A Draw-saster against Antalya - Skyliners may not advance

[by Kris SANTIAGO] - I spent a forgettable evening in Frankfurt, attending the Skyliners-Antalya game at the Ballsporthalle only to witness a 60-60 draw between those two miserable teams (How much did you get if you were betting on a draw by the way?).

I could have stayed home instead to watch some older British guys playing darts on DSF(A so-called German "sports" channel that covers a lot of "exciting" sports but no basketball) or I should have tried to get my vote for Obama (He can play !) counted by the U.S. embassy although not being a citizen (Hey, I spent countless days and nights in U.S. fast food chains, doesn't that qualify me ?),but I chose to sit down and witness one of the most ugliest games I ever attended in my life (And that includes the U-12 youth games in the local kindergarten amateur league).

I don't want to rant about a specific player but some guys on Frankfurt's and Antalya's team should be thinking about not to force all of their shots from the perimeter, especially if they missed all of them before.
This one here goes out to a certain Frankfurt's post-player: Consider putting glue on your fingers to keep the ball in your hands instead of turning the ball over and be creative and get a new post move, the old one does not work!

But even more confusing are the guys on the sidelines:

Can't understand the coaches and their philosophy (If there is one...I simply doubt it after that game) of letting guys play that are displaying such poor skills on the court while others do get no playing time although they might be a better fit.

It's kind of strange to see two assistant coaches (I guess, female third-string assistant coach Daphne Bouzikou had enough of that spiel and left these often confused men last week) on the side of Frankfurt's coach Murat Didin but no true center on the court.

Newly acquired post-player Greg Jenkins was ineffective, maybe because he twisted his hand while doing push-ups a day before the game (That is no joke).

Antalya had four Americans and one Turkish guy on the floor, and although their PG and as well their center played miserably, Coach Ene played them through most of the game, although a Turkish PG and C might have been a better threat to the Skyliners' offensive game and he eventually used some Turkish players in the end and quelle surprise,

But enough of complaining for now...Antalya got the draw (Both teams actually did not deserve to win) after a sweet jumper drained in by Victor Bernard King Jr. (Son of the Knicks-legend) in the last second, and they took home an important advantage as they are going to host the Skyliners next week in a rather full gym compared to the 800 or less spectators that made their way to the Ballsporthalle this time.

With that in mind, Frankfurt may realize that it's time to invest some money into a real center that can hit the boards hard rather then relying on the coaches' tactics who is sticking to his small-ball system with no virtual centers but guards that can shoot the lights out (...or hit the fans in the stands like it happened this time).

It's a shame the guys do not really stick together to make things happen. The next round in the Euro Cup Challenge could be quite interesting for Frankfurt with teams that started in the Euro Cup this year but failed to advance and getting a new chance by playing the Euro Cup Challenge instead. With a positive outcome in Antalya, I should be able to cover some more exciting and interesting games...if my "beloved" Skyliners decide to cut the crap and play ball like real pros.

If you ware watching the small video, you may hear the cheers of me and my buddies when Titus Ivory hit his trey, as it was a rather unique experience to see a converted three-pointer during the game.

I'm out like real centers in Frankfurt...