That evening there was nothing to get for the firebirds: Six days after the strong restart against Trier, the team of head coach Chris Harris suffered a clear 75: 105 defeat against a confident team from Paderborn.
And that was not only due to the former BBL MVP John Bryant, who certainly showed what is still in him: With 22 points and 11 rebounds, the Big Man put on a double-double – and was also extremely accurate from a distance (3 threes / 75%). It quickly became apparent that there was no getting around John Bryant to be successful.
The ex-Bavarian was initially planned as a permanent fixture under the board, but in the first quarter he showed that he can also use the net from a distance: he let the doorbell “ring” three times and made sure that the guests went along with them 28:22 started the second quarter. Here the Uni Baskets turned up completely.
In addition to Bryant’s physical presence, there was Joseph Benzinger’s hand and rebound strength – he also got a double-double (22 pts / 10 rebounds). The Trio Infernale from Phoenix’s point of view made Demetrius Ward complete, who was the top scorer of the game with 30 points. Even a zone press on the Hagen side did not bring the hoped-for success to get the guests’ offensive under control.
In just a few phases of the game, the Hagen defense had to seriously oppose this violence of the Paderborn team. Too often the hosts took the decisive step too far away from the opponent, too often the second chances landed on the guest – and again and again one or the other lack of concentration led to unnecessary ball losses. “The head and the legs just weren’t fast enough today,” said Phoenix head coach Chris Harris after the game.
Strong return towards the end of the 3rd quarter
And yet, after a temporary 22-point deficit (21st), something still seemed possible at the end of the third quarter: First the unsportsmanlike foul on Dominik Spohr, which caused Phoenix to reach 60:75, then an And-One Kyron Cartwright with a converted free throw after a technical foul against John Bryant. Suddenly it was only 64:77.
Who knows what would have happened in Ische-Hölle with the fans in the back… But on this used day for Phoenix the energy quickly evaporated after the first unlucky minutes in the final quarter – and Paderborn played the game confidently home.
Chris Harris (Head Coach Phoenix Hagen): “That was a game that could probably have lasted 100 minutes without us winning. We weren’t able to concentrate right from the start and didn’t bring any of the things we planned to do onto the floor. But also respect to Paderborn, who played a great game. Today Uni Baskets did what we did last week against Trier: Going into the game with tremendous energy from a break in the game. ”
Joel Aminu (SG Phoenix Hagen): “We didn’t do what the coach told us before the game: We didn’t take away Paderborn’s strengths, didn’t take away the throwers’ throws, we didn’t take away the drive from the drivers. Then it’s hard to win a game. We played against Paderborn in the pre-season, but with Bryant it’s a completely different team. A 5 that can beat the three with such odds gives the whole game a different dynamic – and we weren’t aggressive enough and let him do it. ”
Scoring Phoenix Hagen: Jermaine Bishop 16, Cameron Delaney 11, Kyron Cartwright 10, Paul Giese 5, Emil Loch, Zachary Haney 6, Daniel Zdravevski 3, Jannik Lodders, Dominik Spohr 10, Joel Aminu 9, Javon Baumann 5
Here are the stats for the game
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