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ULM'S NIGHTMARE IN EHINGEN ratiopharm Ulm's 2.Bundesliga South derby against Humana Ehingen made history Saturday night at Langenfeldhalle in Ehingen Germany. While the game will be remembered as a dream for the young Steeples, Ulm will find it hard to forget the stunning 85-77 upset loss that turned into a nightmare. Both teams, former cooperation partners for youth basketball in the region, developed a firey rivalry after comments from both parties made print in local newspapers last season --- Ulm won commandingly in Ehingen 110-77 last Febuary and opened up this year with a dominating 90-45 victory in Sportszentrum Kuhberg Saturday night October 2nd. At opposite ends of the 2.Liga standings at the halfway point of this season, Ulm entered the game 13-2 and focused on finding a way to win the league while Ehingen --- tipping off at 3-12 --- searched for a way to avoid relegation to stay in it. Did they ever find one. Billing the season as "The Mission" to the Bundesliga, Ulm fell victim to Ehingen's "Mission Impossible".
Ulm's poor 4th quarter (12pts) and subpar defensive effort cost them dearly. Opening action was fast and furious. Antoine Sinclair, in the starting lineup after a string of quality games, worked hard on the offensive boards helping Ulm crack the scoring column. Ulm wing Peter Heizer also started fast with excellent effort on both ends. An early Ulm lead was soon erased as Ehingen undersized post man Jeff Gibbs equalized with a breakaway dunk. Soft passes and missed inside shots stalled Ulm's start. Ehingen went toe to toe with the bigger foe tying the game at 11 and 18. Heizer forced steals which he converted into a strong two hand breakaway dunk to fire up his teammates. A second foul whistled on Sinclair brought forward Florian Mobius onto the floor for the first time. In the first half, he was not a factor. Point guard Shaheen Holloway registered his first three pointer of the game late in the first quarter upping Ulm's lead before Heizer capped off his excellent first frame with a clutch steal and breakaway slam dunk racing up the right wing to beat the quarter clock giving Ulm a 23-18 lead. Expecting a hardfought contest, stressing to the team Ehingen was much improved throughout the week, Ulm refocused during the break emphasizing defensive effort and finishing strong inside. As the game evolved, Ehingen played with greater intensity, desire and hustle. Ulm players seemed content to trade baskets with the Steeples sure they would break the game open later as they had done often before. Unfortunately, Ulm failed to finish easy layups and stickbacks inside on offense and simply did not get after it on defense.
Ulm's Antoine Sinclair draws a foul off a dish from Shaheen Holloway Ehingen's Americans Jeff Gibbs and Mark Bigelow played big. Gibbs made his presence felt in the paint on both ends of the floor. Not only did he finish actively around the rim, but at 6'3 he defended effectively againsts Ulm centers Maksym Shtein and Michael Niebling. Meanwhile, Bigelow went to work against Ulm's best perimeter defenders and did whatever he wanted. Jumper -- got it. Post up --- fadeaway for two. Use a screen --- curl cut for a score. Get open on the wing --- backdoor lay in. Transition --- three. Bigelow put on a clinic getting buckets against Ulm defenders on the regular. Later, Bigelow's big game was capped off by a fantastic second half baseline drive and slam that posterized Ulm helpside defenders by dunking on their heads. Ehingen started the second quarter fast jumping all over Ulm to take a 28-24 lead. Young guards Lucca Staigger and Nicolai Simon made big baskets while athletic young post man Jermaine Raffington rebounded and scored effectively. As Ehingen competed, they gained confidence as they began to believe they could upset Ulm. A Mike T timeout stopped the run and Ulm regained the lead. By the half, Ulm maintained a slim 45-43 lead. In the third quarter, Ulm jumped all over Ehingen. While Shaheen Holloway stepped his game up, several others were nowhere in sight. Shaheen drilled a deep two on the right wing off a flare screen, dropped a dime in transition and buried a big three pointer on the right side with the shot clock winding down in a run that gave Ulm control of the game. Up 11 at 62-51 with a little more than three minutes to play, everyone expected Ulm to breeze to victory. But dark clouds swirled around Ulm. When Holloway, the best player on the floor, picked up a third foul late in the quarter, Ulm coach Mike Taylor played it safe removing his new point guard for the remainder of the quarter. Confident in his team and in his point guard Michael Bree, Mike T used his bench for just such an occassion. Unfortunately, Ehingen's Mark Bigelow rose to the occassion. Finishing the final minutes of the third in a flury, sparked by big baskets from Bigelow, the wing from BYU, Ehingen stormed back slicing the lead in half to 65-60 and seized all the games momentum. Ehingen's Gibbs tied the game at 69 on a strong three point play in the paint and brought the home fans to their feet. In response, Ulm rebuilt their lead to 75-71.
