REGENSBURG (David Hein’s Eye on the Future) – Fraport Skyliners embark on the world stage this weekend when they host Venezuelan club Guaros de Lara in this year's FIBA Intercontinental Cup. The game is great opportunity for the German side, last season's FIBA Europe Cup winners who have remained true to their philosophy and re-loaded with more youth.

Skyliners were unable to keep their trio of German leaders from last season as Johannes Voigtmann went to Spanish powers Laboral Kuxta Vitoria, Danilo Barthel moved to Bayern Munich and Konsti Klein was signed by Telekom Baskets Bonn, who also snatched up 22-year-old Johannes Richter from Frankfurt.

While that may cause headaches for a club general manager, Skyliners GM Gunnar Woebke seemed at ease about seeing the big three moving on after they guided the club to its first international title last season.

 "I'm really happy for those three guys," Woebke said. "It's just time to move on. I am not disappointed about that."

It helps that Woebke and the club have the next wave of young Germans ready to step into the footsteps of those departing – just in line with the club’s philosophy.

Frankfurt has clearly taken the reins as the leading German club when it comes to developing young German players. Last season was the fourth in which the 23-year-old Voigtmann played in the BBL league. The 24-year-old Barthel has earned top flight minutes since the 2011-12 season and 25-year-old Klein has been playing BBL games since 2012-13. Even Richter played his first BBL game in the 2011-12 season with Brose Bamberg and saw regular action the last three campaigns with the Skyliners.

The next group of German youngsters is ready to help fill those BBL minutes for Frankfurt. The leader of the bunch will likely be Niklas Kiel, who last season at 19 years old earned his first BBL action in his first year with the club. Kiel's basketball development slowed a bit last season as he finished his schooling and was also set back with an injury. But Woebke expects big things from Kiel in 2016-17.

"He didn't play at the FIBA U20 European Championship, where he would have been one of the dominant players. We thought it would be very important for him to work out and build his body and avoid injuries so that when he gets to first team he would be ready," Woebke said of Kiel, who predominantly played for Frankfurt's second team in the third division ProB. "There is a bit of a difference between Pro B and the BBL with all that speed and athleticism. You need a stronger body to survive the practices, not to mention the games."

After having polished and veteran players (at least in experience) like Voigtmann and Barthel at the center and power forward positions last season, Frankfurt might be tested in the low post this season. This summer, Skyliners brought in 21-year-old center Daniel Mayr from Bayern Munich, where he played just 55 minutes in 15 BBL games last year but has a lot of upside; and 20-year-old Mahir Agva, who started 6 of 31 games last season as a 19-year-old with Walter Tigers Tübingen and averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds.

They join a Skyliners group that already includes 22-year-old Max Merz, who has played 56 BBL games since 2012; 21-year-old Stefan Ilzhoefer, who has appeared in 25 games since 2012; 19-year-old Garai Zeeb, who has 9 BBL appearances in two seasons; and 20-year-olds Jamin Knothe and Lennart Okeke, who both made their BBL debuts last season.

"We just continue our philosophy of building a team with young players and try to educate them and make them better every year," Woebke explained. "If we do the right job, and if they do the right job, everybody grows in our club."

While expectations are slowly increasing on the shoulders of those aforementioned Germans, Skyliners’ absolute gem in the system is newcomer Isaac Bonga, who joined the club on a long-term deal and is just about two months shy of his 17th birthday.

"Isaac is the guy I invested the most time with our coaching staff in recruiting. We had him in last year to play with the NBBL team. Now he's here. I'm happy that he's here. He’s shown the coaches in the first (pre-season) games that he's not only a talented guy but also a focused guy," Woebke said.

Bonga stood out at the recent Basketball Without Borders European Camp in Finland and is already considered a top-five talent in the 1999 age class in Europe. Woebke said he wouldn't be surprised if Bonga makes his BBL debut this season.

"He's a very, very big talent and I hope we see him on the court this year. It all comes down to him to make it to the court, nobody else," the GM said.

Before Woebke and Frankfurt can see what their youngsters do in the BBL, the club has an international title to play for on Sunday against Guaros.

"It's a great opportunity for our young team to play a really great team," Woebke said. "We are very proud to have been asked to play this competition and are very happy we can play it in front of our home fans in Frankfurt."

David Hein

FIBA

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