Skyliners Frankfurt

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
LeagueBasketball Bundesliga
Founded1999 (1999)
HistorySkyliners
(1999–2000)
Opel Skyliners
(2000–2005)
Deutsche Bank Skyliners
(2005–2011)
Fraport Skyliners
(2011–present)
ArenaFraport Arena
Capacity5,002
LocationFrankfurt, Germany
Team colorsBlue, White and Orange
              
Main sponsorFraport
Head coachGordon Herbert
Affiliation(s)Skyliners Juniors
Championships1 FIBA Europe Cup
1 German Championship
1 German Cup
Websitefraport-skyliners.de
The Skyline of Frankfurt am Main inspired the club's identity.
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

The foundation

In 1999, Dr. Gunnar Wöbke, 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

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]

Arena

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

Honours and titles
The Fraport Arena, home venue of the club since 1999

Total titles: 3

Worldwide
Runners-up: 2016

European competition

Domestic competition

Team

Current roster

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

Fraport Skyliners roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
PG 6 Schoormann, Len 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 17 – (2002-07-25)25 July 2002
G 7 Vrcic, Bruno 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 19 – (2000-11-24)24 November 2000
SG 8 Vargas, Akeem 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 30 – (1990-04-29)29 April 1990
SF 9 Freudenberg, Richard 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 21 – (1998-08-31)31 August 1998
SG 10 Jones, Lamont 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 30 – (1990-06-26)26 June 1990
SG 12 Carter, Darius 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 27 – (1992-10-15)15 October 1992
PG 13 Schmidt, Daniel 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 29 – (1990-08-16)16 August 1990
C 14 Kayser, Aaron 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 21 – (1999-05-22)22 May 1999
F 15 Polas Bartolo, Yorman 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 34 – (1985-08-08)8 August 1985
PF 19 Masiulis, Gytis 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 22 – (1998-04-10)10 April 1998
G 20 McQuaid, Matt 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 24 – (1995-09-28)28 September 1995
C 21 Kratzer, Leon 2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) 23 – (1997-02-04)4 February 1997
SG 23 Robertson, Quantez (C) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 35 – (1984-12-16)16 December 1984
F 24 Hines, Shaquille 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 27 – (1993-03-23)23 March 1993
G 30 Rahon, Joe 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 26 – (1993-10-01)1 October 1993
F 33 Völler, Marco 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 31 – (1989-06-06)6 June 1989
Head coach
  • Sebastian Gleim
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: 9 June 2020

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Aaron Kayser Leon Kratzer
PF Shaquille Hines Niklas Kiel Marco Voeller
SF Quantez Robertson Richard Freudenberg
SG Matt McQuaid Akeem Vargas Bruno Vrcic
PG Lamont Jones Matt Mobley Daniel Schmidt

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team, as has been defined under FIBA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIBA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 SG Elijah Clarance (to Den Bosch)

Notable 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
  • Stefan Koch – 1999–2001
  • Gordon Herbert – 2001–2004
  • Murat Didin – 2004–2005
  • Ivan Sunara – 2005–2006
  • Kamil Novak – 2006
  • Charles Barton – 2006–2007
  • Mike Kalavros – 2007
  • Murat Didin – 2007–2010
  • Gordon Herbert – 2010–2011
  • Muli Katzurin − 2011–2013
  • Gordon Herbert – 2013–present

Season by season
Season Tier League Pos. German Cup European competitions
1999–00 1 Bundesliga 3rd Champion 2 Saporta CupR16
2000–01 1 Bundesliga 8th Fourth position 1 EuroleagueRS
2001–02 1 Bundesliga 3rd Third position 1 EuroleagueRS
2002–03 1 Bundesliga 7th 2 ULEB CupRS
2003–04 1 Bundesliga 1st Runner-up 2 ULEB CupRS
2004–05 1 Bundesliga 2nd Fourth position 1 EuroleagueRS
2005–06 1 Bundesliga 14th 2 ULEB CupRS
2006–07 1 Bundesliga 13th
2007–08 1 Bundesliga 4th 2 ULEB CupRS
2008–09 1 Bundesliga 7th Third position 3 EuroChallengeRS
2009–10 1 Bundesliga 2nd Runner-up
2010–11 1 Bundesliga 3rd Fourth position 3 EuroChallengeRS
2011–12 1 Bundesliga 9th 2 EurocupRS
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 LeaguePO
2017–18 1 Bundesliga 8th Qualifying round
2018–19 1 Bundesliga 11th Semifinals 2 EuroCupT16
2019–20 1 Bundesliga 7th Round of 16

Junior team
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.[4]

Kit

Manufacturer
Year Manufacturer
1999–2000
Mazine
2000–2012
Nike
2012–2016
Peak[5]
Year Sponsor
2014–2016
Fraport[5]

References
  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. "Meister und Pokalsieger". Easycredit-bbl.de. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  4. 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)
  5. Home | FRAPORT SKYLINERS, fraport-skyliners.de. Retrieved 30 September 2015. (in German)
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