The Bonn–Bamberg basketbrawl describes a violent altercation between players of the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

clubs

Telekom Baskets Bonn Telekom Baskets Bonn, also known as Baskets Bonn, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bonn, Germany. The club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, which is German basketball league system, the highest level pro basketball le ...

and

GHP Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketb ...

which took place in the 2006 BBL playoff series on May 4, 2006. Fourteen players were ejected, and one fouled out, making that game the probably only playoff game in professional basketball history that ended as a 3-on-4 match.

The disturbance

The second match of the playoff series between Bonn and Bamberg was played in Bonn. With Bonn trailing 21-14 after 13 minutes,

Uvis Helmanis Uvis Helmanis (born June 10, 1972) is a former Latvian professional basketball player who played at power forward position. After retiring he became a basketball coach, and currently works as a head coach for Löwen Erfurt. Player profile Helm ...

(Bamberg) committed a hard foul against Michael Meeks (Bonn) without the referees whistling. In the next play, Meeks scythed Helmanis, prompting

Steffen Hamann Steffen Ewald Hamann (born 14 June 1981) is a former German professional basketball player. He played at the point guard position. Hamann was also a member of the German national basketball team. Professional career Hamann started his professiona ...

(Bamberg) to face Meeks and punch him to the ground. In the following 20 minute bench-clearing brawl, almost every player and many team officials stormed onto the court. Thirteen players were ejected; the game could only carry on as a 4-on-5 with Bamberg being short-handed. The Bamberg team used a 2:2

zone defense Zone defense is a type of defense, used in team sports, which is the alternative to man-to-man defense; instead of each player guarding a corresponding player on the other team, each defensive player is given an area (a zone) to cover. A zone def ...

against the Bonn team, who were in a perpetual

power play Power play or powerplay or their plurals may refer to: Sports * Power play (sporting term), a sporting term used in various games * Powerplay (cricket), a rule concerning fielding restrictions in one-day international cricket * Power play (cur ...

situation. It worked surprisingly well, as long as the four players still had some energy left. The Bonn team had the privilege of being able to use a libero (similar to free-roaming defensive positions in association football and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

), but were unable to capitalize on this until the last quarter: the shorthanded Bamberg team led 45–30 at half time, managed to end the third quarter still in front with 52–50 and took a 61–60 lead minutes away from the end, however, then exhaustion took its toll. Bonn drained shot after shot and shut down Bamberg's offense, because of the advantage of the extra player. The match reached its absurd climax seconds before the game ended. A Bamberg player fouled out, and Bamberg coach

Dirk Bauermann Dirk Bauermann (born 10 December 1957) is a German professional basketball coach. Playing career Bauermann played club basketball in the German senior club of BBC Krefeld, from 1975 to 1981. Club coaching career Bauermann was an assistant coach ...

was ejected after receiving his second

technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...

for abusing officials. In frustration, the Bamberg player who fouled out pushed another Bonn player, and he shoved him back in retaliation. The referees ejected the Bonn player and the match ended as a 3-on-4 with Bonn winning 75–64.

Suspensions and criminal charges

Most of the players avoided long bans, but Helmanis, Meeks and Hamann received longer bans lasting up to six matches.

References

Play by Play AccountAccount from Bonn POVAccount from the Bamberg POV''RP Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonn-Bamberg basketball brawl 2005–06 in German basketball May 2006 sports events in Germany Basketball controversies Brawls in team sports Telekom Baskets Bonn

The disturbance

Suspensions and criminal charges

See also

References