Ludwigsburg. It was around a month and a half ago that coach John Patrick put a brake on expectations of Jonathan Behre. The new center of the MHP giants Ludwigsburg is “a project. He has time to develop, ”said Patrick at the time in an interview with our newspaper. After the predicted starting difficulties of the 2.08 meter tall German-American, Behre became a factor much earlier than had been expected. After his strong performance in the Basketball Champions League against Lenovo Tenerife, the 25-year-old could also play an important role today in the Bundesliga away game at Mitteldeutscher BC (6 p.m. / Magentasport).
“We are proud of Jonathan. We could see how he can help us. He made a great contribution to someone we didn’t expect to help us like that, ”said Patrick after the 80:69 victory in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Behre contributed 15 points in 15 minutes, plus five rebounds. “The coach obviously trusted me and I took my chance. I’ve shown my best performances so far in the Champions League, for whatever reason, ”said Behre, happily afterwards. He had previously contributed 11 and 7 points, respectively, against Sassari and Prometey.
From the perspective of the giants, the Champions League ferry should now also be shown in the Bundesliga. Because in the BBL it is not yet as intoxicating as it is on the international stage. After two away defeats in the league and the end of the cup in Crailsheim, the giants are waiting for their first away win on German soil. “It would be great if we could win the away win against a direct competitor,” said Patrick yesterday. The team from Weißenfels started like the giants with three wins from five games. The other German players of the giants such as Yorman Polas Bartolo or Lukas Herzog cannot statistically build on their strong last season in the BBL. Almost ten minutes less than last season, Polas Bartolo has been on the floor per BBL game, five points less per game. Herzog has nine instead of 14 minutes of playing time and one instead of four points per game.
According to Patrick, however, this is a good sign of the depth of the giant squad: “Because we are more broadly positioned, you can play more or less.” So it is quite possible that Behre will step into the breach tonight – so far he has five points in total throughout the BBL season. He showed in the Champions League on Wednesday that he can do much better.
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