 make-up game
SYNTAINICS MBC wasted a 15-point lead but regained control to knock off JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers 105-93 in a Round 1 make-up game. After blowing a 15-point lead, MBC built a 17-point advantage with a 37-17 third quarter in which Michal Michalak scored 17 points as MBC moved to 2-4 and Giessen fell to 0-6. MBC shot 52.1 percent for the game, including 46.7 percent from long range, compared to 26.1 percent on triples for Giessen. Shavon Coleman led the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds while Michalak added 25 points and 5 assists and Quinton Hooker collected 14 points and 11 assists. Jonathan Stark paced Giessen with 22 points and 7 assists and Brandon Thomas added 22 points in the defeat.
Giessen fire Freyer, name Scholz as interim coach
JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers general manager Michael Koch had seen enough losing and decided he needed to make a change after the team’s loss to SYNTAINICS MBC in the Round 1 make-up game and fired head coach Ingo Freyer. The interim coach will be Rolf Scholz, who had been head man with the club’s youth team Depant GIESSEN 46ers Rackelos. Giessen have lost all nine games this season - six in the easyCredit BBL and three in the MagentaSport BBL German Cup. Freyer took over as Giessen head coach in 2017.
Bamberg win in Jekyll and Hyde performance over Bonn
It was a tale of two halves for Brose Bamberg who survived a nightmare first 20 minutes and then dominated after the break for an 80-66 victory at home over Telekom Baskets Bonn. Bonn led by 18 points in the second quarter and then everything fell apart with just 7 points in the third quarter in falling to 1-6 with Bamberg moving to 4-3. Bamberg committed 12 turnovers in the first half but just three in the final 20 minutes and Bonn shot just 33.3 percent from the floor including a dismal 6-of-31 (19.4 percent) from long range. Chase Fieler did it all for Bamberg with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals while Devon Hall scored 17 points and David Kravish picked up 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Bamberg’s starters scored only 26 points - including zero from both Bennet Hundt and Norense Odiase. Strahinja Micovic led Bonn with 15 points, Benjamin Lischka had 13 points and 4 rebounds, Leon Kratzer picked up 12 points and 6 rebounds and TJ DiLeo added 2 points and 4 assists to reach both 1000 points and 500 assists in his career.
Frankfurt dish league-best 31 assists in home win over Bayreuth
FRAPORT SKYLINERS passed their way to a comfortable 104-86 home victory over medi bayreuth. Frankfurt took control with a 25-15 third quarter to improve to 2-4 with Bayreuth falling to 3-4. Frankfurt dished out 31 assists - the most for any team this season in the league - while shooting 15-of-31 on three-pointers (48.4 percent) compared to 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) for Bayreuth. Jon Axel Gudmundsson paced Frankfurt with 25 points and 8 assists while Michael Kessens collected 20 points and 9 rebounds, Matt Mobley had 19 points and 4 assists and Quantez Robertson added 10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Frank Bartley scored 22 points for Bayreuth and Derek Pardon picked up 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Crailsheim snap Braunschweig winning streak with road victory
HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim collected their third straight victory by blowing out Basketball Löwen Braunschweig 108-75 on the road. Crailsheim led 30-10 after 10 minutes and never faced a challenge the rest of the way in moving to 6-1 while Braunschweig saw their four-game winning streak snapped to fall to 4-3. Crailsheim shot 57.8 percent from the field and forced 19 Braunschweig turnovers and held the hosts to 44.4 percent shooting. Tim Coleman had 23 points and 4 steals for the winners with Jamuni McNeace adding 19 points and 9 rebounds, Elias Lasisi scoring 17 points on 5-of-5 threes and Trae Bell-Haynes picking up 15 points and 13 assists. Lukas Meisner was Braunschweig’s top scorer with 17 points with James Robinson collecting 15 points and 6 assists and Gavin Schilling chipping in 12 points and 9 rebounds.
Hamburg remain perfect on road with close win in Göttingen
Hamburg stayed on a roll on the road as they knocked off BG Göttingen 98-94 away from home. The game was tight throughout and Hamburg nearly gave the game away, missing four free throws down the stretch but moved to 6-1 including 4-0 on the road while Göttingen fell to 2-5. Hamburg took the rebound battle 41-35 including 17 offensive rebounds while making 13-of-29 (44.8 percent) on threes compared 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) from long range for Göttingen. The leading scorers for both clubs were players facing their teams from last season. Terry Allen led all scorers with 28 points while TJ Shorts picked up 17 points and 6 assists and Jordan Swing added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in the win. Göttingen's Jorge Gutierrez tallied 25 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals against his ex-team and Nelson Weidemann had 11 points with 3 three-pointers, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.
