TAYLORHOOPS.COM ULM UPDATE
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ULM AT GIESSEN IN CUP!
ratiopharm Ulm @ Giessen 46ers
Wedday Febuary 14, 2007 845pm
Sporthalle Giessen East Giessen, Germany
ratiopharm Ulm travels to Giessen for a German Cup Sweet 16 matchup Wednesday night at Sporthalle East. With the single-elimination-tournament-survive-and-advance format, both teams will be ready. Winning their way to the "Achterfinale", Ulm topped Kaiserslautern 93-85 November 28th while Giessen edged BBC Bayreuth November 22nd. An exciting tournament played throughout the season, the German Cup finishes with the TOPFOUR tournament which will be played at Color Line Arena the weekend of April 28th and 29th in Hamburg Germany. For both ratiopharm Ulm and Giessen, Wednesday nights German Cup game presents and exciting opportunity to survive and advance!
ratiopharm Ulm F Konrad Wysocki and family will enjoy Wednesday's Cup game in Giessen, Konrad's hometown!
With all of the excitement surrounding the German Cup game on the floor, ratiopharm Ulm forward Konrad Wysocki will also enjoy a special moment off the floor this Wednesday in Giessen. Growing up in Giessen, the key energizer for ratiopharm Ulm, Wysocki will play in his hometown for the first time as a professional --- certainly a special moment for Konrad and family. The fact that his "hometown debut" takes place amidst such an exciting game makes the evening that much more special.
Ulm PG Austen Rowland sets the table for his team. Wednesday Rowland will meet Giessen guard Obie Trotter (12) in an important matchup for both teams.
Since their December 12th meeting at Sportszentrum Kuhberg in Ulm, both ratiopharm Ulm and the Giessen 46ers have found their rhythm and notched some impressive results. Since making their head coaching change and bringing in Ken Scalibroni, the 46ers have gone 8-8 including their 82-76 road win in Ulm in December. Not only have the 46ers earned their wins, the team has lost close ball games at Koln 60-57 on January 7th and 68-67 at Nurnberg. Most recently, Giessen beat EnBW Ludwigsburg 76-71 in overtime at Giessen Febuary 3rd. Since their slow start to the season and all of the adversity surrounding the coaching change and several roster moves, Giessen has steadily righted the ship and Coach Scalibroni has helped instill some unity within. Most important for the 46ers, their wins have given them a little breathing room from relegation spots as they have a two game lead over Nurnberg and a 3 game advantage over Karlsruhe. However, for the German Cup, in the tournament format, anything can happen and every team has the chance to advance. Enjoying a weekend off last weekend, Giessen has had plenty of time to rest and prepare for their German Cup matchup against Ulm.
Ulm's Ian Young attacks Giessen's Brian Snider.
While Giessen has been resting, Ulm has worked hard through two challenging road trips the last two weekends. First, Ulm gave tremendous effort in Berlin falling short to an ALBA 4th quarter rally on Sunday Febuary 4th. Then last Saturday, Ulm started slow before battling back into the game at Ewe Arena in Oldenburg where the Thunderbirds eventually flew away to a 90-78 victory. The two challenging games taught the young Ulm team much about playing on the road in the Bundesliga and ratiopharm Ulm aims to make the experiences count with strong performances this week against Giessen in the German Cup and at home to Euroleague team and reigning German Champ Rheinenergie Koln Saturday.
ratiopharm Ulm's favorite time --- GAME TIME!
Matchups will be very interesting on Wednesday as several positions feature exciting challenges for both teams. First, at the point, Ulm's Austen Rowland goes head to head with Giessen's Obie Trotter. Possibly the hottest 46er at the moment, Trotter played well in Ulm and has been a key figure in Giessen's improved play. In the pivot, Ulm's centers Bryan Lucas and Maksym Shtein have a challenge against former German National team C Robert Maras who was a Bundesliga All Star this season. At the power forward, different styles meet as Ulm's powerful Jeff Gibbs takes on the crafty veteran Gerrit Terdenge from Giessen. On the perimeter, Ulm's Jonathan Levy, Emeka Erege, Konrad Wysocki and Ian Young will face Giessen's Rouven Roussler, Brian Snider and Jean Francois. Along with these keys, which roll players will assert themselves --- Christian Grosse, Florian Mobius or Jan Sprunken for Ulm or James Head, Marco Buljevic or Florian Hartenstein for Giessen. With everything on the line for both teams in the German Cup, ratiopharm Ulm and Giessen will go head to head Wednesday with the winner moving on and the loser going home.
