With NBA Championship game four in the books, German basketball fans can turn their attention back to the home country where game two of the Bundesliga final will be played tonight between Alba Berlin and 2010-11 Euroleague team Brose Baskets Bamberg. At stake in the series, aside from the actual title itself, is automatic qualification into next season’s edition of the big league.
In game one, Bamberg pulled away from Berlin to defend home court, 90-76, after pulling away behind some big shots by Brian Roberts in the third quarter to open up a double-digit lead. Kyle Hines was huge for the ‘Baskets with 15 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
Happily, the BBL and the Sport 1 television network have discovered the power of YouTube; tonight’s Bamberg Brose Baskets at Alba Berlin game may be seen on the video channel. Click here to watch the game live at 7pm CET (1pm EST) tonight.
In other Bundesliga news, Germany-based heinnews recently reported on a couple of key stories there. First and foremost, the conundrum regarding Dick Bauermann’s holding head coach positions with both Team Germany and the just-promoted Bayern München – domestic rules state that the national team coach cannot be employed by a first-division team – has been solved quite simply. Bauermann has agreed to stick with the national team through the Eurobasket 2011, after which he’ll forego the final two years of his three-year contract with Team Germany to rejoin Bayern: Good news for German ball on both counts there, then.
And for 2011-12, Deutsche Bank Skyliners will be no more. Thanks to a sponsorship change, the team will be known as Fraport Skyliners; this actually makes the team name a bit more appropriate, as Fraport is the company which runs Frankfurt International Airport.
