Ulm Mystifies Merlins 106-74
Saturday evening in Crailsheim Sportsarena, ratiopharm Ulm was clicking on all cylinders behind outstanding performances from Jeff Gibbs, Emeka Erege, Jonathan Levy and Maksym Shtein in the teams 106-74 road win in 2.Bundesliga South Game Day 5. On the team bus, Jeff Gibbs was found reading "OUTRAGEOUS", a book about his all-time favorite basketball pro Charles Barkley --- inspired, Gibbs posted outrageous numbers scoring a team high 28 points and grabbing an amazing 21 rebounds in a ridiculous double double. Team captain Emeka Erege took over in the third quarter breaking the game open with big baskets on his way to 20 points on a sizzling 10-13 floor shooting. Jonathan Levy added another outstanding game scoring 26 points and Center Maksym Shtein added 17 points 6 boards and hit 2 of 3 money balls from three point land. The high-powered production helped ratiopharm Ulm improve to 5-0 in 2.Bundesliga South play while Nordlingen upset Erdgas Baskets Jena 86-84 and COOCOON Baskets Weiden beat USC Heidelberg 83-72.
Jeff Gibbs enjoys his 28 point 21 rebound night with wife April.
A week's worth of interesting internet articles and message board comments between the two teams added extra incentive for both benches. The packed Crailsheim Sportareana can be an intimidating venue for teams unprepared to play physically and compete. As with EVERY Crailsheim game, something out of the ordinary occurs. This night, the shot clock above the basket in front of the Ulm bench was on TILT. Although the broken shot clock was a slight distraction requiring a minor mental adjustment, the positive of the situation was that least Ulm would have the working shot clock above their basket and in front of them for the second half. Adding to the adversity, only 8 Ulm players made the road trip as the organization sent the young players Benni Gulde, Antois Sivorotka, Sebastian Geserick and Marcel Freide to play with the farm team Neu Ulm Saturday near Munich. Fortunately, the 8 players wearing Ulm uniforms were pretty good --- and they rallied around each other in the environment.
Tipping off at 8:15pm, Crailsheim came to play. Immediately, they hit baskets on drives post ups and from behind the arc. Ulm kept pace. Both teams probed their opponent. Ulm defenders made several game plan mistakes in the first minutes as Sebastian Kling and Willie Young penetrated to make plays or scores. Merlin big men Lucian Keiser and Fabian Spindler converted easy baskets off active cutting and offensive rebounding inside. Ulm offense adjusted to the crowd noise and lack of shot clock with fine use of handsignals and echo yell communication.
ratiopharm Ulm players huddle as fans throw confetti from the stands.
Ulm team defense began to tighten up. Strong rebounding from Jeff Gibbs and Maksym Shtein provided Ulm with some fast break opportunities. Converting buckets, Ulm edged ahead. Jonathan Levy sank an open three and Maksym Shtein made a beautiful sweeping hook in the lane to give Ulm a 13-12 lead. Igniting his internal ignition, Levy let loose for a driving lay in, another transition 3 and a fast break layup. Jono's offensive outburst thrust Ulm forward building their lead to 21-14 with three minutes remaining in quarter one.
Maksym Shtein scores after splitting Merlin big men in the first quarter of Ulm's 106-74 win.
A small Merlins run cut into the lead as Wille Young hit an open three from the top of the key, Lucian Keiser finished a strong three point play in the paint and Philip Wildermuth buried another three. By the time the first quarter finished, Crailsheim had cut Ulm's advantage to four at 26-22.
Working hard defensively to take command of the game, Ulm settled into a solid man to man. An extremely physical phase of the game, both teams fought for every inch of floor and pounded each other in the paint. Maksym Shtein hit a three from the left wing and scored with strong moves inside. Jonathan Levy's offensive fireworks continued. Jeff Gibbs outmuscled the Merlins inside. Ulm kept ahead but Crailsheim kept up. Leading 36-30, Gibbs went hard to the basket driving baseline. Jumping up to shoot, Gibbs was mauled by two Merlins who knocked the Ulm big man off balance. With the play right in front of him, the official obviously judged it to be clean and with no foul. As Gibbs stumbled to get his balance his momentum carried him into the lane and into several defending Merlins. Bumping into Thomas Simon, the two momentarily wrestled before both tumbled to the floor. Trying to shake his leg free, Gibbs kicked Simon to get loose. Sprinting in on top of the situation, referees immediately whistled unsportsmanlike conduct foul for the Ulm power forward. Ulm head coach Mike Taylor removed Gibbs from the game in order to help him cool off a bit. Crailsheim players aimed to capitalize on the opportunity.
Ulm's Jonathan Levy crosses over Crailsheim's Philipp Wildermuth.
But it was Jonathan Levy who again capitalized keeping Ulm ahead with big baskets late in the first half. Carrying the offense for the moment, Levy also played excellent defense on the evening. In fact, the Ulm team defense was so strong in the second quarter, the team limited the Merlins to 9 points. Ulm outscored Crailsheim 18-9 in the second and took a solid 44-31 lead into halftime.