For ratiopharm Ulm the excitement and fun surrounding the German Cup is what every basketball person loves --- survive and advance!
TAYLORHOOPS.COM GAME NOTES
HOME GAME FOR KONRAD
ratiopharm Ulm F Konrad Wysocki grew up in Giessen Germany before moving on to Princeton and several other stops continuing his basketball career. Growing up the son of a former Bundesliga player in Giessen, Konrad knows the 46ers tradition well and along with his family will enjoy special moment playing in Giessen for the first time in his professional career.
German Cup Sweet 16 scores and schedule!
Paderborn 96 Schalke (2.Bundesliga North) 88
Ewe Baskets Oldenburg 80 Telekom Bonn 68
Eisbaren Bremerhaven 90 brose Baskets Bamberg 70
EnBW Ludwigsburg 69 Walter Tigers Tubingen 49
Wednesday Febuary 14th
ratiopharm Ulm @ Giessen 46ers
Artland Dragons @ Chemnitz 99ers (2.Bundesliga South)
Wednesday Febuary 21st
Rheinenergie Koln @ BG Karlsruhe
Deutsche Bank Skyliners @ ALBA Berlin
Follow all the fastbreaking ratiopharm Ulm Bundesliga basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com!
GO ULM!
MIKE T
Ulm Roster
Emeka Erege: outstanding captain demonstrating great leadership.
Jonathan Levy: Excellent matchup on wing with talented 46ers G's
Jeff Gibbs: 14pt 10reb in Oldenburg key to Ulm inside game
Austen Rowland: key matchup with PG Obie Trotter
Bryan Lucas: matchup with former German National team C Maras
Konrad Wysocki: grew up in Giessen and knows 46ers well!
Maksym Shtein: can be key factor in Ulm post game Sunday
Ian Young: excellent minutes in Oldenburg/ strong on wing!
Christian Grosse: steady progress with hardwork!
Florian Mobius: ready to hep front court vs 46ers!
Jan Sprunken: experience and J extremely valuable
Head Coach: Mike Taylor
Asst Coach : Rainer Bauer
Location: Giessen, Germany
Main Sponsor:
Home Court: Sporthalle Giessen East
website: www.giessen46ers.de
2005-2006: 11-19 11th place Bundesliga
Returning only two players from last seasons injury-riddled 46er squad, Giessen has struggled to an 1-11 record after 12 games in 2006-2007 and are currently in danger of being relegated into the 2.Bundesliga. Head Coach Stefan Koch parted ways with the Giessen management earlier this season and the team responded by hiring former Braunschweig boss Ken Scalibroni who coached his first game with the team in Ulm. After releasing F Reggie Moore, F Aleksander Cubrillo and G Ronnie Taylor, Giessen used their roster moves to add G Danillo Pinnock, F James Head and F Jean Francois. Since the last meeting with Ulm, Giessen has released Pinnock and now has one roster move remaining for the season. Through all the ups and downs the 46ers are starting to put things together. After their slow start, Giessen is 4-4 over their last 8 games helping them move two games ahead of the relegation spots. Giessen has plenty of time to right the ship and make progress to 16th spot and stay safe in the Bundesliga, a league they have been affiliated with for 40 seasons!
GM: Christian Maruska
Head Coach: Ken Scalibroni (4-4 since taking over 12-8-06)
Players:
Jean Francois: skilled combo F/powerful in post/ soft touch
James Head: versatile offensive threat/ quality F
Rouven Roussler: athletic wing new from Karlsruhe
Robert Maras: former German National team C/ big and skilled
Gerrit Terdenge: veteran forward one of 2 returning players
Flo Hartenstein: 46ers tradition/ hardworking team player
Marco Buljevic: talented young shooting guard
Obie Trotter: athletic G could be best defender/playing well lately
Brian Snider: intelligent combo G new to Giessen