Ludwigsburg roll past Vechta at home
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg continued their excellent season by blowing past RASTA Vechta 85-73 at home. Ludwigsburg took the second quarter 33-19 and never looked back in jumping to 6-1 while Vechta are winless at 0-7. Ludwigsburg shot just 41.9 percent including 28.1 percent from long range but made up for that by forcing 23 Vechta turnovers. Elias Harris paced the winners with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals, Jaleen Smith picked up 13 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists and Yorman Polas Bartolo added 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Philipp Herkenhoff led Vechta with 15 points and 6 rebounds.
MBC win third straight with victory in Würzburg
SYNTAINICS MBC extended their winning streak to three games by knocking off s.Oliver Würzburg 80-68 on the road. MBC took the fourth quarter 25-11 to improve to 3-4 while Würzburg are now 2-5 including 0-4 at home after shooting just 42.4 percent from the field. Michal Michalak led the winners with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists off the bench and Quinton Hooker had 17 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists. Justin Sears paced Würzburg with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Bamberg ease past Würzburg in Round 4 make-up game
Brose Bamberg used a strong defensive showing in knocking off s.Oliver Würzburg 81-66 at home in a Round 4 make-up game. Bamberg took over in the final 15 minutes to move to 3-3 with Würzburg falling to 2-4. Bamberg forced 23 Würzburg turnovers and held the guests to 43.1 percent shooting while hitting 55.4 percent from the field, including 57.1 percent from long range. Dominic Lockhart paced the winners with 16 points and 5 steals while Michele Vitali and Christian Sengfelder both scored 12 points and David Kravish collected 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks. Würzburg wasted Cameron Hunt’s 20 points.
Player of the Week
Chase Fielder took over Player of the Week honors for Round 7 with his showing in Brose Bamberg’s wild comeback win over Telekom Baskets Bonn. Fielder scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shots including 2-of-4 threes and 2-of-2 free throws while picking up 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 1 block and 0 turnovers for an efficiency of 28.
German Top Five of the Week
F: Niels Giffey, ALBA BERLIN
This week’s Top Five is a big one with Giffey leading the way as he scored a team-high 17 points to go with 2 rebounds and 2 assists in Berlin’s win over previously undefeated ratiopharm ulm.
F: Philipp Herkenhoff, RASTA Vechta
Vechta may be winless but that’s not because of Herkenhoff, who led the team in scoring with 15 points while also grabbing 6 rebounds in the loss to MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg.
F: Alen Pjanic, JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers
Pjanic continues his strong run as he had two good games for Giessen, picking up 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in the Round 1 make-up game against SNYTAINICS MBC. He then collected 18 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks against NINERS Chemnitz.
F: Elias Harris, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg
Harris is becoming an automatic member of this group and he had another outstanding game with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals in a win over RASTA Vechta.
C: Michael Kessens, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Kessens set a career high with 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting and also had 9 rebounds in Frankfurt’s win over medi bayreuth.
Young Guns
Justus Hollatz, 19, PG, Hamburg Towers
Hollatz is occasionally making his case for a spot in the list above but he’s slowly becoming a regular here. And he showed why again against BG Göttingen as he scored 7 points on 3-of-8 shots and 1-of-3 three-pointers to go with 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in 21:18 minutes.
Radii Caisin, 19, SG, HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim
Caisin scored a career-high 13 points as he hit 4-of-5 three-pointers and 1-of-1 free throws as well as 2 assists and 1 steal in 14:40 minutes versus Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.
Luc van Slooten, 18, SF, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Van Slooten is taking advantage of his time and producing as he had 8 points on 3-of-5 shooting including 2-of-4 three-pointers with 1 assist in 15:23 minutes. But he once again fouled out in the loss against HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim.
Germans Abroad
Oscar Da Silva has taken a major step up in his senior season at Stanford in the United States as he is averaging 20.3 points to go with 6.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks. His highlight of the season thus far was collecting 32 points - including hitting 14-of-14 free throws, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks against California State University-Northridge.
RelatedNews
News
Mehr Beats! Mehr Bass! Mehr Basketball! easyCredit BBL goes Spotify
Kochs Nachschlag
Wenn schon vor Weihnachten der Baum brennt: Vechta, Chemnitz und Gießen sind noch sieglos
Pfiff der Woche
