TAYLORHOOPS.COM ULM UPDATE
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FRIGHT NIGHT!
PHANTOMS BEAT DEFENSE-LESS ULM!
ratiopharm Ulm was outscored 14-0 over the first 4 minutes of the third quarter as the NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig run broke the game open in Saturday's 100-74 Phantoms win at Volkswagonhalle. With a soft defensive effort, Ulm allowed Braunschweig, the Bundesliga's lowest scoring team, a season best 100 point output along with 56% shooting. Lee Humphrey paced ratiopharm Ulm's offensive attack making 4 of 6 threes to topscore with 15 points followed by 14 points from Dan Fitzgerald on 4 of 7 three point shooting. After last weekends fantastic team performance in beating brose Baskets Bamberg at home, ratiopharm Ulm took it on the chin in Braunschweig. For Ulm, Saturday's road loss turned out to be fright night against the Phantoms.
ratiopharm Ulm took it on the chin Saturday night at Volkswagonhalle in Braunschweig.
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Excitement for ratiopharm Ulm's weekend road trip to the north central German city of Braunschweig had the team feeling great about themselves and very together. A result of Saturday night January 24th's home win over brose Baskets Bamberg, ratiopharm Ulm entered the game in Volkswagonhalle riding momentum from their strong team performance. Along with the positives from their two game winning streak that sandwhiched the All Star break, Ulm also drew positives from their early season home win over Braunschweig. While Ulm entered Saturday's game on a high, the Phantoms faced the frustration of a three game losing streak. With a sense of urgency, the Bundesliga's lowest scoring team and lowest three point percentage shooting team, Braunschweig was ready and waiting.
ratiopharm Ulm and NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig prepare for tip off Saturday night at Volkswagonhalle in Braunschweig.
As the game tipped off, it was clear ratiopharm Ulm was missing their usual energy level. After a strong post defensive play from Sean Finn in the paint, Ulm's Dru Joyce made an unconcentrated pass resulting in a turnover that led to an easy Phantoms basket. After a missed layup from Finn, Braunschwieg ran out to a three point play. The Phantoms were ready to play. With focus and determination to snap their three game losing streak, Braunschweig took control of the game early capitalizing on Ulm's cruise-control effort. The easy baskets early gave the Phantoms confidence and helped the hosts find their rhythm. Wing Dustin Salisbery scored well using screens and driving to finish. Phantoms All Star forward Andrew Drevo also made an immediate impact sinking three first half threes. Five minutes into the action, Braunschweig held an 18-10 lead. Foul trouble began to hit Ulm as big men Sean Finn and Jeff Gibbs collected fouls. Looking for a charge of energy from the bench on the perimeter and quality minutes with startes in foul trouble in the post, ratiopharm Ulm subbed in the bench and aimed to change the game. Braunschweig's strong first quarter run continued and the Phantoms rode their wave of momentum and good play to a 30-20 lead after one quarter.
ratiopharm Ulm All Star power forward Jeff Gibbs boxes out Braunschweig captain and Ex-Ulm captain Nils Mittmann in Saturday's game.
ratiopharm Ulm came back in quarter two. Remaining positive and patient, Ulm staff did not panic with the slow start and double digit deficit. Instead, the team had opportunity to work through their struggles and adjust their focus. Led by point guard Dru Joyce and sharpshooter Lee Humphrey, Ulm fought back trimming the deficit and working their way back into the game. Over the first five minutes of the second quarter, Ulm outscored the Phantoms 12-7 cutting the margin to 5, 37-32. Working to reverse the momentum from earlier in the game, Ulm battled back and eventually evened the game at 41 late in the first half. But Braunschweig finished the first half strong with a 7-1 push to take a 48-42 lead into half.
Ulm sharpshooter Lee Humphrey defends Phantoms point guard Will Franklin in Saturday's action. Lee topscored for Ulm sinking four of six threes to finish with 15 points.
