After establishing itself as the most consistent team in Germany throughout the last three seasons, GHP Bamberg’s reward came this spring with its first-ever German League title. The reward was just as great for the diehard fans in all corners of Bamberg, a town 70,000 people whose basketball tradition reaches back over the last four decades. Bamberg had ups and downs throughout its history, but has always been followed by one of the most enthusiastic crowds around the continent. The team won a German Cup title in 1992 and qualified for European competitions several times, but real competitiveness came when Dirk Bauermann arrived as the head coach of an ambitious project to take Bamberg to the very elite of German basketball. That’s exactly what the team has done, selling out most games on its way to becoming an annual contender in its domestic competition. Bamberg lost the 2003 German League finals against Alba Berlin and also reached the title series the following season. The Opel Skyliners stood in the way that time, as Bamberg lost the title in dramatic fashion. Both teams shared road wins in the opening four games of the best-of-five finals, but the Skyliners prevailed in Game 5 in Frankfurt. Even with that, Bamberg earned a ticket to play the 2004-05 ULEB Cup, where it finished 5-5. Bamberg now had all a winning team needed - experience, a talented roster, a respected coach and the support of many great fans. GHP Bamberg also had to wait until Game 5 against the Skyliners in the 2005 domestic finals, but this time the team managed finally to overcome and lift the German League trophy for the first time. Bamberg now hopes to extend its success as it joins the Euroleague for the first time with an ambition to take its recent success to new and bigger heights.