TAYLORHOOPS.COM ULM UPDATE
93 
85
ULM ADVANCES IN CUP!
ratiopharm Ulm advanced into the "Sweet 16" of the German Cup with a hardfought 93-85 road win over the Red Devils of 1FC Kaiserslautern Tuesday night November 28th at Schulzentrum Nord in K'town. Ulm's inside presence made the difference as 3 Ulm post players were extremely effective on the evening and the team outrebounded the physical Red Devils 56-36 in the win. Jeff Gibbs posted 22 points 13 rebounds, Bryan Lucas added 15 points 8 boards and Konrad Wysocki chipped in 14 points 7 rebounds to power the Ulm attack. ratiopharm Ulm advances to a Febuary 7th "Sweet 16" game against an opponent to be announced at a site to be determined. Clearly, the Ulm team and management are excited about the German Cup challenges ahead!
BLOCK PARTY!
ratiopharm Ulm post men Jeff Gibbs and Bryan Lucas challenge Red Devils F Tim Schwartz in the second half of Ulm's Cup win.
click here for Box Score Ulm @ Kaiserslautern German Cup Game
With many reasons to be excited about this Tuesday evening German Cup matchup, both Ulm and Kaiserslautern prepared for a hardfought, intense and physical game. After three seasons of intense competition in the 2.Bundesliga South, both Ulm and Kaiserslautern personnel knew each other well. With Uwe Sauer guiding the Red Devils, another personal aspect was added to the rivalry. Finally, most interestingly, former Kaiserslautern PG Austen Rowland would make his return to play against the Red Devils for the first time. Throw in the readiness and excitement that the 2.Bundesliga Red Devils had for the opportunity to play a Bundesliga team and the end result was an interesting and intense evening of basketball. After all, it is matchups like this one that makes the German Cup competition what it is.
BUILD A WALL!
Jonathan Levy defends Kaiserslautern G Marco Radulovic while Bryan Lucas and Jeff Gibbs are in position ready to help.
Quarter one went according to expectations. ratiopharm Ulm jumped out to an early lead with aggressive changing defense and attacking offense. Driving strong, finishing offensive rebounds or converting fast breaks, ratiopharm Ulm slowly built an advantage. Changing defenses caused several Kaiserslautern turnovers and Ulm began to assert themselves on the backboards with strong rebounding. While Ulm's attack produced early points, the team also suffered several turnovers ranging from travels, to charges to mishandled passes. Neither team hit their shots and the narrow floor stuffed passing lanes raising defensive intensity on both ends. 2 early Kaiserslautern technicals helped Ulm cement their advantage. Working hard, Ulm opened a 24-12 lead after the first quarter and felt very positive about the games beginning. However, reducing turnovers and spacing the floor became the offensive focus for the team.
Continuing the positive start in quarter 2, Ulm earned offense from their defense and built the lead to 32-16. Unfortunately, for Ulm, rather than maintaining consistent intensity and pressure, the teams defense lightened. Behind a strong surge from point guard Whit Holcomb-Faye, Kaiserslautern fought back into the game. 9 straight points from the hot-shooting point guard (including foul shots received after being fouled shooting a three pointer at the first half buzzer) pulled the hosts back into striking distance at 42-36 at the half. Ulm's lead remained, but the teams casual finish to quarter two gave Kaiserslautern what they needed --- a chance to get back into the game.
After leading the entire first half and being on the brink of blowing the game open, Ulm allowed Kaiserslautern to cut into their lead which set up an exciting second half. An 8-2 K'town run starting the second half evened up the scoreboard and forced an Ulm timeout. The Red Devils edged ahead 46-44 with 7 minutes left in the third, but Ulm stayed cool and stuck with the game plan. Pounding the ball inside, a key third quarter stretch saw Jeff Gibbs, Bryan Lucas, Maksym Shtein and Konrad Wysocki make plays. Gibbs powered his way to stickback buckets off offensive rebounds. Lucas was alertly in the right place at the right time to receive drive-draw-dish and post-feed opportunities. Maksym Shtein finished strong inside and got to the foul line. Finally, Konrad Wysocki's active cutting and play in transition strengthened Ulm's attack when the team needed it most. As quickly as Kaiserslautern evened the score and edged ahead, ratiopharm Ulm returned the barrage with 27-15 third quarter production. After the run, Ulm held a solid 71-61 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Trailing, the Red Devils answered Ulm's attack with a run of their own. Unnessecary and unconcentrated turnovers fed into the hands of the hungry Kaiserslautern team. A backcourt dribble, a pass that sailed awry, an 8 second violation, several fouls --- all of the momentum was with the homestanding Red Devils. Making plays, PG Whit Holcomb-Faye went crazy in the second half aggressively shooting his team back into the game. Taking advantage of several situations, Kaiserslautern shot 9 straight free throws before a clutch three from G Tim Jennings. With plenty of time remaining, the Red Devils sliced the Ulm lead to five at 75-70. Stepping up, Ulm C Bryan Lucas scored 6 straight points before a powerful Gibbs basket reset the lead at 9 with 3 minutes to play.
