The Basketball Bundesliga within reach – SWR Sport

A loud cheer echoed through the dressing room of the Tigers Tübingen. The players sing and push each other wildly with joy, because just before they made it into the playoff semi-finals. “Cha, cha, cha, cha, cha,” shout the Tigers – an excerpt from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest performance by Finland. The choice of song is certainly no coincidence, as none other than Finnish Tigers playmaker Aatu Kivimäki sings into the song. Certainly to the delight of head coach Danny Jansson, who also comes from Finland.

After beating Bremerhaven: Tübingen reached the semi-finals

In addition to the joy of last Sunday after the 81:58 “final” victory against the Eisbären Bremerhaven, the relief at making it into the semi-finals prevailed. Among the top four teams, only the Jansson squad needed all five games to win the quarter-finals in a best-of-five format with 3:2 wins. “It was a real effort,” says Jascha Maus, General Manager of the Tigers Tübingen, in an interview with SWR Sport.

BBL license received: three more wins for promotion

On Thursday, the Tigers will play their first game in the semi-final derby against the PS Karlsruhe Lions in their home Paul Horn Arena (6 p.m.) – it’s all about promotion and a return to the Bundesliga. If the Tigers Tübingen win three games, “then everyone can celebrate promotion,” says Jascha Maus. “We’ll take care of the formal things in the background,” said the 28-year-old.

From a sporting point of view, reaching the final is enough for promotion, but the Tigers had to submit the license for the first basketball league in advance. ProBasket Tübingen AG has received the BBL license with conditions. “I am confident that we will meet all the requirements,” says Maus. The Lions, on the other hand, should not be promoted, they were not granted a license for the first division because their home arena was too small.

Lions in good form, Tigers getting on top of morale

In this, the Tigers will then be guests in the second game of the series. In contrast to Tübingen, the Karlsruhe team saved themselves a “final” in the quarter-finals against the Artland Dragons and won the series 3-1 after three wins in a row. As a result, the team around Löwen head coach Aleksandar Scepanovic had a few more days of breather. The good form has been apparent among the guests for some time, even before the playoffs the Lions lost only one of the last twelve main round games.

Jascha Maus doesn’t think that the last game in the quarter-finals against Bremerhaven could be the benchmark for further appearances in the semi-finals: “We played basketball at a much higher level in the main round.” The appearances against Bremerhaven after defeats, when they always had the right answer ready with a home win, showed that the morale of the team is right.

Ascension is not (yet) an issue

Despite the great opportunity to play in the upper house of German basketball again after five years in the second division, the possible promotion is not much discussed. Jascha Maus and Danny Jansson always communicate openly and transparently to their team what the current situation is, “but the team puts it away as if nothing were wrong,” says Maus, who sees it similarly: “We can only talk about promotion , if we have made it athletically.”

“Only” three victories are left for the Tigers and if it works out, then “cha, cha, cha, cha, cha” will certainly be chanted three more times.