SPEAKER_02 0:26

How happy are you with the development of your team so early in the season?

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Well, uh you know no one wants to be a hypocrite and say you don't like the wins, but I think we still, like every team at the beginning of the season, have a lot of margins of getting better. And that's my job to to keep the feet on the ground, uh make them work, make them work hard on practices, take the best out of it, uh try to hide some of the lackness that as every team has, and of course um uh put uh emphasis on on something good that we have. We're still missing two of our really important players, uh physical-wise and talent-wise, like Isaiah Mike and he and um uh Damian Inglis, who who didn't play uh this game. Also, we have less from players like Akpinar and Furkan Haltali who are in our rotations usually. And uh I think all these things we have to put together. We analyze every game, we analyze our our mistakes, but we also emphasize the good things, and you have to give a credit to the guys when they do a good job.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

You mentioned Ismeka Akpinar who didn't play today, was he Yeah, it was just my my my read of the game.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Uh I uh I actually hugged him after the game and said I'm sorry because the game just went that way. I really am thankful to his professionalism and his same face, always always uh you you don't find players like him, uh, actually humanly. Uh I believe he's one of the best professionals I ever had in my career, and we already had our our year in Fenerbache together, and uh I just that's what what I read. This is this was a very important game. Uh our guards were in the game pretty much. I wanted to give them a rotation uh in a certain way, and I think we managed to to to bring the victory home. And uh next game is an opportunity for him, as also for the others again who didn't play.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Uh you mentioned the offensive rebounding of your team. I think Travion Williams ended up with seven offensive rebounds. Yeah, he left quite an impression in his season uh in Ulm as well. What do you see in him? What does he bring to your team?

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Well, he's uh first of all, he's an unselfish player, which I love. He likes and loves and knows how to pass the ball, sometimes even more than is needed. Uh, you have to be sometimes cynical, more concrete, uh instead of looking and searching for a highlight of the game or highlight of your uh so far career. Uh when he figures that out, I think he will add even more quality to to to what he already has. We create uh some of our flows in the game and in the system through his hands, and I love as a coach to to uh reward big guys who do in the German league in the past.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Um how how do you see the development of the league compared to other European leagues?

SPEAKER_01 3:23

To to be honest, it's it's I'm I'm not the right one to to say it right now, uh because I don't know everything what is happening. I just watched some of the games. But I might uh take a chance right here to congratulate uh your national team successes because uh for a person like me who knows how difficult it is to come and achieve those uh those stars, being a world champion, being a European champion, that's that's really something in the generation you have. You have to just enjoy them and and keep them healthy and go for it. And that's maybe the biggest uh example or show how the German basketball grew in late, late, let's say last decade, but even even before that, because I think a lot of great coaches can came by, a lot of uh also foreign coaches were were here who brought something to already your international uh way of understanding the game, bringing the the the good players in their young age, in their beginning of their careers. That that was always a trademark of German League. The speed that you're playing is always always exceptional. Your athletes are something that that you always keep that, keep that as your maybe biggest uh trademark. And uh I love it because organization-wise it's it's perfect. Uh media also, you know, like the gym like this, you don't find it usually all over the place. It's uh it's still and a lot of others that are that followed. And I know about the development of the youth program and what Ulmi is doing uh with their campus and their practice facilities. That's the the example how the teams should should develop in not only in Germany but in Europe. But so that's that's for me I think it's it's pretty pretty much, and you understand that I appreciate I appreciate a lot German basketball.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

I think in the first half, nine of them in the second quarter, and then uh only four turnovers in the whole second half. How can that happen? Basically, such a change of day and night.

SPEAKER_03 5:45

Uh again, I I I I don't know. I I don't know. I I don't have an answer. Um I don't think we're that bad. Over the course of the season, we've been pretty good. Unfortunately, when the turnovers get high, you're taking away points per possession. We're also giving them fast breaks. Uh so I'm not answering your question. Uh we pop out first play to catch the basketball. Uh nonchalant. Uh I don't know what that is in German, but uh not. It's the same. Yeah, nonch nonchalant. We catch the ball, and then the guy just knocks it out of my knocks it out of my hands. We can't run our first play. Um multiple times wrong read pass directly to the to the opponent. Um two times turnovers are when you get offensive fouls as well. So I think three in the game on on where we're pushing in transition, we should be using an early ball screen. We decide to play one-on-one and we just run over the guy in front of us. Um when when okay, so now now I'm gonna get to the next part of it, and I know there's a long answer, but we have a scout, uh we have a scouting report, we show them exactly how we want to attack in these situations, so then it comes down to the player's execution. All I can do is sub them out when they make the mistakes, and then you're talking about how long somebody plays or what kind of what level of frustration they're gonna work with. Um but that this is this decision making. You could see in the second half we improved.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

I mean that that has been um uh quite a challenge in the last couple of games that your team struggled in the second half after a positive first one. So is that maybe the the positive one on that one, that that the team really showed composure, stayed together and played a really good second half?

