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The Walter Tigers Tuebingen Leave Their Cinderella Tracks On The Deutsche Bank Skyliners 91-70

(Monday, February 1st 2010 by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber)

 

The Walter Tigers Tuebingen Cinderella story continues as they are very far away from the gong of midnight and didn´t need a Tom Brady, David Ortiz or Paul Pierce to play spoiler, but had their own Larry Bird version of Dane Watts as they protected their holy glass slipper with a 91-70 thrashing of the Deutsche Bank Skyliners. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen won their sixth game in a row and are slowly starting to raise eye brows in the BEKO BBL as a team that could annoy the more established playoff teams. The slow start and very humbling 98-66 loss in Frankfurt in October seemed about as far away as Pluto is to earth. “This win and winning streak feels very good right now. Our team is playing very good basketball at the moment and our main goal are the playoffs. Everybody contributed to this win. We hit our shots on a consistent level in the second half and our offense was running very well. Branislav Rathkovica did a great job with his passing. All in all, we almost played a complete game. We had some lapses, but it was very close to a perfect game”, stressed ex Paderborn basket Steven Wright. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners had been the BEKO BBL´s superior crunch time team this season, but when the team needed a hero most in Tuebingen, they were outright denied by a clearly stronger opponent that wasn´t about to be tricked by the penetration of Aubrey Reese or the reliable three point shooting by captain Pascal Roller. “Tuebingen came out a lot more aggressive than we did. They made many three pointers and tough shots. We had too many turnovers and they capitalized on our mistakes. They got easy buckets on the transition and we had problems with the pick and role, which resulted in many put backs. When your down by 10 points and playing against a hot team then it is difficult to come back”, warned Skyliner American Quantez Robertson. “We are really jelling as a team now. We lost four close games early in the season and could easily be 15-6 now”, warned Michael Jenkins.

 

The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were very aware of the hot play of the Walter Tigers Tüebingen and it was no secret to anyone that the opponent is living in their own Cinderella world as their play is somewhere at 9:30 as there is still a lot of BEKO BBL games to be played before midnight surfaces sometime in June 2010. Frankfurt wanted to strip Tuebingen of the slipper, but were rudely denied. “Tuebingen had their slipper in a tight and closed area and we couldn´t take it from them”, added Skyliner American Quantez Robertson. “Tuebingen put their slipper into the tiger cage and we couldn´t get to it”, stressed Seth Doliboa. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen know of their current fortune and do every possible to protect their lucky slipper. “Frankfurt tried on the slipper and saw that it didn´t fit them so we put it back on”, joked Walter Tigers Tuebingen American Michael Jenkins. Lebron James friend Romeo Travis is so focused on protecting the slipper that wild tigers couldn´t drag it away from him or any top team. “No team is going take this slipper away, not even Alba Berlin”, added ex Ratiopharm Ulm forward Romeo Travis

The Walter Tigers Tuebingen mascot did a fine job sticking behind the team and doing his job loyally and even had a little heart for Skyliner captain Pascal Roller as he was spinning around the Paul Horne arena on a scooter named Pascal. Pascal Roller has a special connection to Tuebingen as he went to school there and also had his best point total game in the BEKO BBL totalling 29 points in 2001. Roller made some clutch shots, but then again also missed not getting that extra luck from the Pascal scooter, but all in all the tiger stayed faithful to his team and just devoured The Deutsche Bank Skyliners. “We really needed to stop at a hospital after the game. We were attacked by the tiger in the second half and became his dinner”, added Skyliner forward Seth Doliboa. “The tiger showed that he is worthy of being king of the jungle”, commented Quantez Robertson. “Our mascot is always doing a great job getting the fans into the game and despite all this help, we always beat him up after games”, joked American forward Romeo Travis. “We defiantly had our own “Eye of the tiger”, stressed ex New Yorker Phantom Braunschweig guard Steven Wright. “The tiger had its dinner early. It usually eats around 19:30 or 20:00”, joked Michael Jenkins.

 

The biggest problem of the Deutsche Bank Skyliners was allowing 42 of 91 points in the zone. In Hagen, Aubrey Reese declared the opponents zone his own personal play ground, but the roles were reversed in Tuebingen, as Alexsandar Nadjfeji, Romeo Travis, Dane Watts and Ken Wiliams were like malnourished sharks and made the Frankfurt zone their own personal feeding frenzy as they took apart the area as if the Frankfurt defense was a school of fish. The only thing missing was a fish tank and Tuebingen would of probably been able to do the same in the water as on the court. “Our weak defesne started in the start of the third quarter and it just got worse. We let in 42 points inside. That has to be a record. The mistakes we did inside was like a virus. If Seth Doliboa made a rotating mistake, then Derrick Allen followed with a mistake in the middle and then Aubrey Reese. This was not our style or team character”, stated Skyliner assistant coach Engin Gencoglu. Even though Seth Doliboa is not a center, he has taken over most of the burden of doing the dirty work under the boards in the last two months. He was often top rebounder in the last games, but against Tuebingen only finished with three rebounds and looked as pooped after the game like a poor Golden Retriever who just returned from a torturing two hour walk in 95 degree heat. Doliboa often looked like an eagle getting high up for the rebound, but in the end seemed to be outmuscled by guys like Travis and Nadjfeji. “Tuebingen is a very tough team and Travis is an animal down low. It was simply very tough for me”, stressed Seth Doliboa. Of course when you have five guys in one area helping out, then it is extra tough when you have little help from your own teammates. “Tuebingen had all five guys down low. They did a good job getting offense rebounds. The whole team was picking us apart. They were reading the pick and role very well and we continued to make mistakes”, stressed Seth Doliboa.

