TAYLORHOOPS.COM ULM UPDATE
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ULM RACES PAST GIESSEN!
Friday night was a shootout. ratiopharm Ulm and the Giessen 46ers engaged in a spectacular, end to end offensive display filling the first half of Friday nights Bundesliga game at Sportszentrum Kuhberg in Ulm with plenty of points and highlight plays. Exciting, uptempo, action packed offensive basketball was fantastic for the fans, but it was second half team defense and teamwork that allowed ratiopharm Ulm to race past Giessen for a wild 104-82 home win. EJ Gallup sparked Ulm's offensive attack with a game best 22 points including 6 three pointers, Konrad Wysocki continued his outstanding season with a 20 point 8 rebound night, Kyle Bailey contributed 15 points 6 assists and Jeff Gibbs added another strong 11 point 12 rebound double double. Along with these notable performances, ratiopharm Ulm also benefited from excellent bench production from Sean Finn and Sebastian Betz.
Ulm's EJ Gallup was sizzling Friday night with 6 threes and a game high 22 points!
Prior to tipoff noone could have predicted the events about to occur. After notching their first victory of the season at home last week over Koln, the 46ers stepped onto the Sportszentrum Kuhberg floor with confidence. Add to the fact, Giessen won in Ulm last season and the combination of positives pointed toward good things for the 46ers. But for Giessen, Friday nights first quarter was not simply good, it was great! In the first quarter, Giessen shot 81% from the floor, drilled a perfect 7 of 7 three pointers and exploded to a 34-25 lead. Rouven Roussler and Michael Umah did the majority of the damage with dead-eye three point shooting and one on one scoring. Content to trade baskets with each other, the two teams exchanged scoring opportunities continually for the first ten minutes.
Ulm's All Star forward Jeff Gibbs hammers this alley oop pass from Kyle Bailey in Friday's home win. Jeff finished his strong outing with another double double 11 points 12 rebounds.
For ratiopharm Ulm, the key to success in Fridays game was crystal clear --- defend. Neither team could keep up their torrid offensive pace the entire game and the team able to establish their defense first would likely take control of the game. But as the second quarter developed, Ulm first needed to eliminate their deficit and climb back into the game. Similar to the first quarter favoring the 46ers, the second quarter favored ratiopharm Ulm. Explosive three point shooting from EJ Gallup started an Ulm rally and a three from Konrad Wysocki pulled Ulm in striking distance. Ulm's bench stepped up in support as reliable players like Jan Sprunken and Florian Mobius buried important threes in the teams exciting comeback. In the first half, Ulm dominated the backboards outrebounding Giessen 23-9 including a hungry 15 offensive rebounds. ratiopharm Ulm also tallied an impressive 12 first half assists as a team. Giessen shot a ridiculous 67% from the floor and 10 of 15 (67%) from three. Somehow, ratiopharm Ulm had battled back to take a three point lead 58-55 into halftime.
Playing with inspiration against his hometown team, Ulm's Konrad Wysocki was excellent scoring 20 points with 8 rebounds. Konrad's father played professionally for Giessen and the Wysocki family resides near the town.
Both lockerrooms likely sounded similar as Ulm and Giessen were happy with their own offensive production yet dissatisfied with their defensive work. A 58-55 first half was fun for fans, but the result rested upon which team stepped up their defensive performance and who could earn stops.
Kyle Bailey finishes this floater in the first quarter Friday night against Giessen. Bailey's solid play was a big factor in Ulm's offensive rhythm and his excellent shooting in the third quarter helped break the game open for Ulm.
As the third quarter opened, two Ulm players made immediate impact. First, point guard Kyle Bailey buried a flare screen three to ignite the Ulm offense. KB put in excellent work running the ratiopharm Ulm system and keeping the execution sharp. Next, it was Konrad Wysocki's turn to spark his team. Active cutting, open court running and offensive rebounding helped led Konrad to four straight buckets that built Ulm's lead. With re-newed intensity on defense which helped them register several stops, ratiopharm Ulm broke the game open in the 22-13 third quarter. Later in the third, when Giessen switched to their halfcourt zone defense, it was rookie Sebastian Betz who stepped up. Basti buried three of five threes in the game and sank two triples in the late third. Led by backup point, rookie Dru Joyce, the Ulm bench gave the team outstanding minutes. Joyce, Betz, Jan Sprunken, Florian Mobius and Sean Finn created momentum and added to the lead. After three Ulm held a solid 80-68 advantage.
Sean Finn gave Ulm a boost with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in terrific minutes Friday night. Finn finished a near perfect 4 for 5 from the floor.
Ulm's fourth quarter was more of the same as the bench continued to play at a high level in the early minutes of the final frame. Rewarding the hardworking, unselfish, team players with a few extra minutes, the Ulm bench played with confidence and combined with the Sportszentrum Kuhberg home crowd, momentum grew. In one instance, Sean Finn blocked a shot at one end and after several crisp passes, the basketball found Finn alone on the block which instantly resulted in a two hand power dunk to the delight of the fans. Finn's strong play continued with another dunk, a strong post move on the block and a second two hand slam. Midway through the fourth, Kyle Bailey found Jeff Gibbs for an alley oop slam dunk and the 24-14 fourth quarter put the finishing touches on Ulm's second home win of the 2007-2008 Bundesliga season.
Ulm captain Emeka Erege was back in action after missing the seasons first three games with an ankle injury. Erege was excellent defensively and provided the teams motivational quote of the day "Come to Win".
ratiopharm Ulm shot 50% from the floor, sank 14 of 32 threes, converted 18 of 23 free throws (78%), dished out an impressive 23 assists as a team, outrebounded the 46ers 47-27 and every Ulm player scored in the strong team win. After surrendering 34 points in the first quarter, Ulm allowed only 27 total points in the entire second half. Giessen finished shooting 46% from the floor including 12 of 26 from three and 10 of 15 (66%) from the foul line. Looking back at Friday night, with all the offense, teamwork and production, there is no doubt it was an extraordinary game. Friday night was a shootout at Sportszentrum Kuhberg,
Now 2-2, ratiopharm Ulm will take the weekend off before returning to the practice court Monday in preparation for next Saturdays visit from German basketball power ALBA Berlin. Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm Bundesliga Basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com!
GO ULM!
MIKE T
