WDR-Sport: BBL: Bonn expects tough semi-final series against Ludwigsburg

Telekom Baskets Bonn have been unbeaten in the Bundesliga for 22 games. On Monday evening, the Rhinelanders start the playoff semi-finals against the MHP giants Ludwigsburg – in a sold-out arena.

The home games against Ludwigsburg were sold out within ten minutes, said Baskets Bonn. 6,000 fans will be able to watch the first game of the “Best-of-Five” series in the playoff semifinals against the giants Ludwigsburg in their own hall on Monday (05/29/2023, from 7 p.m.). It is another expression of the great euphoria that has surrounded the Bonn basketball players for weeks.

The last Bundesliga defeat of head coach Tuomas Iisalo’s team was on January 15th, it was 76:81 at Alba Berlin. An impressive winning streak followed for the Bonn team: first they entered the playoffs as the first in the BBL main round. In mid-May, the team around the outstanding playmaker TJ Shorts then triumphed internationally, winning the Champions League at the Final Four in Malaga with a 77:70 victory in the final against Hapoel Jerusalem.

And recently, in the first round of the playoffs, Bonn confidently defeated the Niners Chemnitz with 3:0 victories.

So now Ludwigsburg is waiting. In the main round of the Bundesliga season, both teams won one of the two duels: Bonn lost in Ludwigsburg in November, but then won their home game in March.

Ludwigsburg, fifth in the table in the main round, surprisingly eliminated Baskets Oldenburg, who were rated more strongly, without a single defeat.

Giant coach Josh King, still controversial before the playoffs, is currently playing typical Ludwigsburg basketball again: aggressive, hard and intense.

Bonn’s head coach Tuomas Iisalo expects a “very difficult and physical series” against Ludwigsburg. “They have a lot of self-confidence, you can see that,” said the Finn of the ARD sports show in view of the giants’ victory over Oldenburg. The strongest Ludwigsburg scorer in the quarter-final series was forward Yorman Polas Bartolo.

“They changed their rotation a bit, play a lot with two guards, two creative players,” analyzes Iisalo. In addition, the Baden-Württembergers are represented under the basket with physically very strong players, warned the Bonn coach.

Due to their own winning streak, the Bonners can trust their own strength: “We just have to keep going like this,” said Bonn’s point guard TJ Shorts, currently by far the best player in the league.