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Skyliners Frankfurt

(Redirected from Frankfurt Skyliners)

The Skyliners Frankfurt, currently known as Fraport Skyliners for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball club based in Frankfurt, Germany.[1] Their home arena is Ballsporthalle.

Fraport Skyliners
Fraport Skyliners logo
LeagueBasketball Bundesliga
Founded1999; 25 years ago (1999)
HistorySkyliners
(1999–2000)
Opel Skyliners
(2000–2005)
Deutsche Bank Skyliners
(2005–2011)
Fraport Skyliners
(2011–present)
ArenaSüwag Energie ARENA
Capacity5,002
LocationFrankfurt, Germany
Team colorsBlue, White and Orange
     
Main sponsorFraport
CEOYannick Binas
General managerMarco Völler
Head coachDenis Wucherer
Affiliation(s)Skyliners Juniors
Championships1 FIBA Europe Cup
1 German Championship
1 German Cup
Websitefraport-skyliners.de
Former logo as Deutsche Bank Skyliners from 2005 until 2011

The club has played in the Basketball Bundesliga since 1999. Its greatest accomplishments were the German Cup competition title in 2000, the German national championship in 2004 and the FIBA Europe Cup in 2016.

Its most famous player has been Pascal Roller, who was selected as Basketball Bundesliga All-Star seven times and played 122 games for the German national basketball team. Roller played ten seasons for the Frankfurt Skyliners until his retirement in 2011. Besides Roller, numerous other players of the German national team played multiple seasons for the Skyliners. A notable non-German basketball player is Mario Kasun, who played for the Skyliners when he was discovered and eventually drafted by the NBA team Orlando Magic in 2002.

History

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The foundation

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In 1999, Gunnar Woebke, then manager and former player of TV Tatami Rhöndorf moved his team from Bad Honnef to its current location. The declared goal was to place the team in a big arena in a large city to become a top team in the Basketball Bundesliga and in Europe in the near future. In Bad Honnef, this did not seem possible. After going through several options – including the idea to send the team to Cologne – Sylvia Schenk, the director of Frankfurt's sports department officially announced Frankfurt as the team's new location. Franz-Ludwig Solzbacher, a businessman from Bad Honnef helped organize the Skyliners' first steps but remained patron of the TV Rhöndorf and bought a second division license from EnBW Ludwigsburg to keep Rhöndorf from being relegated.

Later years

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Johannes Voigtmann, playing for the Skyliners in 2015

In its first season as a German elite team it managed to win the German Cup competition. In 2004, they won their first and only Bundesliga title, beating Baskets Bamberg in the finals by 3–2 victories. The following year, the Skyliners had a repeated appearance in the finals, but this time the Baskets Bamberg took the title by 3–2 victories. As in the year before, both teams were almost equally strong.

In 2004 and 2010, the Skyliners finished as runner-up in the German Cup competition, falling against the same opponent with identical victory splits again.

Throughout the years, the Skyliners have been known for their numerous appearances at European competitions such as the Euroleague, Saporta Cup and the Eurocup Basketball.

In 2015, the team reached the EuroChallenge Final Four, but the Germans lost both games to finish in fourth place. In the 2015–16 season, Fraport had once again an impressive European campaign, this time in the newly established FIBA Europe Cup. In the Final, Skyliners beat Pallacanestro Varese 66–62 to win its first European cup in history.[2]

After preventing a relegation to the second tier ProA in the 2021/22 Basketball Bundesliga season by receiving a wildcard, the team again finished 17th in the 2022/23 season and relegated. [3] Denis Wucherer was announced as new head coach for the following 2023/24 season.[4]

Arena

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The Skyliners play their home games at the 5,002 seat Fraport Arena (until summer 2011, it was called Ballsporthalle Frankfurt).