Ulm's Peter Heizer gave great effort in Ehingen At this point, Ulm's lack of toughness caught up with them. All game long, Ehingen players had their way with the favored Ulmers. When Ulm needed to dig down deep for that crucial defensive stop, Bigelow or Gibbs came away with a big basket. When Ulm needed to execute for that game deciding basket, Ulm missed point blank opportunities or misfired on open threes. The sequence that best exemplifies Ulm's poor fourth quarter form was a three offensive rebound, three open look empty possession with just over a minute to play. Of course officials whistles did not help either ---- Maksym Shtein was mauled under the basket off a well executed sideline inbound play during a critical last minute possession. Instead of the almost obvious free throws, officials called the Ulm center for a travel and put Ulm behind the 8 ball as the ball went back to Ehingen. Nicolai Simon iced the game for the Steeples with clutch free throw shooting and all the Steeples were able to celebrate their stunning first ever 2.League South win over Ulm. (photo www.basketball-ulm.de) In the disappointing game, Ulm post players shot a horrendus 3-18 in the paint and 5-28 from the floor. Maksym Shtein, the best post scorer in the league with the leagues highest field goal percentage, had an unusually off night hitting only 2 of 14 shots for 6 points and 5 rebounds. Ulm post men failed to capitalize on the inexperienced and undersized Steeple centers. Point guard, Michael Bree, coming off the bench behind Holloway, was unproductive and gave the team next to nothing taking only one shot in over 20 minutes of action. As a team, Ulm shot 36% from the floor and 6-21 (29% from three. Meanwhile, the poor Ulm defense allowed Ehingen to hit 49% of their shots from the floor.
Ulm Big men failed to finish strong inside The bright spots for Ulm included point man Shaheen Holloway who made big baskets and quality plays on his way to a team high 23 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Emeka Erege was excellent posting a double double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Peter Heizer was solid on both ends of the floor and played extremely hard scoring 14 points. Mark Bigelow led the Steeples with 28 points on 12-20 shooting while Jeff Gibbs added 21 points and 13 rebounds. Lucca Staigger finished with 12 and Jermaine Raffington produced 10 points and 7 boards for Ehingen. For Ulm, the loss is potentially devastating. Hoping to hang close to Nurnberg in the league championship race, Ulm's hole just got deeper. Remaining unbeaten at 16-0, ratiopharm Ulm falls 3 games behind the league leader Falke. Although there was much to play for, it was Ehingen who outworked and outhustled the favored ratiopharm Ulm team. Despite playing extremely physical and intensly competitive against each other at practice during the week, Ulm did not demonstrate the same desire on the court against Ehingen. Right now the Ulm team is more competitive with teammates than with opponents and this lack of teamwork has been evident all season. Too often this season, Ulm players have not brought Championship level instensity to the floor. In Ehingen, it finally caught up with them. The team must get tougher mentally. Perhaps the players overlooked Ehingen thinking the game would be easy? A possibility after easy wins before. Whatever the case, Ulm must take responsibility, avoid pointing fingers and get back on track next weekend against TV Lich --- three months of basketball remain and anything can happen. After all, the good thing about a having nightmare is waking up to a new day. Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm baketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com! GO ULM! MIKE T
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