As usual, Ulm players headed to the lockerroom to cool off, discuss the first half action and make team and individual adjustments. Statistically it was a good half. Ulm outrebounded the Merlins 25-13 and outshot them from the floor 46% to 33%. Everything was going according to plan. But this is Crailsheim and something crazy always happens. This night, halftime lasted a little longer than usual after one of the Merlins players broke the rim preparing for the second half in layup lines. Ordinarily, delays disrupt routines often resulting in lost rhythm or floundering focus --- for visiting ratiopharm Ulm, the extended stoppage proved to be all the team needed to put focused fire in their eyes.
Rather than wait out the delay standing around the court, the team returned to the locker room where they enjoyed an extra halftime together. After 10 minute intermission for basket repairs by the Sportarena staff climbing ladders to help connect the new rim, the Ulm team returned to the floor with a quick tempo and zip to their step. Their already elevated energy level rose infinitely when word spread that Nordlingen had just knocked off top rival Erdgas Baskets Jena 86-84 in Nordlingen. Ulm GM Thomas Stoll received an SMS from his service with the basketball site Schoenen-Dunk and immediately informed the faithful Ulm fans who followed the team to Crailsheim on a fan bus in full galore with faces painted and drums pounding. Hearing the upset in Nordlingen, Ulm fans cheered, screamed, yelled and went wild for their team. The new rim went up, the ladder came down and after a 3 minute warmup, the second half was set to begin. As Ulm players huddled for final preparations, the team rallied together ready to sieze the opportunity at hand.
Crailsheim Sportsarena staff fix the basket and backboard at halftime.
Ulm captain took it upon himself to lead his troops by example. Erege went to work in the third quarter showing off his complete scoring game --- the athletic 6'5 small forward hit a pull up J, ran out for a breakaway layup, drilled another pullup J this time off glass, snuck free all alone and unguarded behind a mixed up Crailsheim defense and made a turnaround leaner posting up off the right block. The Merlins had no answer. Erege accounted for 12 points in the third quarter and sparked the strong start to the second half that opened the flood-gates. Ulm extended their 13 point halftime lead by eight points with a 32-24 third quarter.
Staying hot, Jonathan Levy's brilliant night would continue. Finishing a strong drive, tipping in a second shot rebound, drilling another jumper and hammering home a dunk in transition, the 6'4 American shooting guard from Los Angeles put on a scoring display of his own before being hit with his third foul mid way through the third quarter. Ulm jumped all over the Merlins opening up a 20 point lead only 3 minutes into the second half. But on a night when the team simply clicked, wing Jan Sprunken, guard Christian Grosse and forward Florian Mobius, all stepped up and produced within their team roles. With Levy momentarily on the pine for 3 fouls, Ulm offense pounded the ball inside to Jeff Gibbs and Maksym Shtein. Gibbs also continued to pound the glass in both ends. Defensively, Ulm was able to record consistent stops and held Crailsheim scoreless for over a 2 minute 13 second stretch.
Maksym Shtein sank his second three, this one from the right wing as the shot clock ran down and celebrated emotionally screaming outload and pointing at the Ulm fanblock along the baseline in front of ratiopharm Ulm's bench in Sportarena. Emeka finished a pull up J and the rout was on. Effectively taking the crazy Crailsheim crowd out of the game, Ulm continued their intense fullcourt defense, but with better success matching up and containing in the second half. Since Ulm traveled only 8 players to the game, Mike T was unable to break from the 8 player rotation --- he had already emptied the bench! Ulm guards Martin Thuesen and Christian Grosse ran the team effectively and called several special plays to help specific teammates score. Late in the game, with the outcome clearly decided, Jeff Gibbs drifted to the left wing and drilled a wide open three. A possession later, forward Florian Mobius popped to the top of the key and dropped a wide open three of his own. Ulm was feeling it.
Keeping the pressure on until the final buzzer, Ulm outscored Crailsheim 30-19 in the fourth quarter. The team had fun down the stretch running their newly designed special play they dubbed "the cement mixer". Ulm fans stood and cheered and everyone celebrated together as the final buzzer sounded for ratiopharm Ulm's 106-74 road win over the Merlins.
Ulm fans were in full effect!
Statistically, ratiopharm Ulm players enjoyed a basketball BONANZA. Jeff Gibbs scored 28 points and grabbed 21 rebounds for an UNLBELIEVABLE doube double. Gibbs shot 10-15 from the floor, hit a three and dished out 4 assists. Jonathan Levy also starred scoring 26 points on 8 of 13 shooting including 3 of 6 threes. Emeka Erege also added 20 points making 10 of 12 shots while coralling 5 boards. Also solid for Ulm, center Maksym Shtein scored 17 points with 6 boards while hitting 2 of 3 three point shots before fouling out in the fourth. Christian Grosse also reached double figures with 10 points and 4 boards off the bench. As a team, Ulm shot 39-65 from the floor (60%), 21-30 (70%) from the foul line and outrebounded the Merlins 43-27. Willie Young paced Crailsheim scoring with 21 points and Fabian Spindler added 15 points with 8 boards.
Now 5-0, ratiopharm Ulm returns home next Saturday as they host 2-3 COOCOON Baskets Weiden at Sportszentrum Kuhberg for a 7pm tip. Weiden upset USC Heidelberg 83-72 in Weiden in Game Day 5. Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com
GO ULM!
MIKE T
