The Skyliners Frankfurt have fought their way into the middle of the table after a weak start to the season. Newcomer Will Cherry has played a large part in the turnaround.
The Skyliners Frankfurt have made a real nightmare start to the Bundesliga season. Not only, but also because they lost their first five games of the season. In Berlin (63: 101) and by Bayern (50:78), the Skyliners were downright beaten. In addition, there were injuries to high performers such as captain Quantez Robertson and hoped-for high performers such as Len Schoormann or Bruno Vrcic.
The result: The Skyliners have been relegated since the first day of the game. A situation that only changed last weekend, on the 9th matchday. With the third win in the last four games, the Hessians catapulted themselves to 13th place in the table. But how did you do it exactly?
Cherry doesn’t need any start-up time
The Frankfurt team reacted to their misery due to injuries and improved their position twice: Brancou Badio moved from Spain to the Main relatively early in the season, and at the end of October – just before the Frankfurt winning streak began – Will Cherry from Israel followed. The US-American in particular has so far turned out to be an absolute stroke of luck.
30-year-old Cherry is what the Skyliners were missing before: a real development player. Someone who reads the game, sets the pace and takes the pressure off the young guys. The Californian has taken on a leader role in the team from the start and has so far only played one game under his ability: In the defeat against Bamberg he scored a meager four points, gave three assists and grabbed two rebounds.
Experience was necessary
In his other three games in the Skyliners Jersey, Cherry always scored double digits and put on at least five more baskets. The Skyliners won all three games. “He integrated himself very well into the team and immediately took on a leadership role,” said sports manager Marco Völler when asked by hr-sport. “Since we had to do without our captain Quantez Robertson for the past few weeks, that was of course doubly important for us.”
With the commitment of Cherry and the 33-year-old power forward Jamel McLean – who could not yet be used due to a lack of training – the Frankfurters have slightly corrected the course with which they started the season. The youngest team in the league got a couple of experienced warriors by the hand. That also seems to have been necessary.
On Saturday in Bayreuth
The Skyliners are on Saturday (6 p.m.) at table 11. demanded from Bayreuth. The Franconians are also currently on a run, having won their last three games. Frankfurt will do everything in its power to end this winning streak.
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More options, more freedom
The biggest problem of the Hessen are their unnecessary ball losses. Often these resulted from the young guards having to take responsibility – and then making bad decisions every now and then. That is not a reproach at all. Sometimes it is simply a question of the options available.
With Cherry, the Skyliners have one more option in their ranks, have gained “more security in ball delivery and variability,” says Völler. The Hessians let the ball circulate better, are no longer so dependent on individual actions. Young players like Schoormann no longer have to bang their heads through the wall to make a play. They are simply unlocked more often. The result: Since Cherry has been on the team, the 19-year-old Schoormann has always scored double-digit.
There is no lack of self-confidence
This new variability was enough to leave the greatest danger zone behind. The hope is to be able to squint towards the playoff places when the hospital has thinned out further. After the start of stuttering, they are currently not leaning too far out of the window in Frankfurt. Except for Will Cherry: “We’ll be a scary team,” announced the newcomer after the win against Crailsheim. The new leader is not lacking in self-confidence. After such a debut, it’s somehow understandable.
