Frankfurt Skyliners lose in Braunschweig 71:86. Only a small miracle can keep them in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). There will probably not be a wildcard that kept Hessen in the league last year.
The Frankfurt Skyliners lost the all-important direct duel to stay up at the Löwen Braunschweig on Tuesday evening after a disastrous performance in the first half. Almost 13 good minutes in the second period were not enough to change the final result of 71:86 (32:51). The 107:113 defeat on Sunday against Bayreuth, bottom of the table, was extremely bitter, and yesterday’s defeat should mean the end of first-class basketball at the 2004 German champions.
As tables-17. the Skyliners are now four points behind Braunschweig, who won the direct comparison. Frankfurt now have to win their remaining three games against Würzburg, in Crailsheim and in Göttingen and hope that Braunschweig lose everything. Or that the Central German BC from Weißenfels, who is also four points ahead of the Skyliners, has not scored in five games. Then even two Frankfurt victories would be enough because of the direct comparison won. That’s not realistic.
This means that the Hessians are facing relegation from the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) for the second time in a row. A wild card, for which they paid 700,000 euros last summer, will most likely not be available this time because seven teams from the second division, Pro A, have handed in their license documents for the BBL. And even if they should exist, the Skyliners should rather save the money to question and reposition themselves.
They didn’t draw any conclusions from the mistakes of the previous season. Apart from the appointment of a new coach, absolutely nothing has changed at the club. They got the wrong coach in Geert Hammink because he wanted to play nice basketball despite the tight budget. Instead, the Hessians would have needed a team that had fighters in its ranks to survive in the relegation battle. For the umpteenth time in the past few years, they got the wrong point guard in JJ Frazier, who could never lead this team. The reaction to injury problems and the departure of top center Martina’s giving was far too late. And even the much acclaimed return of Jordan Theodore did not bring the desired success in the end. The 33-year-old won the game for the Skyliners on their comeback in Rostock with 26 points. In Braunschweig, the American only hit one of his ten shots and lost the ball five times.
Reacted too late
“I think it’s really fun to play games like this,” head coach Klaus Perwas said before the game. The fun should have ended before tip-off when he found out that he could not use playmaker Joshua Obiesie (hemorrhage in the muscle). In addition to the 22-year-old, Laurynas Beliauskas (season ended after a hip strain) was absent.
Instead of a thriller that one might have expected, the hosts gradually expanded their lead. After 13 minutes it was already 35:17. At the break, the Skyliners only hit two of their 15 three-point attempts. Only in the third quarter did they suddenly come back to five points (54:59). At the beginning of the final quarter, Lukas Wank shortened the lead to 57:61 with a three. However, they never got to the point to steer this game their way.
#Frankfurt #Skyliners #descent