Honours and titles

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The Fraport Arena, home venue of the club since 1999

Total titles: 3

Worldwide

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Runners-up: 2016

European competition

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Domestic competition

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Players

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Current roster

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Fraport Skyliners roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age
SG 0   Parsons, Malik 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 25 – (1999-08-17)17 August 1999
G 1   Albrecht, Bruno 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 23 – (2001-10-28)28 October 2001
PG 2   Calvin, Trey 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 23 – (2001-06-29)29 June 2001
PG 3   Zeeb, Garai 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 27 – (1997-04-06)6 April 1997
G 6   Coplin, Booker 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 26 – (1997-11-19)19 November 1997
SG 7   Lanmüller, Timo 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 23 – (2001-03-17)17 March 2001
C 8   Croswell, Ed 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 25 – (1999-09-06)6 September 1999
SF 10   Philipps, Christoph 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 26 – (1998-09-15)15 September 1998
G 10   Onyia, Alvin 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 23 – (2000-11-25)25 November 2000
PF 21   Brenneke, Lorenz 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 24 – (2000-01-02)2 January 2000
C 25   Knauf, Jacob 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 27 – (1997-03-12)12 March 1997
PF 37   Tubutis, Einaras 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1998-11-04)4 November 1998
F 55   Muenkat, David 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 24 – (2000-07-02)2 July 2000
F 98   Hecker, Felix 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 26 – (1998-08-07)7 August 1998
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured
Updated: September 14, 2024

Retired numbers

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Skyliners Frankfurt retired numbers
No Nat. Player Position Tenure Date retired
11   Pascal Roller PG 1999–2011 October 4, 2011[6][7]

Notable players

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See also: Category:Skyliners Frankfurt players
To appear in this section a player must have played at least two seasons for the club AND either:

– Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
– Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time.

Head coach position

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Season by season

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Season Tier League Pos. German Cup European competitions
1999–00 1 Bundesliga 3rd Champion 2 Saporta Cup R16
2000–01 1 Bundesliga 8th Fourth position 1 Euroleague RS
2001–02 1 Bundesliga 3rd Third position 1 Euroleague RS
2002–03 1 Bundesliga 7th 2 ULEB Cup RS
2003–04 1 Bundesliga 1st Runner-up 2 ULEB Cup RS
2004–05 1 Bundesliga 2nd Fourth position 1 Euroleague RS
2005–06 1 Bundesliga 14th 2 ULEB Cup RS
2006–07 1 Bundesliga 13th
2007–08 1 Bundesliga 4th 2 ULEB Cup RS
2008–09 1 Bundesliga 7th Third position 3 EuroChallenge RS
2009–10 1 Bundesliga 2nd Runner-up
2010–11 1 Bundesliga 3rd Fourth position 3 EuroChallenge RS
2011–12 1 Bundesliga 9th 2 Eurocup RS
2012–13 1 Bundesliga 15th
2013–14 1 Bundesliga 11th
2014–15 1 Bundesliga 6th 3 EuroChallenge
4th
2015–16 1 Bundesliga 3rd Third position 3 FIBA Europe Cup
C
2016–17 1 Bundesliga 10th 3 Champions League PO
2017–18 1 Bundesliga 8th Qualifying round
2018–19 1 Bundesliga 11th Semifinals 2 EuroCup T16
2019–20 1 Bundesliga 7th Round of 16
2020–21 1 Bundesliga 11th Group stage
2021–22 1 Bundesliga 17th Quarterfinals
2022–23 1 Bundesliga 17th
2023–24 1 ProA 2nd First round
2024–25 1 Bundesliga TBD

Junior team

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Main article: Skyliners Juniors

The second team of Skyliners plays in the ProB, the German third division. To develop its young players further, the Skyliners have merged some of their youth departments with Eintracht Frankfurt Basketball.[8]

Kit

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Manufacturer

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Year Manufacturer
1999–2000
 Mazine
2000–2012
 Nike
2012–2016
 Peak[9]
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Year Sponsor
2014–2016
 Fraport[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Frankfurt Skyliners". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Frankfurt Topple Varese For Maiden European Title". FIBA Europe. 1 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Chemnitz zieht in die Playoffs ein, Frankfurt steigt ab". basketball.de. 7 May 2023.
  4. ^ "CDenis Wucherer übernimmt Trainerposten in Frankfurt". basketball.de. 20 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Meister und Pokalsieger". Easycredit-bbl.de. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Eintracht und FSV erfolgreich, Fraport Skyliners verlieren". www.journal-frankfurt.de. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Auf ganz neuen Wegen". www.fnp.de. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  8. ^ Teams der NBBL Südwest – Eintracht Frankfurt / FRAPORT SKYLINERS Archived 12 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, nbbl-basketball.de. Retrieved 29 March 2016. (in German)
  9. ^ a b Home | FRAPORT SKYLINERS, fraport-skyliners.de. Retrieved 30 September 2015. (in German)
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