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TAYLORHOOPS.COM ULM UPDATE ULM UPSET IN CHEMNITZ; KNOCKED OUT OF CUP ratiopharm Ulm had several chances to seal a road win, but at the final buzzer it was the Chemnitz 99ers who survived and advanced with a surprising 96-93 upset win in Wednesday night's German Cup action at Richard Hartmann Halle in Chemnitz, Germany. The Niners fought through foul trouble and battled back from three double digit deficits to steal the game at the end. The defeat, Ulm's first of the season, means elimination from the German Cup but does not affect 2.Bundesliga standings. Michael Bree sinks two free throws in the first. Ulm opened in strong fashion taking control of the game immediately. Forward Niki Arinze scored on a short corner jumpshot and hit a smooth turnaround J in the paint while Maksym Shtein scored inside and sank two free throws. Stopping Chemnitz set plays, Ulm opened an 18-9 lead. Switching to a 1-2-2 halfcourt trap, the Niners climbed back into the contest. On the offensive end, Chemnitz center Lars Buss finished the first quarter well scoring inside against Ulm center's Shtein and Niebling. At the end of one, Ulm maintained a 24-21 lead. Midway through quarter two, momentum changed hands. Recently resigned shooting guard Kendric Brooks made an immediate impact for his team hitting 3 three pointers in his 13 point second quarter outburst to spark Chemnitz. Niner fans errupted as Brooks drilled a three giving their team a 30-28 lead and forcing an Ulm timeout. In the stretch, Ulm was slow moving in their zone attack, suffered several turnovers on dribble penetration and simply missed open shots. The timeout helped the team recover and both teams wrestled for the lead. Finally, with the score tied at 46, following a Chemnitz turnover with 9 seconds in the half, Ulm used a second timeout to set up a 3/4 court side line inbound situation. With perfect execution, Ulm moved the ball around before Michael Bree hit Florian Mobius midlane for an easy 14 foot jumper --- the shot gave Ulm a 48-46 haltime advantage. Happy with the majority of the half, Ulm did a nice job in defensive transition, but allowed Chemnitz to stay in the game on 5 for 8 three point shooting. Ulm executed their defensive game plan well preventing the Niners from scoring from their sets. Chemnitz forward Christian Klink finishes by Maksym Shtein Determined to get a win, Ulm guard Peter Heizer caught fire starting the second half. The 6'4 shooting guard sank a three seconds into the third quarter and then he went crazy carrying his team to a lead. Heizer hit another three pushing the Ulm lead to 54-48. A pair of Michael Bree free throws mixed in before Heizer drilled a third three and two free throws. Heizer's fourth three of the third quarter kept Ulm in control. Playing hard, the Niners fought back. Christian Klink was the key man during their responding run. The big lefty forward hit four free throws and a basket to pull Chemnitz closer. Then, with Ulm leading 68-64, shooter Igor Pletnev found himself open in transition in the right corner. Closing out the shooter, Ulm forward Florian Mobius got a little too close. As Pletnev knocked down the three, Mobius knocked down the shooter giving Pletnev an And 1 four point play that knotted the game at 68. Not phased, Ulm again regained control of the game before the quarter closed. An Emeka Erege basket followed by a Christian Grosse three and two Maksym Shtein free throws put Ulm ahead 77-70 at the end of three. Igor Pletnev shoots over Ulm's Kenny Price in the 3rd. Working to put the game away, Ulm stretched the lead in the first few minutes of the fourth. The game seemed about to be over. Christian Grosse and Peter Heizer made big threes for Ulm --- Peter's 5th three cemented Ulm with a 12 point lead at 85-73 with just over 7 minutes to play. Chemnitz was without point guard Serge Charikov after he was hammered on a solid ballscreen in the backcourt by Maksym Shtein when no Niner teammate communicated with him. The talented Charikov injured his shoulder shortening the Niner bench. Whistles became a factor. Martin Schuster fouled out. Lars Buss fouled out. The Chemnitz bench came on. It looked as though Ulm could cruise to a win. Suddenly, as Brooks hit a three, Shtein was whistled for a foul on Buss away from the ball --- amazingly, a possession later, the same thing happened. In a span of 20 seconds, two consecutive calls for fouls away from the ball on 99er made baskets on consecutive possessions helped Chemnitz cut into the lead. Two Kendric Brooks free throws trimmed Ulm's lead to one, it was anybodies ball game.
