Because of the Corona cases at the Rostock Seawolves, the main round in the 2nd Basketball Bundesliga Pro A in the 2021/22 season has not yet ended. The league decided on Monday evening that the game between leaders Rostock and bottom of the table Karlsruhe Lions will be rescheduled on Tuesday after Easter. This encounter determines what the final table looks like at the end (see below) – and who plays who in the first playoff round.
Why is only one pairing fixed?
Only for the pairing Tübingen against Bremerhaven does the catch-up game have no direct effect: Should Rostock win against Karlsruhe, the Tigers would be second and Bremerhaven seventh. If Karlsruhe wins, Tübingen slips to the top spot and Bremerhaven falls back to 8th place. For this reason, Tübingen will start the playoffs against Bremerhaven on Maundy Thursday – the only encounter. As soon as the remaining places and pairings have been determined after the catch-up game, the playoffs for the other clubs should also start a week later – unless there are new corona cases. Even before the decision that the Tigers would be the only ones to play this week, Tigers coach Daniel Jansson showed understanding for the league leadership: “The whole world was not ready for the corona pandemic, even two years after it started,” he said . “How can one now expect that 2. Bundesliga GmbH knows exactly what to do and has the right answers? Someone will always be unhappy.”
What is the mode like?
The eight best teams in the main round face each other in the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, first meets eighth (Game A), second meets seventh (Game B), third meets sixth (Game C) and fourth meets fifth (Game D). Whoever wins three games first is in the semi-finals (best-of-five mode). In the semi-finals, the winners of game A and D as well as game B and C also meet in best-of-five mode. The two winners have the sporting right to advance to the Bundesliga and play the final winner and champion in the first and second leg, who receives a glass trophy. “Every player has more motivation in the playoffs,” said Erol Ersek recently. And the Austrian international in the service of the Tigers added: “You know, if you don’t win, you go home.”
When do the Tigers play?
It’s off for the Tigers Tübingen against the Eisbären Bremerhaven on tomorrow’s Maundy Thursday. As soon as a team has won three games, the other scheduled games are cancelled. The dates at a glance:
Thursday, April 14 (7:30 p.m., Paul Horn Arena): Tigers – Eisbären
Sunday, April 17 (6 p.m., Stadthalle Bremerhaven): Eisbären – Tigers
Wednesday, April 20 (7:30 p.m., Paul-Horn-Arena Tübingen): Tigers – Eisbären
Friday, April 22 (7.30 p.m., Stadthalle Bremerhaven): Eisbären – Tigers (if necessary)
Sunday, April 24 (6 p.m., Paul-Horn-Arena Tübingen): Tigers – Bremerhaven (if necessary)
How things will continue afterwards is still completely open, since it also depends on how many games are necessary for a decision with the other pairings.
What does home advantage bring?
Because the Tigers are in one of the first two places in the final table after the main round, they have home rights in both the quarterfinals and a possible semifinal in the first, third – and if necessary – decisive fifth game – which means at least them then a long journey is spared. “In any case, we have to go to Bremerhaven no more than twice,” says Tigers coach Jansson. The people of Tübingen have won 15 times at home in the main round and lost only once – 82:86 against Paderborn in mid-February. This makes them the best home team in the league.
How many spectators are there?
Since the capacity restrictions due to the corona pandemic have recently fallen, the Tigers are hoping for a sold-out hall with more than 3,100 spectators during the playoff games. It would be the first time since December 2018, back then in the Bundesliga in the derby against Ludwigsburg. By Tuesday – due to the uncertainty of dates, the pandemic in general and the Easter holidays – only around 800 tickets had been sold, plus around 150 sponsor tickets. The extendable standing grandstands leave the Tigers up for the time being. “If we can get to 2,000 spectators, it would be great,” says Tigers spokesman Tobias Fischer. “In any case, the team deserves every spectator.”
What happens in Corona cases?
Even before the outbreak in Rostock, Christian Krings, the managing director of the 2nd basketball Bundesliga, wrote to the TAGBLATT in response to a request: “If not all games can be played within the planned period due to corona infections, the season will be extended Conceivable. ”According to the league’s game and event regulations, a game will be canceled if two or more players test positive within 48 hours before the ball or a team has fewer than eight players due to corona infections. Krings rules out the fact that a game is automatically counted as lost because a team cannot play due to a corona outbreak: “If a team cannot play due to corona due to the above regulations, this game will be made up for.”