With a 6 point halftime deficit, ratiopharm Ulm could be pleased that they had worked their way back in the game. Working through the slow start, the team picked up their work on the defensive boards and had outrebounded Braunschweig 21-17 at half. The Phantoms shot 60% from the floor in the first twenty minutes compared with Ulm's 48% but Ulm did a good job getting to the foul line for 13 first half free throws making 7 (54%) to Braunschweig's 2 for 7 (29%). Most important for ratiopharm Ulm, the team's defensive effort level and energy level needed to improve to win the second half. Trailing 48-42, Ulm had twenty minutes to change the game.
But Braunschweig was clearly the hungrier team Saturday night. Similar to the slow start in the first quarter, Ulm's third quarter also featured little production. Scoring the first five points of the third quarter on easy baskets, Brauschweig extended their lead to 53-42. Ulm took a fast timeout. Unfortunately, as the team attempted to switch out of cruise control and 'turn it on', the flow of momentum was completely with the Phantoms. Braunschweig burst to a 14-0 run to open the third quarter breaking the game open and building a 62-42 lead. Ulm was outscored 31-12 in the third quarter and the Phantoms took a 79-54 lead into the fourth quarter.
ratiopharm Ulm players Michael Schroeder and Sebastian Betz (7) close in on Braunschweig's Will Franklin
In their third quarter, Ulm shot 3 of 15 from the floor including 2 of 6 from three and 4 for 7 from the foul line. After three quarters, Braunschweig had shot 63% from the floor for the game and reversed the rebound stats outworking Ulm 29-25 after 30 minutes of action. Ulm's point guard Dru Joyce was shut down for the rest of the evening as he was ordered to rest his slightly injured ankle by Ulm medical staff. Taking advantage of the time-score situation, ratiopharm Ulm rotated through their entire roster. Leading by over twenty points, Braunschweig did not sub in their bench as head coach Emir Mutapcic instead chose to attempt to rout Ulm and take the head-to head for tie break purposes. To do so, Braunschweig needed to beat Ulm by more than 29 points. The Phantoms lead swelled to 32 points at its largest point late in the game. But Ulm's young German backcourt and experienced captain made sure that Ulm would maintain the head to head count despite the loss. Finishing the game strong, Dan Fitzgerald drilled a deep top of the key three pulling Ulm to 29, 100-71. After a defensive stop in a possession as intense as any in the game, Ulm's Michael Schroeder grabbed a defensive board with under 30 seconds to play. Rookie point guard Per Gunther advanced the ball and called the play. Driving strong to the basket, Per broke down the defense and slipped a pass to an open Emeka Erege on the left wing. Emeka's shot rimmed off long to the right block where Sebastian Betz grabbed the ball and finished a key basket for Ulm through a foul. As the buzzer sounded, officials called Phantoms for a foul sending Basti to the foul line after time expired. Betz cooly stepped up and sank the free throw finalizing the score at 100-74. The last second three point play kept the head to head tie breaker with Ulm in case it is needed for later in the season.
ratiopharm Ulm's Romeo Travis defends former Ulm guard Jonathan Levy as Jeff Gibbs looks on.
Lee Humphrey led Ulm's attack with 15 points on 4 of 6 three point shooting and Dan Fitzgerald added 14 points on 4 of 7 threes. Jeff Gibbs scored 10 points with 6 boards and Dru Joyce chipped in 10 points 4 assists. In the loss, Ulm shot 43% from the floor making 10 of 22 threes (45%) and 14 of 23 free throws (60%) but made only 14 of 32 shots in the paint (43%) and suffered 18 turnovers. Ulm's soft defensive effort allowed Braunschweig to hit 56% of their shots including 23 of 33 in the lane (69%) and 12 of 27 from three (44%). Putting things in perspective, before Saturday's big win, Braunschweig had scored over 80 points twice on the season and finished complete games with 52 and 58 points. Certainly, ratiopharm Ulm's performance could be described as defense-less.
At 12-7, ratiopharm Ulm returns to the practice floor Monday as the team begins to look ahead to their next game against Dusseldorf Giants Saturday night at Sportszentrum Kuhberg in Ulm. Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm Bundesliga Basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com!
GO ULM!
MIKE T
