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NBBL/JBBL Top 4: Day 1 Review

May 19th, 2012 · No Comments

The traditional weekend of German Youth Basketball was organized this year in Hagen. 8 teams qualified for the event in the U16 (JBBL) and U19 (NBBL) categories to play for the National Championship.

JBBL: Paderborn Baskets – TuS Lichterfelde 71-60

Paderborn had the better start into the game behind the shot creation of Lars Kamp who knocked down two jump shots in the beginning. Kamp also showed his skills on defense where he took a charge and found his team mates on a drive for the open layup to give his team a first advantage at 12-7. Lichterfelde tried to use the athletic abilities of Marvin Omuvwie and the size of Kevin Casper but the Luis Figge helped Paderborn to stay ahead at the first quarter break. Kamp got a little rest in the beginning of the second ten minutes and Lichterfelde used this to come back at the score behind 5 points of Michael Attah. When Kamp came back to the court, he immediately hit a long ranger and found a team mate on the cut. But Lichterfelde was in the game now and the good plays on both sides prevailed. Lichterfelde increased their pressure by setting up a full court defense where Paderborn struggled at some moments. Kamp got called for his third foul with 2 minutes on the clock in the first half and Lichterfelde could reduce the difference to 3 points from the FT line. With a three point shot from Sönke Leh just before the buzzer, the team from the Berlin region brought the score to 36-34 in favor of Paderborn.

Both teams started correctly into the second half. Niklas Kiel continued to grab the defensive rebounds for Paderborn as Lichterfelde was unable to make several shots in a row to come back. The teams started to get nervous as the game was on the line with a minimal difference on the scoreboard. The turnovers and bad choices accumulated but nobody could really use this situation to its favor. Kiel gave Paderborn 3 important points when Kamp was on the bench but Lichterfelde did not give up with their fighting spirit. The Reds entered the last quarter with 3 points ahead and it was a game between Kiel and Omuvwie in the first moments. Kiel showed his understanding of the game while Omuvwie attacked the basket hard. The 97 born Paderborn forward impressed with his versatility and will to take the game in his hands and created good shots for his team mates. Kamp woke up with a major catch and shoot three-pointer to bring the score to 58-49. Lichterfelde looked lost now as Paderborn grabbed multiple offensive rebounds to keep the score in their favor. However, the guys around Kamp were not very secure from the free-throw line which gave Lichterfelde the possibility to come back to 7 points with 55 seconds to go. Kamp missed two more free-throws but stole the ball back for the athletic finish. On the other side, Leh scored a triple and the difference was only 6 points. Alan Boger was ready to make the shots from the charity stripe and helped his team to reach the Final of the U16 JBBL 2012.

MVP: Lars Kamp 22pts (6/18 FGs – 7/10 FTs), 7rebs, 3asts, 10 fouls drawn

JBBL: TSV Nördlingen – FC Bayern München 60-65

Nördlingen started well into the game behind 5 quick points by Lukas Ferner to get an early 11-2 lead. Together with his twin brother Joschka Ferner and the forward Michael Dorsch, they attacked the Bayern basket to score from close. After the timeout, the Bayern players were in the game and found two easy baskets in the paint by Tim Hasbargen and their PG Sebastian Schmitt split the defense several times for the score. With Joschka Ferner on the bench, Bayern could even bring the score back to 17-15 after the first ten minutes. After a short technical break, the second quarter started on a high level for both teams as Hasbergen continued to score in the paint while Lukas Ferner attacked the basket really hard. The 98 born Richard Freudenberg scored 5 points in  a row and gave Bayern the first lead of the game. Joschka Ferner was not yet in the game as he missed several good opportunities while Freudenberg scored another three-pointer followed by a layup to give his team a 5 point lead. The kids from Nördlingen did not find back to their game which gave Bayern the lead at halftime at 37-30.

The beginning of the second half was marked by the quick fourth foul of Lukas Ferner which gave of course an advantage to Bayern in terms of talent. Freudenberg could score a nice one on the break and the Bavarians went up 43-34 and forced a timeout by Nördlingen after only 2 minutes in the second half. The break was made and Bayern now managed the gap well as Joschka Ferner continued to miss. Lukas Ferner even got his fifth foul with 4 minutes left in the third quarter when his team was 10 points back. Schmitt did an excellent job for Bayern to run the offense, he controlled the speed and attacked the basket when necessary. This helped Bayern to stay up 54-41 before the last ten minutes. Nördlingen had a quick start with a 6-0 run in 1 minute to initiate the last ten minutes. But Bayern answered with Hasbergen and Freudenberg to bring their lead back in double digits. As J. Ferner only scored from the free-throw line, Dorsch tried to attack the basket and kept his team in the game. Bayern started to make some errors on the offensive end and Nördlingen could reduce the gap to 7 with 5 minutes on the clock. Johannes Raab scored a three pointer and it became a one basket game in the final minutes. However, the Whites never managed to take the lead back especially after J. Ferner had to quit the game with an ankle injury 2 minutes before the end. Bayern qualified for the Final beating Nördlingen 65-60.