Letting the refs know they missed one....or two Emeka Erege made a big basket and Niki Arinze sank two clutch free throws as Ulm established some breathing room at 89-84. But a big Igor Pletnev three pointer cut into the lead making it 87-84 Ulm. Another Pletnev J tied the game at 89 on the next possession. With under two minutes to play, Niki Arinze stepped up --- the Ulm forward scored off the glass on the right block putting Ulm up two 91-89. Chemnitz sub Soren Schacht also came through in the clutch, cutting to the basket and scoring off the glass to tie the game. Under one minute, Ulm moved the ball before Arinze hit a deep MJ fadeaway from the left baseline --- Ulm 93 Chemnitz 91. Igor Pletnev was fouled and converted only one of two free throws. With the ball, up one, 40 seconds and counting down, Mike T's men had the game where they wanted it. All Ulm needed was quality execution: score or get fouled. Instead getting a good shot, Ulm got a shot clock violation giving Chemnitz the ball with 14 seconds to go. Chemnitz called for time. The Niner fans were on their feet. Chemnitz needed a basket. Ulm needed a stop. 14 seconds remained in the tight German Cup game. The result was on the line. Ulm picked up full court to eat some clock, but Chemnitz wing Jaivon Harris worked his way up the right side of the floor. Defended by Peter Heizer, Harris tried to slash to the basket but was cut off midlane by the Ulm guard. Harris bobbled the ball in the paint as the seconds ticked away. Quickly recapturing the rock, the crafty lefty leaped and lofted a floater over Heizer. Bouncing around on the rim, the ball fell in as the Chemnitz crowd erupted with excitement. Calling for time, Ulm now trailed by one 94-93 with 2.6 seconds to go. Needing to go fullcourt, Ulm coach Mike Taylor called upon a last second game winning play taught to him by his father (former coach Dick Taylor) many years ago called "Knicks". Having prepared in practice, the players knew exactly what to do. The full court play was drawn up and the team took the floor. As the official handed Niki Arinze the ball, Ulm players executed their cuts. Like an NFL QB, Arinze tossed the ball the length of the floor toward center Maksym Shtein. With perfect execution, Shtein strongly caught the pass at the right elbow and looked to make a play. Amazingly, Chemnitz forward Christian Klink, caught behind Shtein, grabbed the Ulm center! The referees, whistle gave Ulm a final chance. With 2 seconds remaining, Maksym Shtein stepped to the line, down 1, with two shots....and a chance to win the game. With the Chemnitz crowd going crazy, Max went through his routine. Everything had come down to this. Ulm teammates had confidence in Max after his clutch free throw shooting against Tubingen. He only needed one... Max's first shot sailed through the air and bounced hard off the rim --- no good. The Chemnitz crowd surged with energy; the noise rose the tension higher. Ulm players prepared to rebound hard executing a foul line play in case of a miss, still hoping Max would make his second foul shot. 2 seconds on the clock, crowd going crazy, Max dribbling through his routine, everyone on their feet, one point Chemnitz lead....the game hung in the balance. Max released the ball with all eyes tracing the trajectory. Ulm and Chemnitz players flooded the foul lane fighting for rebounding position. Again Max hit the rim popping the ball straight up in the air. It still had a chance to fall in. The iron was unkind. Chemnitz wing Jaivon Harris quickly grabbed the rebound despite Niki Arinze's effort. Harris was fouled immediately. Harris marched to the other end of the floor and made two fan inspired free throws pushing the lead to 3 at 96-93. Ulm had .8 seconds to work with. This time Arinze went to another option finding Michael Bree open in the backcourt on the right sideline in front of the Ulm bench. Bree caught the ball turned and fired a three quarter court desperation......it was short. Chemnitz fans rejoiced at their 96-93 upset win over ratiopharm Ulm. Some called it the Miracle of Chemnitz. Knocking Ulm out of the Cup, Chemnitz survived despite losing point guard Serge Charikov to a shoulder injury and Martin Schuster, Lars Buss and Christian Klink to fouling out. Although Chemnitz has complained about officiating, they benefited from shooting 31 free throw attempts compared to Ulm's 17 foul shots. The 99ers also were given two gifts with back to back fouls away from the ball on made baskets helping them back into the game with Ulm up 12 in the fourth. No matter what is said, ratiopharm Ulm let the game slip away with poor late game execution (2 shot clock violations in crunch time) and still had a chance to win or tie with Maksym Shtein at the foul line at the end. Chemnitz 99ers should be credited for their effort. Peter Heizer played extremely well for Ulm. Here he hits a free throw. Taylorhoops.com Player of the Game, Peter Heizer was brilliant in the third quarter scoring 14 of his team high 19 points including 4 of his team best 5 threes. Niki Arinze was also clutch for Ulm finishing with 18 points and big baskets down the stretch. Emeka Erege and Kenny Price also reached double figures with 13 points and 10 points respectively. Chrisitan Grosse continued his outstanding play off the bench with 8 points on two three pointers and forward Florian Mobius also played well for Ulm. Chemnitz was lead by Igor Pletnev's 25 points. It was Pletnev's first win ever over Ulm after he suffered defeats for three seasons in Freiburg. Kendric Brooks added 21 points in his first game back with the Niners. Center Lars Buss scored 18 points while Jaivon Harris contibuted 12. Unfortunately, Chemnitz did not have official scouting available as their computers were having problems on the evening. Back to Ulm at 330am, preparations began immediately for Saturdays road trip northwest of Frankfurt to meet MTV Kronberg. Ulm will look to elevate their game by improving their defensive toughness and offensive execution. Expect Ulm to bounce back from this disappointing loss with strong performances in the coming weeks. Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com! GO ULM! Mike T |
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