Newsletter

Ice-cold giants want to annoy Munich

May 28, 2021, 6:25 p.m.

Basketball The Giants Ludwigsburg meet in the playoff semi-finals against the champions favorites FC Bayern Munich. There is respect, but not fear.

Jonah Radebaugh now welcomes Munich with the giants.

Photo: Marc Schmerbeck

Regeneration was the top priority for the MHP Giants Ludwigsburg. The 95:73 victory on Thursday evening hadn’t been wrapped up for too long, when captain Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann was already sitting in the ice bin. The 39-year-old veteran Tremmell Darden published a picture of how he cools his feet in ice water. Five quarter-finals against Brose Bamberg cost strength. And now the big title favorite FC Bayern Munich is waiting in the semifinals. The best-of-five series starts this Saturday at 8.30 p.m. On Monday (7 p.m.) it goes on again in Ludwigsburg before it goes to Munich.

“Bayern was and is the favorite for the title. They are the deepest and most talented team in the league, a top five team in the Euroleague. Some players could also play in the NBA,” said giant coach John Patrick. “We have a lot of respect for Munich. They have played 80 games this season. It’s almost inhuman. We have to come up with a game plan.” The giants lost no time in the process. The assistant coaches had prepared video material. The coaching team wanted to study part of it in the night from Thursday to Friday.

One game must be repeated in the 2014 series

The two teams faced each other three times in the playoffs. Munich won in 2014 and 2016 and Ludwigsburg in 2020. The Munich team still has unpleasant memories of the clash of the 2014 season. At that time, the fourth quarter-final game had been repeated because Ludwigsburg had protested against a referee error and was won. Munich won the rescheduled game with 86:68, reached the final and won the title. In general, the balance speaks for Bavaria: out of 30 duels, the German champions won 24 in 2014, 2018 and 2019.

But in the quarter-final series with Crailsheim, Munich showed itself to be vulnerable, losing one game and not always appearing sovereign in the others. “I think Crailsheim led us well into the playoffs, with a lot of defense and a lot of tasks. I think we’re in the playoffs now,” said Paul Zipser.

Munich’s coach is expecting a very difficult task

Coach Andrea Trinchieri, who won three German championship titles with Bamberg, has a lot of respect for his opponent: “The story of this series is very simple, because Ludwigsburg is the best team in the BBL, having earned a lot, with excellent performances over the entire season and Without a doubt they finished first in the regular round table. It will be a very difficult task for us because they play with a lot of energy and intensity. “

And that’s exactly what the Munich team didn’t like against Crailsheim either. Munich had problems especially when the Merlins were playing at high speed. And the giants also have the opportunity to play fast.

The giants have been unbeaten at home for over two years

Then there is the home balance. For more than two years, the Ludwigsburg have been unbeaten in the MHP Arena. They would like to keep that. Even if after the series against Bamberg it went into the ice bin, the cool giants have no cold feet before the semifinals against Bayern Munich

Ratiopharm Ulm and Alba Berlin will contest the second semifinal series from 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending