AND ONE!

Weekly round-up for our English-speaking fans by David Hein.

Week 9 - February 27th 2014

Bamberg beat Braunschweig, draw Berlin in Top Four, acquire Jared Jordan

Even without European club competition, the past week has been a busy one for Brose Baskets Bamberg, who held on to beat New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig and then were drawn a semi-final showdown with Alba Berlin in the Beko BBL Top Four before adding a new point guard in Jared Jordan.

The up-coming week sees Brose return home for a Beko BBL showdown with s.Oliver Baskets Würzburg on Sunday March 2.

Sharrod Ford returns

The game at Braunschweig saw the return of big man Sharrod Ford, who last played on December 1 against Oldenburg. It was also Brose’s first game since the departures of point guard Zack Wright and forward Novica Velickovic.

Braunschweig jumped ahead early 4-0 and the lead grew to 13-7 early in the first quarter. Bamberg got into the game and a triple by Ford gave them the lead 15-13. That was the first of four straight three-pointers by both teams with Braunschweig up 19-18. The game was tied at 24-242 after one quarter.

Bamberg began to gain more control of the game in the second quarter and pulled ahead 35-28 midway through the period. Braunschweig pulled back to within one point at 40-39 but Brose led 46-39 at half-time.

D’Or Fischer helped Bamberg extend the gap even further in the third, making it 52-41. Braunschweig trimmed the margin to 52-45 but Jamar Smith answered right back with a three-ball. Smith would score two more baskets as the lead grew to as many as 16 points – 64-48. The gap was 64-50 after 30 minutes.

All still looked fine in the world early in the fourth as Smith’s score had Bamberg up 68-54 with eight minutes to play. Braunschweig responded with three treys and the cushion was down to 70-66. Brose increased the lead back to 78-69 but Braunschweig would not go away thanks to a couple of key offensive rebounds and a Bamberg technical foul. Braunschweig made two free throws to cut it to an 83-82 Bamberg lead. John Goldsberry was fouled and made the first free throw but missed the second, only to see Ford grab the big offensive rebound. Anton Gavel was then fouled and knocked down both free throws to finish the game.

Fischer led Bamberg in scoring with 16 points while adding 10 rebounds and two blocks. Ford collected 13 points and five rebounds in his first game back while Smith hit for 12 points. Rakim Sanders, Gavel and Casey Jacobsen all scored 10 points in the win.

“I think if you look at the whole game we had a pretty solid performance. The guys got stops when they absolutely needed them. They took over the game coming out of the locker room with good defense,” said Bamberg head coach Chris Fleming.

“We had a lot of positives looking forward.”

Ford said he wasn’t as tired as he thought he’d be after missing nearly two months of action.

“I felt good out there. I think we made it tough on ourselves at the end. … But we were able to stick it out and get the win,” said Ford.

“It would have been aggravating if we had lost the game because we played very good over long stretches,” added CEO Wolfgang Heyder.

The victory was Bamberg’s eighth win in a row and gives them an 18-3 record – moving them even in the loss column with first-placed Bayern Munich, who are 20-3.

Beko BBL TOP FOUR draw

On the same day Bamberg were beating Braunschweig, Brose’s opponent for the Beko BBL Top Four in Ulm on March 29-30 was being drawn. Bamberg will take on defending champions Alba Berlin while Ratiopharm Ulm face Bayern Munich.

“We expect a hard fight from Berlin. A lot is at stake. We will accept this challenge,” said Fleming.

“The atmosphere is always special and it’s an intense two days. We now know our opponent and can look ahead.”

Bamberg sign Jared Jordan

After a few days of rumors floating around, Brose Baskets Bamberg on Thursday February 27 announced that they had signed point guard Jared Jordan with immediately effect. The 29-year-old American comes to Bamberg from Telekom Baskets Bonn on a contract until the end of the season plus an option for next season.

“It was well known that we looking for a new point guard after the release of Zack Wright to strengthen our team as much as possible in the fight for the German championship. With Jared Jordan, we found the best possible solution for the vacant position,” said Heyder.

“We told the Telekom Baskets that we were interested and Bonn showed a willingness to negotiate. We are very happy that as a result of these talks we can welcome Jared to Bamberg.”

Fleming was happy about the acquisition, saying: “Jared is a player who throughout his entire career always made his teammates better. He has strong leadership qualities and plays to win games. I am happy that the transfer worked out and that Jared will play for Brose.”

Jordan played for Bonn during the 2009-10 season and then since the summer of 2011. He is the current Beko BBL leader in assists with 7.7 per game while averaging 10.3 points.

“I would like to thank the Telekom Baskets and the Bonn fans for a great time. The move to Brose Baskets is a big step in my career and I am really looking forward to the challenge. I will do everything in my power to help my team win,” said Jordan.

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