SPEAKER_03 7:27

Uh 100%. You know, I I told him at halftime you you're not gonna get all back at once. So if we can cut it to ten uh going into the fourth quarter, cut it to five at the five-minute mark, we give ourselves a chance to win. And we cut it to eight uh by the end of the third quarter, and then shortly after that had it down to three. So with the five-minute mark or so, it was around three points with the ball. And um we had a turnover, we had a missed, we we put the ball inside. Um there was a good wall up, we took a shot, tried to draw a foul. Um so we were right there. I'm happy with that. I'm happy with that. Um what what I'm not happy about is when we get down by six or eight, that we don't fight back then that we let it get out to twenty.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Um you I think experimented quite a bit in the in the season so far with who you play on the big man position. Um today it was uh Traoré playing almost 30 minutes, um, quite a positive impact, one of the few guys with a very limited negative plus-minus. Is he a bit ahead at the moment uh compared to Shitu when it comes to playing time and and impact on the game?

SPEAKER_03 8:40

I I would say so. Um at the moment, yes. Um both players are capable. Armel's doing a really good job um anchoring our defense. I I know there's times where we have problems on defense, but his pick and roll defense was pretty good. Um, you know, a mistake in the backcourt late in the game also with with the game still, you know, where we could still come back, a bad foul while they're while they're in the bonus. So there's a couple things that he needs to clean up, but he's doing uh he's doing a really good job for us at the moment. And um so yeah, that I felt like today while we were, you know, and and you say like he's minus two, but the rest of the game plus five uh at halftime. Uh okay, down a little bit at halftime, but but a really good stretch in the third quarter. Uh unfortunate maybe he rolled his ankle, might have kept going with him. Uh when he got hurt, had to take him out. But um that's part of the game.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Um another player who left quite a positive impact, at least in my opinion, is uh Lucas Fisher. I think he was part of that big run when you came back um end of third, beginning of the fourth quarter. Do you expect him to already have such an impact on the game? I I think he was more planned for the for the second team, or how did you expect his development to go?

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Well, well, he has a lot of experience. He played in some in the first league, or let's say a lot in the first league the last two seasons in in France, uh very athletically, had some big games towards the end of the season, just wasn't on very successful teams. So um I I thought I thought our club did a great job of signing him, put it, give him the opportunity to play with our pro A and then play in the Euro Cup, and he's taken advantage of it. Uh, I think I believe we played our best basketball, uh, Palk, Leah Cabellas, and and again today, okay, really not a great first half, but still some of our best basketball. And um it gives us it gives us a component with him also defensively where where he can defend some quick quick guards and so forth. So he's done he's done a good job. He's done a good job.

unknown 10:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Not sure if you want to even comment on that because it's it was a different game, but in the last B uh game you had to leave the court uh after um uh yeah, was called a flagrant foul uh by the opponent, and you got into a heated discussion with the opposing coach. Um do you want to comment on on what happened there? It felt to me like you took a stance for your play. It it didn't feel like an accident that you got thrown on, let's put it like this. Felt like you wanted to make a point for your players. Is that true? Do you even want to comment on that?

SPEAKER_03 11:07

Um I I asked the players to, you know, and we have a very new group, so you gotta build trust over time. And I asked them to fight for me and play for us and fight for each other. And um I think it was a very bad foul. Uh I thought it could have been a disqualification foul, which is what I was asking for. And after that, I I don't really want to comment, but I I guess that I guess they disagreed that it was that that outrageous. But um, yeah, first time in my career where uh opposing coach approached uh me and um asked what happened, and I explained. Um and then and then I was I was touched, but I mean it's all on video. It's all on video. So uh but I saw the I saw uh the official make the decision to to kick us both out based on what we had said to each other. And so I immediately left. There was nothing there's that that wasn't gonna change. Um and what I what I really what I really liked, which I I wouldn't know, uh, is it was a response from our crowd and also our players. Uh I think it was really great. So thank you as always, thank you to the fans. Um Although I wasn't in there, I could hear them. And uh and and also when when we talked about it in the locker room after the game, like the players felt felt the change. And um, I hope it's a change that we need for the season in a positive way. Although it was bad for me.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

That's not fun post-cam podcast.