WElcome to Wow – that is the new slogan of the Basketball Bundesliga, about which one can be divided. But after three match days it can be stated that the league has lived up to this claim, because the start of the season was brilliant. The return of the spectators under different conditions (2-G and 3-G locations), highly competitive games and some big surprises marked the first three rounds. With the relegation candidate MLP Academics Heidelberg, there is a surprising leader of the table who will play the top game of the two undefeated teams in Bamberg this Sunday (3 p.m. at MagentaSport).
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There head coach Johan Roijakkers was about to be kicked out after his team had to give up in the Champions League qualification and in the first round of the cup. With the Fraport Skyliners there is only one team without a win, and the top dogs and Euroleague participants Alba Berlin and Bayern Munich have already suffered three defeats. In a nutshell: there is real life in the booth!
This impression is confirmed if you take a look at the individual encounters. Almost all games are fast-paced. It goes back and forth with a lot of intensity, but also with a considerably high error rate, which manifests itself in many ball losses. The German champion from Berlin has so far achieved an astonishing rate of almost 26 percent in this area.
Speed in the league
Transferred to the kicking guild, you could call it “up and down football”, as Günter Netzer did about 50 years ago, to describe the approach of his coach Hennes Weisweiler in a slightly disrespectful way. Netzer was referring to a style that was common in the English Premier League for decades before it opened up to continental influences.
At the moment, the BBL, whose most teams are committed to playing fast, is reminiscent of that. Especially at the start of the season, not all the cogs mesh with each other at this high pace. The coaches accept the mistakes approvingly because it is more important to them that their players are on the move (action) quickly. Tuomas Iisalo, Bonn’s new head coach, says: “If you first learn to make the right decision, it is much more difficult to then decide quickly.”
Gleim lets you play quickly
The innovative Finn has already been a trendsetter in the past two seasons as coach of the Crailsheim Merlins. With almost 70 throws per encounter (39 of them threesomes!), His Bonn team are at the top in this area. In the previous season only six teams took more than 63 litters per encounter, currently there are already nine. This also includes Iisalo’s former team from Crailsheim.
Sebastian Gleim has now lived through the sporting saga and a metamorphosis that could symbolize the development. After playing the slowest pace in the league in Frankfurt last season, he has now said goodbye to the slow train and switched to the ICE. Just like the Bonn team, he has the perfect train driver for this style.
Little playmaker: Parker Jackson-Cartwright (left)
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Image: Imago
With the little playmakers Parker Jackson-Cartwright (1.80 meters, Bonn) and Timothy Shorts (1.75 meters, Crailsheim), both teams have breathtaking pacemakers in their ranks. These players succeed again and again in tearing gaps in the opposing defense through their speed both in the switching game and in the half-field attack, which then lead to their own basket successes or excellent opportunities for their teammates to finish. The little whirlwind that can score itself is back on the BBL stage.
With Justin Robinson, who is only 1.73 meters tall, another player pulls the strings at Brose Bamberg who fits exactly into this category. These three players have been one of the league’s attractions so far, they are spectacular and have excellent numbers. Robinson has so far achieved 15.7 points and 8.0 assists, Jackson-Cartwright 19.0 points and 6.7 assists and shorts even 20.0 points and 9.3 assists.
In addition, there are two players of this type, Stephen Brown (Göttingen) and Kyan Anderson (Gießen), who have not yet been able to play at this extremely high level. While the top playmakers Nick Calathes (FC Barcelona) and Vasilije Micić (Anadolu Istanbul) scratch the two meters in the Euroleague, the Bundesliga is experiencing the renaissance of the small, agile and incalculable creative player. This is another reason why this season promises a high level of entertainment.
The author was twice BBL trainer of the year.
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