Preliminary report
GeMAINsam back to the playoffs?
It has now been more than seven years since the Skyliners last appeared in the playoffs of the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga. In the 2017/2018 season they reached the quarter-finals, but had to admit defeat to eventual champions FC Bayern Munich. The Frankfurters were regular guests in the post-season, especially in the 2000s: three final appearances, plus the championship title in 2004. The Skyliners had a decisive influence on the top of the league back then. After two sporting relegations (2022, 2023) and promotion again in 2024, disillusionment initially followed: 16th place in the first year back in the upper house. But that should change this season: head coach Klaus Perwas’s team is currently in a solid seventh place in the table. If you take the Skyliners’ good early form as a benchmark, the team of the former Bonn development player (1995 – 1999) could actually find its way back into the top region of the table. Because Perwas, once lovingly called “the general” in Bonn, has put together a dangerous and balanced team.
Birthday boy Till Pape returns to the Telekom Dome
Another ex-Bonner contributed a lot to the good start: Till Pape moved from the Rhine to the Main in the summer after two years in Bonn and is currently playing his best Bundesliga season to date. Around 12 points per game, plus strong hit rates (60 percent from close range, almost 67 percent from beyond the three-point line) and 5.1 rebounds are all career highs for Pape, who will celebrate his 28th birthday on December 10th, 2025 of all days, the day of the game against Bonn. In addition, national coach Álex Mumbrú rewarded his strong performances with his first call-up for the national team: on his debut in the World Cup qualifier against Cyprus, Pape scored 14 points and promptly became the top scorer. Remarkable: Despite these numbers, Pape is only the third best scorer in the Frankfurt team, which speaks for the Skyliners’ balance. The top scorer is center Jaedon LeDee (18.5 points per game), followed by Isaiah Swope (14.7 ppg). William Christmas also regularly scores double figures with 11.8 points per game.
It should also be emphasized that Frankfurt draws the most free throws in the entire league (26.9 free throws per game) and therefore scores the most points from the line in the league (19.9 points per game). In addition, the Skyliners always have quick hands in defense and also lead the easyCredit BBL with 8.9 steals per game.
Baskets sports director Savo Milovic is preparing for a difficult game against a strong opponent: “After Chemnitz, the next game awaits us, which will also be physical. Frankfurt is a very well-trained team that has a very experienced head coach in Klaus Perwas. They have strong players in all positions and, in my opinion, are currently playing the most attractive basketball in the easyCredit BBL. It definitely won’t be an easy game, but with our fans behind us we have the chance “We want to start this dangerous December with two victories – and we want to use them!” Milovic is referring to the packed winter month in which the Baskets have to play a total of six games, three of them away.
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