MVP: Sebastian Schmitt 17pts (5/6 FGs – 5/9 FTs), 3rebs, 6asts, 5stls

NBBL: Phoenix Hagen – Eisbären Bremerhaven 67-79

The game started quickly with both teams making their shots in the beginning and Bremerhaven doing it better driven by their PG Nick Tienarend. Bremerhaven looked more focused and aggressive and took the early lead at 14-7 after 5 minutes. Helge Baues even put the score to 17-7 with a three-pointer while Fabian Bleck started to take the Phoenix game in his hands. Bremerhaven continued to knock down their three-point shots and the ten points difference remained. Bazou Kante added another long distance shot and the guests were up by 13 points. Bremerhaven continued to dominate in the paint with Jonathan Malu but he could not convert from the FT line. Phoenix started to improve their defense and could score a few baskets to reduce their deficit. But Kante was at the origin of a short run for the guys from the North and bring them back up by 9. Niklas Geske though nailed a nice three-point shot in order to bring Hagen back to –4 with 2 minutes on the clock in the first half. But the hosts were not able to reduce the score further and Bremerhaven went to the locker room being 8 points up.

Hagen started better into the second half behind the effort of Geske who had an assist, netted a three-pointer and forced a turnover. But the hosts could not build on this early run as Bleck struggled to score inside and Bremerhaven scored several baskets on the break. Phoenix looked still very nervous turning the ball over easily and unable to reduce the gap significantly. The Eisbären used this phase to bring the score to 53-41 when Baues hit another triple. Malu added a big one with the foul and the hosts had to take the timeout with 2 minutes on the clock in the third quarter. It looked like the Eisbären had the control of the game but Hagen managed to score a three-pointer on the buzzer which brought them some momentum back. Geske immediately scored on the drive and Ruben Dahmen made the layup on the break with the foul to make it a single digit game. Kante calmed the gym as he made a drive with the foul but Hagen was in the game now. Geske took the game in his hand for Phoenix and scored a difficult layup with his left hand forcing the Bremerhaven timeout. Kante scored another one while Hagen reduced the gap to 3 points. The guard from Bremerhaven nailed a difficult jump shot in order to stay ahead with 3 minutes on the clock. Malu scored the break away layup and Tienarend took a charge with 1 minute 43 to go. It looked well for the Eisbären as Kante added two more from the free-throw line for a 9 point lead at the minute and a half. The guard finished the job from the charity stripe and qualified Bremerhaven for the NBBL Final on Sunday.

MVP: Bazou Kante 29pts (7/13 FGs – 14/18 FTs), 11rebs, 4asts, 11 fouls drawn

 

NBBL: ALBA Urspring – TSV Tröster Breitengüssbach 64-68

Breitengüssbach opened the score on a difficult three-point shot by Dino Dizdarevic and put Urspring in trouble with a 3-2 zone in the beginning. Julius Wolf scored on the offensive rebound and Malik Müller knocked down the three-point shot from the corner and Urspring started to control the game. Müller insisted on the drive and created a 13-5 lead for the defending champions. Güssbach increased their defensive intensity which put Urspring in trouble and a 9-0 run gave them the advantage with 1min27 on the clock in the first quarter. Urspring scored one more basket to take the lead again before the first break. Kenneth Ogbe had some nice plays in the beginning of the second quarter in a hard and defensive battle. Breitengüssbach insisted on playing with Johannes Richter and he did some nice things in the paint but missed his three-point attempts. Urspring tried to break the game rhythm by setting up a half court press but it remained a very defensive and not very beautiful game. The referees had a lot of work and it was Richter who was the first to reach the 3 fouls. As both teams also struggled from the free-throw line, every basket was a hard fight. Urspring moved ahead by five points on a Müller triple but Philip Daubner answered on his own. Güssbach was lucky as Alexander Engel could reduce the gap to 1 point at half after a very stupid foul by Zaire Thompson on the halftime buzzer.

Urspring started with a quick three by Müller but Daubner answered with a tough runner with his left hand. Kalidou Diouf scored with the foul in the low post and Urspring took a 6 point lead. Several calls in favor of Urspring helped them to increase the lead even further and Diouf made the jump shot for the first double digit difference at 36-25. Breitengüssbach was stuck on offense as the Urspring defense was super intense. All calls in this moment went in favor of the defending champion but Breitengüssbach did not lose its nerves. Urspring increased their lead to 17 points despite not playing great in the third quarter. Daubner though made the three-point with the buzzer and Breitengüssbach was still in reach with –14.

The farm team of Brose Baskets was not giving up and scored the first three-pointer of the last ten minutes and could even come back under ten points when Richter scored two FTs with 7mins30 on the clock. Müller wanted the ball in his hands now and made the basket but Daubner answered with a three. Richter even managed to bring the score to –5 when he grabbed the offensive rebound to score with the foul. Ogbe forced some good drives in order to stay in front but Breitengüssbach was now present on both ends of the floor. Daubner continued to attack the basket with his left hand and tied the game with 3 minutes on the clock at 56-56. Diouf scored in the paint and Engel answered with a triple but Urspring was up. Müller was cool on the FT line and knocked down both but Richter answered with a triple in the Pick and Pop play. Ogbe tied the score with one free-throw but Richter was now present with the drive. Urspring missed their attempt and Engel went to the line with 30 seconds on the clock. He only scored one but Richter grabbed the offensive rebound and went to the line as well. He missed both attempts and Urspring had the ball but Wolf turned it over with a bad pass. Dizdarevic got the ball and had to go to the line. He made the second to bring the score to 67-63 in their favor. Müller took the drive but missed and Nicolas Burgardt could convert one FT after the offensive rebound. Richter got fouled immediately and scored only one but it was still a four point game in Breitengüssbach favor. Wolf missed his three-point attempt and Breitengüssbach could celebrate the unexpected victory.

MVP: Johannes Richter 21pts (7/14 FGs), 11rebs

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