fromWolfgang Gardener
shut down
If the Gießen 46ers still have a tiny chance of making it into the Final Four, they have to beat Frankfurt and then Göttingen at the BBL Cup qualification tournament in Vechta at the weekend. Which seems almost unthinkable after the weak performance against the hosts last Saturday.
A defeat hurts, one with a 14 point difference a little more. But last Saturday at the BBL Cup opener in the Rasta Dome against Vechta left many fans of the Gießen 46ers shaking their heads because almost nothing was right with the Middle Hessian first division basketball team. On Saturday at 3 p.m. against the Skyliners from Frankfurt and on Sunday at 8.30 p.m. against the Veilchen from Göttingen (both games live on MagentaSport) the newly formed team of coach Ingo Freyer has the opportunity to rehabilitate.
Situation: Questioning looks from those responsible and the players after last week’s 85:99 debacle against Vechta. What the Freyer team produced last Saturday evening was not suitable for the Bundesliga. Helplessness among the supporters, attempts to explain by head coach Freyer. He spoke of too short a preparation and that many players had to get used to the level of the Bundesliga and that with the injured Jonathan Stark, the regular pointguard was replaced by Andrew Rowsey in the important phase of team building. Nevertheless: Sports director and managing director Michael Koch made it clear that despite all the adversities he would have wished for greater stability in defense. This week he asked the players for a personal interview. It will be interesting to see what the measure will do. The 46ers have to win both games in order to get the minimum chance of the Final Four. And then still hope for help. In the group of four, the Göttingen team moved up to first place ahead of Vechta after the 79:64 against Frankfurt thanks to the better basket ratio. Only the first placed reaches the cup finals, which due to the current Covid cases at Alba Berlin will not take place on 1/2. November can be held in Munich. A precise date has not yet been announced by the BBL.
Opponent Frankfurt: The duel of the losers at the beginning – and that of the two Hessen clubs. The rivals recently faced each other at a tournament in Hagen. At that time the Skyliners won with 90:88, but with a team that was severely weakened. In the clear defeat of the cup in Vechta against Göttingen, the team of coach Sebastian Gleim did not come together too much. According to Gleim, they had not yet played together in this composition in training and preparation. That’s what it looked like. Early on in the game, the Frankfurt team sought their salvation from the triple line on the offensive. Which, in retrospect, after a more than modest rate of 14.8 percent (4 out of 27), can be rated as a failure. Only guard Jon Axel Gudmundsson scored beyond the 6.75-meter line and was the Mainstädter’s top scorer with 20 points. Four of his seven attempts ended up in the basket. His partner in the backcourt, the shooting guard Matt Mobley, disappointed with nine threesome misses. Overall, the Skyliners’ attacking game was way too static. Returning Konstantin Konga summed up his team’s appearance at MagentaSport: »» We weren’t ready. We played too softly and have to perform with a different energy. ”
Opponent Göttingen: On the other hand, the Göttingen team appeared completely different – with power and self-confidence. From a homogeneous team, the Mexican player Jorge Gutierrez and the British guard Luke Nelson as well as the two board players Aubray Dawkins and Tai Odiase stood out. Göttingen was always in control of the game. New coach Roel Moors, who previously worked at Bamberg and swapped places there with ex-Göttingen coach Johan Roijakkers, subsequently analyzed that his team had played as an adult. That is important for him, because there have been ups and downs in preparation. Benedikt Turudic, the Giessener in the Veilchen team, got three points in eleven minutes. Noticeable is the good rebound work with the BG – 43 rebounds, 14 of them on the offensive board.
Personnel: Before the Vechta game, the injured Giessen players, Stark and Alen Pjanic, warmed up on the sidelines by jumping rope. But both cannot be used yet. Stark continues to suffer from a torn muscle bundle in his thigh, Pjanic from an injury in his lower back. The winger will probably play against MBC in the Bundesliga opener on November 7th.
The Frankfurters still have to do without their power forward Richard Freudenberg (rehab after foot surgery), the violets from Göttingen on Center Dennis Kramer (foot injury).
Sports Director Koch says: “After our first official appearance in the cup, it became clear that we still have a lot of work to do. We have to act more as a closed unit, act offensively and defensively as a team and become more communicative. During this week we held a lot of talks to get closer to this goal. «