 

It wasn´t the hottest team in the BEKO BBL, the Walter Tigers Tuebingen that got off to the fastest start, but the crunch time killers Deutsche Bank Skyliners sped out to a 6-0 lead so quickly that the Tiger mascot was getting his milk for energy for the fourth coming game. Frankfurt quickly presented their fast break play as Quantez Robertson scored twice on the transition as it seemed to surprise Tuebingen very much. It didn´t take Igor Perovic and his troops very long to get on track as they countered with a 8-0 run as Travis and Rathkovica gave Frankfurt an early taste of their inside sting making baskets at close range while Ex EnBW Ludwigsburg forward Dane Watts quickly found his shooting touch from outside. Tuebingen led 8-6. Tuebingen kept the slight edge as Travis and Rathkovica score inside while Frankfurt struck with Pascal Roller. After Reese tied the game at 16-16, Tuebingen went on a 4-0 run as Watts and Wiliams scored inside to give Tuebingen the 20-16 lead. Frankfurt had one last try with the seconds winding down as Aubrey Reese unleashed a huge bomb from a few meters behind the three point line and swishing it through the net as the buzzer sounded. “Frankfurt started out fast on the transition. Both teams had runs and Reese finished the quarter with A big three pointer”, added Steven Wright. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen led 20-19 after one quarter. Tuebingen was shooting 57% from the field and 67% from outside while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 54% from the field and 43% from outside. Both teams were knotted with seven rebounds a piece, but Frankfurt had four turnovers and Tuebingen only three.

 

The second quarter was the most exciting quarter of the game as the fans witnessed six lead changes. The quarter started out with a bang, just as if nobody had recovered quickly enough from the Reese buzzer beater shot, he came back and nailed another three point bomb as the 24 second shot clock expired. The shot counted and even had teammate Grayson Moyer clapping and raising his eye brows in amazement. Frankfurt was playing well in the first few minutes as Allen scored inside and Pascal Roller hit his second and third shots to lead 29-25. Frankfurt could of extended their lead, but Michael Jenkins and Steven Wright made two difficult off balance shots. Wright then gave Tuebingen the lead back with a three pointer 30-29. Frankfurt continued to keep the hot hand as Roller and Jimmy Mckinney hit from the parking lot to lead 35-33. Frankfurt would of gone into the intermission with the slight lead, but Mckinney fouled Steven Wright behind the three point line and the American punished Frankfurt hitting all three free throws. “The Walter Tigers Tuebingen led 39-38. “ This quarter was very even. There was really no difference. Both teams were exchanging baskets and we did pick it up a bit”, stressed Tuebingen guard Steven Wright. “We made bad defensive mistakes. We could have been up by 7-8 points, but we were struggling getting the tempo and just gave up easy baskets on defense”, stressed Ohio native Seth Doliboa. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen were shooting 43% from the field and 45% from the three point line while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 47% from the field and 41% from the three point line. Frankfurt led the rebounding duel 20-15 while Frankfurt had eight turnovers and Tuebingen only five.

 

The unnecessary third quarter virus of The Deutsche Bank Skyliners has been slightly absent this season, but reappeared again against TBB Trier and seemed to cling on to the team in Tuebingen. Sometimes it is difficult to comprehend how the play of a team can change so rapidly after a ten minute intermission. Tuebingen coach Igor Perovic hasn´t had an easy season, but his hard work is starting to finally pay off in this six game winning streak and he seemed to have the right words at half time for his players. “We talked about getting more stops in the second half. We had played good defense, but we wanted to cut out loose balls, get offensive rebounds and finish our possessions. We wanted to limit Frankfurt to only one shot also. Playing good defense usually leads to the offense clicking and that is exactly what happened to us”, stressed Romeo Travis. The defense helped right away as The Walter Tigers Tuebingen cruised out on a 6-2 run as Travis, Wiliams and Watts(one handed dunk) all scored inside as Frankfurt were being treated as if they had been punished like little school boys who didn´t get their daily lolly pops. Tuebingen continued to score inside as Rathkovica kept taking apart the Frankfurt defense finishing with 14 assists and finding Wiliams.

