Head coach Steven Esterkamp and managing director Dominik Meyer are correspondingly relaxed in an interview with sports editor Jörg Manthey. General tenor: It was another successful season. But: Esterkamp may be “proud” and “happy” – he is not satisfied.
And again a season without a relegation battle lies behind the Uni Baskets. What predominates? The joy of this development or the disappointment of having missed the play-offs on the last day?
Steven Esterkamp: I am happy with our development, whether as a team or individually. That’s the big goal every year. We had a play-off chance right up to the end, that’s very strong for Paderborn. However, this chance could have looked even more comfortable before. Some narrow defeats hurt twice in the end. Dominik Meyer: I’m a friend of understatements and I knew that it would be a difficult year. It was a good season, that clearly outweighs that. I’m very happy that we went from being a relegation contender to a play-off contender. We shake now and attack again in the new season.
A comment by Jörg Manthey
In the individual statistics, some Paderborn occupies top ten places. Unfortunately, your guard-heavy game wasn’t blessed with the required three-player shooters. What hit rate do you actually define as a good long-range shooter?
Esterkamp: Anything over 35 percent is good, over 40 percent is very good. Basically, I never look at statistics. I’m now having intensive one-on-one talks with the players. We’re reviewing the season. Marten Linssen has developed extremely well, he has made the biggest leap. Buzz Anthony came out of Division III college and did great at a different level for him. He did a great job. Meyer: We play team basketball. We need the right mix for that, and it was basically right again. But I admit, at one point or another we had expected more.
What headline would you give the past season?
Esterkamp: “A roller coaster ride”. We had ups and downs throughout the season. A real consistency has not set in. That’s the way it is with a young team. Meyer: “Ups and downs”. Whereby the heights have outweighed for me.
Buzz Anthony’s buzzer beater is one of the highlights
Was there a very personal highlight for you and possibly also an emotional low point?
Esterkamp: My highlight was the team. We had great characters together, were always a team, played and fought together. That was fun.Meyer: One highlight for me was definitely Buzz Anthony’s buzzer beater in our 85-83 home win over the Artland Dragons just before Christmas. That was really extreme. My negative experience was that a 54:34 lead in Kirchheim wasn’t enough for us to win. I had to process that at home in a dark corner.
It was a good season economically, wasn’t it? A total of 27,894 spectators, an average of 1,641, watched the home games. Your calculation has thus been clearly exceeded.
Meyer: After the restart it was really a successful season. However, there are still open positions. For example, we don’t know if we have to pay back Corona aid. In addition, personnel and energy costs have increased significantly.
Bayreuth is relegated to the ProA
What lessons are you taking away from this season? In which areas do you see potential for improvement?
Esterkamp: I always take some time for self-reflection after the end of the season. What was good, what wasn’t so good? What can I do better? I’m stuck in this process now. I also ask the players what they think I can do better. I then incorporate these findings into the preparations for the new season. That’s how I grow year after year, I keep learning new things. Meyer: It was the first season without Corona requirements. In the whole organization we have some catching up to do. In the beginning, the rhythm in the processes was sometimes not there.
You want to take the next step in your coaching career and have been looking for a new challenge for months. Have you found one or is the next step still possible with Paderborn?
Esterkamp: Paderborn has made really big strides in the past four years. I said early on that I was ready for my next step as a coach. But I don’t have to leave here if there isn’t a suitable job for me. For me it’s a perfect situation here to develop players and a team. The Paderborn environment fits. Anything is possible, let’s see.
The Baskets currently only have one player for the coming season in Nico Marty-Decker. How is the planning going?
Meyer: First of all, we want to quickly fix the trainer question. We are also in talks with Lars Lagerpusch, Marten Linssen, Aaron Kayser and Oshane Drews. We want to keep our German players as much as possible. George Brock has already announced that he can certainly imagine a return. Buzz Anthony also loves Paderborn, but he makes his decision together with his wife.
Are the baskets getting a new name?
A lot will happen structurally. The coming season may be the last one in the Maspernhalle for the time being. Is there a new status regarding the renovation or the planning for the construction of the new hall?
Meyer: This is a construction site that I will take care of more immediately. The baseball hall is in the planning stage. I hope to know more soon. Esterkamp: A new hall is important for the basketball location Paderborn. A more modern arena will also be more attractive for sponsorship. I’m sure that the project will ultimately be a win for the city.
Will the Uni Baskets remain the Uni Baskets? It is said that the main sonsor wants to retire…
Meyer: The university remains a partner in all areas. However, the name may change. But that is not certain yet.
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2023-05-04 00:09:57
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