ratiopharm Ulm News Taylorhoops.com Ulm Update Friday August 29, 2008

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Ulm Enjoys Tip Off Gala!!

ratiopharm Ulm introduced their 2008-2009 team to the city of Ulm Tuesday night August 26th at the annual Tip Off Gala, a red-carpet affair held at the Ulmer Stadthaus.  A crowd of over 200 sponsors, supporters and politicians gathered to meet the newest edition of ratiopharm Ulm's roster and enjoy the social evening together on a clear August night in Ulm.  After speeches from Ulm management Thomas Stoll and Andreas Oettel, the evening program saw the Ulm team arrive in style riding in the trailer of an 18wheeler truck from main sponsor ratiopharm.  Introducing the team and staff, Ulm personnel were greeted with lights, lazers, smoke and enthsiasitic cheers from the crowd.  Once inside, the team posed for pictures and Radio7 personality Marc Harmann asked each individiual player questions helping to introduce them with the fans.  After more pictures, fans and team mingled and enjoyed the evening together.  As the events continued, several interviews took place and action closed with a dancer featuring a flaming baton.  Tuesday evening certainly tipped off the new season positively and got everyone excited for the 2008-2009 Bundesliga season ahead.  Tuesday nights Tip Off Gala turned out to be a fun evening celebrating basketball in Ulm and the entertaining season ahead.

Tuesday nights Tip Off Gala saw Ulm players arrive by 18wheeler truck before walking down the red carpet to meet fans!

click here for Regio-TV news video from Ulm's Tip Off Gala!

Ulm Prepares for Kaiserslautern Preseason Tournament.

ratiopharm Ulm's next preseason action tips off Saturday August 30th in the Kaiserslautern Tournament in Bad Homberg Germany.  In an exciting preseason matchup, Ulm meets rival Walter Tigers Tubingen Saturday night at 8:30pm in the second game of a doubleheader following the Kaiserslautern Braves hosting FC Bayern Munich in a Pro A matchup.  The winners meet at 3pm Sunday August 31st while the two losing teams tip off at 1pm. 

ratiopharm Ulm  With three strong weeks of preseason practices and two wins in preseason games, ratiopharm Ulm takes the next step this weekend competing in the Kaiserslautern preseason tournament Satuday and Sunday August 30th and 31st in Bad Homberg Germany.  Key returning players like All Star forward Jeff Gibbs and captain Emeka Erege have provided excellent direction for the team in daily workouts.  Returning players Dru Joyce and Sean Finn are focused to continue their strong development from last season and are ready to assume starting roles with the team.  Newcomers Lee Humphrey (Florida) and Keith Triplett (Toldeo) have been excellent in preseason and shown tremendous potential in the backcourt. Talented forward Romeo Travis has been sharp and played with confidence after spending the summer with the Cleveland Cavs Summer league team along side Joyce in Las Vegas.  Hardworking Sebastian Betz is also poised for a strong new season as well.  Rookie PG Per Gunther and big man Michael Schroeder have also made a solid impact during their first weeks in Ulm and rookie forward Dan Fitzgerald has carried over his hot shooting from NBA summer league with the Minnesota Timberwolves  to Ulm.  Young players Cedric von During, Alex Heide, Patrick Scherer and Nemanja Keckic have worked hard with the team in practice and are pushing themselves to prepare for their NBBL season.  Now, after three weeks of solid hard work and progress, ratiopharm Ulm is excited about the challenges of preseason games including the exciting Kaiserslautern Tournament this weekend. 

Walter Tigers Tubingen  Key players include former BBL All Stars Center Rasko Katic and AJ Moye along with Canadian National team point guard Jermaine Anderson.  Athletic German wing Jay Thomas also returns after showing progress over the last few years.  Head Coach Tolga Ongoran looks to build on last season and has recently added power forward Michael Haynes along with newcomers Daniel Fountain (UNC Wilmington) and forward Kenny Williams (Ole Miss).  Former Oldenburg players Mirko Anastasov and Brantislav Ratkovica also suit up for the Tigers this year. In most recent preseason action Tubingen topped local rival EnBW Ludwigsburg 68-58 Wednesday night in a game missing several key players from both teams.  Rasko Katic topscored with 18 points followed by 17 points from Kenny Williams. 

FC Bayern Munich  After winning the Regionaliga SudOst last season, Bayern Munich officials worked extremely hard to earn a PRO A Wildcard for the 2008-2009 season.  Although Bayern Munich is affiliated with fantastic soccer and is known all over the world, the basketball team has tremendous potential and Head Coach Georg Kampf is excited about his team for the upcoming season.  New PG Gabriel Moore (Indiana State) and Tim Smith (Washington) will be key performers along with veteran players Antonio Lang, Michael Buse and Stuart Robbins.  Mirko Virijevic will bring versatility to the front court and bench production will come from Claus Weiss, David Rotim and Markus Huebner.  The experienced coach Kampf has guided teams to the Second league title before and Bayern Munich should be considered a strong Pro A team this year.  Former Kaiserslautern Head Coach and current Bayern Munich manager Stephan Seile will enjoy his return to K'town for the tournament and preseason matchups of two teams he has worked successfully with.

Kaiserslautern Braves  Three new American players will be critical to Kaiserslautern success as Mike Dean, Marcus Smallwood and Brice Brooks take the floor for the first time this season in K'town.  Returning players who will play important roles for Head Coach Vladimir Bogojevic include veteran forward Mirko Damjanovic, veteran swing man Michael Skender and talented prospect Tim Schwarz.  The host Braves aim to follow up their excellent 2007-2008 season with a strong 2008-2009 and their preseason tournament this weekend is a key for preparation for all teams involved.  Late this week Kaiserslautern signed three more key faces including talented wing Walt Baxley, point guard adrick Hills and Alexsander Zyzkunov.

Ulm All Star Jeff Gibbs and teammates are excited for their preseason tournament in Kaiserslautern and weeklong training camp in Belgium!

Ulm Training Camp in Belgium! 

ratiopharm Ulm embarks on a weeklong training camp in Belgium as the team continues their challenging preseason in preparation for the 2008-2009 Bundesliga schedule.  After this weekends Kaiserslautern Tournament, Ulm travels directly to Bree Belgium where the team will work September 1st through September 5th.  Plans include two preseason games against Bree as part of their two a day workout schedule.  Ulm's Belgian road trip concludes Saturday night September 6th with an away preseason game against GENERALI OKAPI AALSTAR. 

click here for Eurobasket Team page of Aalstar  

Of note for the game against Aalstar, former Ulm head coach Brad Dean is the current coach of the Belgian first division team.  The entire training camp week in Belgium will provide ratiopharm Ulm a tremendous opportunity to grow together on and off the floor and prepare for the challenges of the Bundesliga season ahead!

While at training camp in Bree, ratiopharm Ulm will stay at Centreparcs, a nature resort with spa, sauna, high ropes and other fun activities available. 

http://www.centerparcs.com/EN/US/villages/erperheide

Lee Humphrey (right) and Dru Joyce (left) are motivated for excellent seasons with ratiopharm Ulm in 2008-2009.

Ulm forward Romeo Travis and teammates are focused for a fun week together on and off the floor at training camp in Belgium.

DRU JOYCE AND ROMEO TRAVIS FEATURED IN DOCUMENTARY FILM!

Akron St. Vincent-St. Marys High School stars LeBron James, Dru Joyce, Romeo Travis, Sian Cotton and Willie McGee will be featured in 'More Than A Game', a documentary from Kristopher Belman which will premiere at the International Film Festival in Toronto September 6th.

Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm baketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com!

GO ULM!

MIKE T