 

Frankfurt also had the misfortune as Michael Jenkins finally got hot hitting his first three pointer of the game which was followed by a Watts three pointer. Tuebingen had gone on a 14-5 run and were leading 53-43. Frankfurt that doesn´t shy away from staging comebacks and have been as successful this season as Bayer Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling has been at scoring in the German Bundesliga. Frankfurt struck with a 9-2 run as Seth Doliboa had two nice looks from the top of the key dropping two three pointers as Frankfurt only trailed 55-52. However Frankfurt was unable to regain the lead as Tuebingen just kept attacking the zone closing the third quarter on a 10-2 run. Nadjfeji had an easy put back getting an offensive rebound, Travis had two layups with the latter being on the second chance and Jenkins remained hot making another three pointer. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen led 65-54 after 30 minutes. “Tuebingen hit many shots and we tend to like to hang around, but we couldn´t turn the page on them”, stressed Seth Doliboa. ”We made our shots and picked up our defense. We capitalized on the Frankfurt turnovers and never looked back”, expressed Steven Wright. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen were shooting 49% from the field and 50% from outside while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 45% from the field and 36% from outside. Tuebingen had the rebound edge 26-24 and only seven turnovers while Frankfurt had 12 turnovers.

 

The Walter Tigers Tuebingen started out the fourth quarter with a big big bang as Dane Watts came from the wing and stuffed over Reese. Perhaps next season, Watts could take part in both the three point shooting contest and slam dunk contest at the 2011 BEKO BBL Allstar game. Tuebingen continued with more damage as Jenkins nailed another open three pointer and Travis an easy lay up as the Frankfurt resistance was as soft as a babies bottom. In addition to an enforced aggressive defense, Tuebingen led 72-54 and a famous Frankfurt comeback seemed as less likely as Allen Iverson ever coming to play in the BEKO BBL. Frankfurt started to have more day light on offense as Reese and Allen scored inside, but continued to make no adjustments on defense and look as helpless as Chris Paul getting dunked on by Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. Tuebingen continued to have a comfortable lead with plus 10 points. Derrick Allen scored six of his eight points in the last quarter, but it didn´t help much as Tuebingen continued to score with leisure. Skyliner coach Murat Didin inserted little used German Fabian Franke as he played 9:31 minutes scoring a nice three pointer from the wing, a rebound and assist. Even though the game was winding down, Tuebingen never let up or lost focus, but kept their aggressive defensive pressure making Frankfurt cough up the ball on three consecutive possessions. Michael Jenkins closed out the game with a three pointer as Frankfurt wanted to forget this horror show as quickly as possible. The Walter Tigers Tuebingen were clearly the better team as Frankfurt was given a cruel basketball lesson. Everybody that left the Tuebingen arena will agree that the game was decided inside. “We had been stressing all week long to take away the big guys Allen, Doliboa and Jenkins. And we stuck with that game plan. They are a pick and role team. When you can neutralize that, then it is a lot easier to keep the ball out of Derrick Allens hands”, warned Romeo Travis. We tried every guy today, but our bench did not give much hustle, otherwise we may have had a chance”, stressed Skyliner assistant coach Engin Gencoglu. “Coach told us we almost played perfect”, stated Michael Jenkins.

 

The Walter Tigers Tuebingen were led by American Dane watts with 23 points, four rebounds and four assists. Romeo Travis added 16 points, seven rebounds, two steals and one block. Michael Jenkins scored 14 points. Steven Wright chipped in with13 points and Aleksandar Nadjfeji added ten points. Branislav Ratkovica had nine points and 14 assists. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were led by Aubrey Reese with 18 points. Three rebounds, five assists and three steals. Seth Doliboa added 15 points, three rebounds and two assists. Pascal roller chipped in with 13 points.

 

The Walter Tiger Tuebingen shot as astronomical 52% from the field and 58% from the parking lot while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners shot47% from the field and only 37% from the parking lot. Tuebingen had the rebound edge 32-30 and had only ten turnovers while Frankfurt had 18 turnovers. The story of the game was how brutally apart The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were taken under the boards. This discussion will surely continue the next days since Murat Didin has openly said that there is no interest for a big man, but a guard. Didin has always stressed that in order to be successful at the top European level, you need to be athletic. That could explain an additional guard, but Didin has always sought the right big man as well, but never received him. Tuebingen surely was a bit surprised by the lack of big man presence inside. “I don´t really know why Frankfurt didn´t make the adjustment and go inside more. Reese and Roller were dominating the ball, but still they could of gone more inside”, stressed Steven Wright. ”If you look at the stats, Jenkins only plays 16 minutes per game, but especially when a team is being dominated, he should be in there more, but Frankfurt wanted to play differently”, added Romeo Travis. Even players are surprised by the Frankfurt wishes in form of a new player. “I don´t understand why Frankfurt doesn´t go bigger. Allen and Jenkins can´t do it alone. Doliboa is more of s stretch forward who is a catch and pop and not a pick and role player. If Frankfurt wants another guard then they must know what they are doing”, warned Michael Jenkins. “Frankfurt has historically been a great team and is run by good management. I can´t really judge what is best for Frankfurt, but any team can always use a big man, but I guess its small where they want to go”, commented Romeo Travis. Frankfurt can´t only worry about a new player, but the next opponent Ratiopharm Ulm. “We have to check our mistakes and understand our mistakes. Then we can welcome Ulm. We want to be in the top 5 teams”, stressed Skyliner assistant coach Engin Gencoglu. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners host Ratiopharm Ulm February 6th at 17:40.