Blood,sweat and tears - The German U-20 finals [video]

[by Kris SANTIAGO] - I attended a record-breaking event the last weekend: The world biggest sauna with around 1.000 people stacked in one small gym with no air condition. 

The NBBL (U-20 German national basketball league) finals were held nearby Frankfurt so I gave it a try and went south to Langen with a buddy of mine to watch the young and restless playing in front of the local and national basketball prominence for the championship.

TSV Breitenguessbach met Alba Berlin in the first encounter of the day and Berlin advanced thanks to guard Thomas Schoeps (18 points) while the Franconians struggled to repeat their success from the quarters where they edged TV Langen in the very same gym.

Maurice Stuckey showed off some spectacular plays in the second game of the day and led his Urspringschule to the final after hitting almost all of his shots from beyond the arc (eight threes and a total of 28 points) and penetrating at will through the zone of the opponent from Bonn/Rhoendorf. 

Bonn's best Fabian Thuelig and another player of his team bumped heads early in the game and both had to be taken out of the game for a while to get some treatment for their wounds. Ursprings's Justin Raffington scored also on some dunks in the last quarter when the game was decided, but it was clearly Stuckey's show which let the fans go nuts...well actually they (Fans) were pretty drunk even before any of the games started...so it was no surprise to see them jumping around like they won another bottle of vodka.

The younger fans that came for Urspring to Langen remembered me of drunken college students at the spring break and left a lasting impression, thanks to their booze and their sometimes weird looking gestures and mimics. One guy in particular was running around totally drunk with his megaphone (Check the video sequences I made) while others had a tough time staying on their feet. During one break, the announcer (Who had a great voice which definitely didn't match his look) and his buddy did an entertaining dance, which was worth to tape (again, check out the first video). 

After loosing probably five kilos due to the temperatures and the 99% humidity inside the gym (It was raining some hours before the games), I already question-marked my appearance on the day of the finals, but I finally made it to Langen after having brunch in an American sports-bar (Spare ribs and chicken drums for breakfast gave me enough power for "The Sauna II") earlier on.

Fellow-FIBA-blogger Christophe Ney was already there when we arrived, and told us that Dimitry McDuffie had finally a better game for Breitenguessbach and dished out a pass that led to the 91-83 winner over Bonn for the third place in the tournament. For more details about the games visit his well written blog at www.europeanprospects.com these days!

Our fans from Schelklingen (The village where the Urspringschule is located at) were mostly sober that day, so no more strange actions until the final whistle were expected.

Again, personnel from various professional teams joined fans and local players in the stands for another steam bath and witnessed a surprising start as Berlin led by ten points early on thanks to Alba's Andreas Seiferth who scored at will in the low post and Sascha Schachowzew who poured in some long-distance shots. Christian Standhardinger forced many shots for Urspring but couldn't convert against the tough defense of Berlin. He was eventually taken out by Coach Ralph Junge and showed his frustration by kicking a chair and leaving the gym for a few minutes to take a breath.

In the meanwhile, Urspring found their rhythm thanks to the controlled play of Luxemburg's guard Frank Wiseler who helped also on the perimeter by converting three-point shots to cut the deficit by halftime to 2 points (40-38).It was obvious, that Berlin played a more team-oriented game where all players were involved and had to score if possible, while Urspring relied heavily on a few players like Stuckey, Bright and Wiseler to make things happen.

The third quarter was dominated by mistakes and the defensive efforts by both teams while the forth quarter started with Urspring & Christian Standhardinger, who found back into the game and chipped in a few in Urspring's 10-0 run. Steven "The Body" Monse converted a three-point shot that gave new glimpses of hope to the far-traveled fans from capital but Kevin Bright stepped up in the right moment and his 3's from the corner forced coach Henrik Rödl to press early on defense.

Berlin now got easy points off turnovers, but the referees, who were invisible until a certain point, didn't call a backpass (I bet 90% of the people would have called it...maybe not the crazy fans, but the rest for sure) which led to a technical foul against Berlin's Coach Roedl due to his emotional breakout (He was screaming even louder than the guy equipped with the megaphone) and the game was basically decided.

Joshiko Saibou had some good moments in the end for Berlin, but the Urspring-players stayed calm and made all of their foul-shots to secure the back-to-back championship.

The freaked-out fans were then storming the court and celebrated with the champs while some players from Berlin briefly cried after playing such a well-disciplined game , and we left shortly after the game to get fresh air into our lungs and to have a couple of sodas outdoors.

I must say, that I really enjoyed my time there with a few chats in-between the games and breaks.

Although I will probably not miss the wetted arm-pits and faces and the extravagant smell (A mixture of beer, sausages and eau du sweat),
I would honestly enjoy myself again, if the Final Four would stay another year in Langen, as the prices were affordable (They charged five euros for two days), the people were friendly (I got more money back than I was supposed to) and the sausages were excellent (Again they tasted better due to the "money-back" fact).

I'm out like air condition in Langen.
Cheers !