However, rather than capitalize on their position and execute their way to the win, ratiopharm Ulm made things difficult on themselves. A technical on Ulm PG Austen Rowland gave the Red Devils another chance to cut into the lead. Kaiserslautern amazingly came back. With 1 minute to play and Ulm holding onto a 3 point lead at 86-83, the Kaiserslautern zone defended well forcing Ulm into a late clock situation. Recently signed Ulm G Ian Young dribbled to the right wing only to see the last seconds tick off. Hoisting a shotclock beater, Young rattled home a clutch three pushing Ulm's lead to 6 at 89-83 with under one minute to play. While execution was spotty at times earlier in the fourth, ratiopharm Ulm handled the final minutes of the game extremely well working prescious seconds off the clock before forcing a foul. Once at the foul line, Ulm players Ian Young and Konrad Wysocki iced the win and ratiopharm Ulm could celebrate their hardearned road win and chance to advance into the next round of the German Cup.
In the game, Ulm outrebounded the Red Devils 56-36 and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds. Ulm shot 48% from the floor compared with Kaiserslautern's 38%. While Ulm was outstanding on the backboards, the team suffered 25 turnovers in the game --- the turnovers were a balanced team effort. Jeff Gibbs led the Ulm attack with 22 points 13 rebounds in the win while Bryan Lucas added 15 points 7 boards and Konrad Wysocki chipped in 14 points 8 rebounds. Ian Young added 12 points including 2 for 3 from 3pt range. Austen Rowland finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds in his return trip to K'town. Whit Holcomb-Faye was in fine form for the Red Devils scoring a game best 34 points but shot only 10-25 in the game and 4-14 from three. Stuart Robbins added 13 points 10 rebounds to the K'town attack. Tim Jennings scored 14 points and young talent Tim Schwartz added 12 points in the loss mostly from excellent 8-10 free throw shooting.
Scores from the German Cup 3rd Round to date:
11-22-06
Giessen 46ers 79 BBC Bayreuth 71
11-28-06
ratiopharm Ulm 93 1FC Kaiserslautern 85
BG Karlsruhe 90 Nordlingen 72
11-29-06
FC Schalke 04 89 New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig
Paderborn Baskets 85 Phoenix Hagen 78
Telekom Bonn 88 Cuxhaven Basecats 64
Eisbaren Bremerhaven 91 Bayer Leverkusen 80
EnBW Ludwigsburg 80 TV Lich 61
Walter Tigers Tubingen 71 SellbyTel Baskets Nurnberg 55
12-5-06
Ewe Baskets Oldenburg @ MBC
12-6-06
Deutsche Bank Skyliners @ USC Heidelberg
12-12-06
Trier @ Chemnitz 99ers
12-13-06
Artland Dragons @ RSV Stahnsdorf
3rd Round Bye: ALBA Berlin, Rheinenergie Koln, brose Baskets Bamberg
German Cup "Sweet 16": Wednesday Febuary 7th, 2007
ratiopharm Ulm can smile about their 5-7 start in the Bundesliga and German Cup win!
ratiopharm Ulm, 5-7 in the Bundesliga, now advances in the German Cup to a Febuary 7, 2007 game against an opponent to be determined at a site to be announced. After the Cup win, ratiopharm Ulm takes advantage of an open date in their schedule this weekend and gave the team a weekend off. The team returns to action Sunday December 10th at home against Giessen 46ers. Follow all the fastbreaking ratiopharm Ulm Bundesliga basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com!
GO ULM!
MIKE T
