A quick update on Ben Hansbrough’s situation:
During a press conference today, FC Bayern München coach Dirk Bauermann said that there was a clear hierarchy for his PG spot: Hamann, Wallace, Hansbrough. He also said that Ben’s chances for seeing any playing time had not increased. (All my blogging! All the hard work! All the blood, sweat and tears! For nothing! Oh, the humanity!)
So, Ben is third in the PG rotation. Trouble is, SG Je’Kel Foster also sees a few minutes on the PG spot in almost every game. SF Philip Schwethelm also takes the ball upcourt sometimes. So in reality, the PG rotation looks like this:
Hamann
Wallace
Foster
Schwethelm
Hansbrough
And why doesn’t Ben get some burn as a SG, which is the position he is better suited for anyway?
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A look ahead:
Bayern’s next game is at home against ALBA Berlin on Saturday. ALBA is a perennial contender that’s been on a roll lately. Last weekend, they beat Brose Baskets Bamberg, the reigning German champions and cup winners (both back-to-back, in fact) who have been dominating the league for two years. On Tuesday, ALBA easily dispatched Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro) in their second Eurocup game of the season. They seem to be clicking / firing on all cylinders / [add your favorite cliché here].
Bayern, in contrast, are coming off a close Eurocup loss against Cedevita Zagreb on Tuesday, preceded by an even closer home win against Frankfurt on Sunday. The game against Frankfurt can be described as a gritty win secured by good defense and great will power – or as a narrow escape, ugly and uninspired, that came down to sheer luck. Whichever way you spin it: Bayern aren’t quiet “there” yet. So far, they only had one game this season in which they kept their focus for the full 40 minutes – their surprise Eurocup win against Benetton Treviso. In almost every other game they threw away at least one quarter because they lost their focus on defense or on offense … or on both ends of the floor. The ignominious highlight was a 4-20 fourth-quarter effort against Ludwigsburg three weeks ago that could have cost Bayern the win if Ludwigsburg had shown even the slightest inclination of actually wanting to win the game.
Bayern’s roster is studded with quality players, but Coach Bauermann has not yet managed to shape them into a quality team. Je’kel Foster and center Chevon Troutman are really the only two reliable players so far. The rest of the team seems to be stuck on an Oktoberfest roller coaster, following up a solid performance with an off-night, up and down, up and down. Bayern mostly depends on Foster and Troutman to deliver instead of playing as a team, letting the game come to them and trusting their own abilities. They have the potential to be a very, very good team in the BBL, but … they aren’t quite there yet.
As for Ben, it’s doubtful he is going to see any action in what is Bayern’s biggest game of the season so far. The game will either be close until the final minutes, in which case Ben will collect another DNP-CD. Or it’ll be a resounding ALBA victory, in which case Ben *might* just see a few minutes if it’s a real blowout. At least in my opinion, however, a blowout is unlikely: Bayern will be fired up to play ALBA, especially since the Audi Dome will be sold out for the first time. It will probably not be enough to win, but it’ll be enough to avoid a blowout, at least. My guess is a Bayern loss by a margin of 7 to 15 points. But I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong by a Bayern win. Not at all.
German Hoops 
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