Although the Würzburg Baskets have one of the smallest budgets in the league, they are not only well on their way to the play-offs this season: they even have a realistic chance of home advantage. It will still be difficult to establish yourself there beyond the season.
A well-rehearsed team: The Würzburgers around mullet man Seljaas, top scorer Livingston II, the best defender Bess and identification figure Ugrai (from left). IMAGO/HMB Media
In the BBL there is currently not only a supposed surprise team with the Niners Chemnitz, who are still at the top of the table: The Würzburg Baskets, currently fourth in the table, are at least as unexpected ten game days before the end of the main round and are on course for home advantage in the first play-off -Round. Two supposedly smaller clubs are currently in the top four alongside the Euroleague teams Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin. An important reason for Würzburg’s success: a good hand on the transfer market and the constant work of coach Sasa Filipovski. A little more than two years ago, it didn’t look like a rosy future for Würzburg basketball.
Looking back to December 2021: see Oliver Würzburg, this is the name the Bundesliga basketball team from Lower Franconia still operates under at the time, and is in the penultimate place in the BBL table. Shortly before Christmas, two events on one day shook the Würzburg fans to the core: coach Denis Wucherer, who had always kept the team away from any relegation worries in previous years, had to vacate his post. And even worse: name sponsor s. Oliver announces his exit – so important money will be missing in the future. Was that it for Bundesliga basketball in Dirk Nowitzki’s hometown?
At the time, it was not an unrealistic scenario for a club that was already rather cash-strapped. As a replacement for Wucherer, he installs a head coach who is unknown in this country: Sasa Filipovski. Thanks to the best second half of the season in the club’s history, the Slovenian led the team into the middle of the table and ended the season in twelfth place. Before the end of the season, the coach extended his contract for three years. In the club’s announcement at the time he was quoted as follows: “This step is an opportunity for me to build something here in Würzburg. The city has great potential as a basketball location.”
Financially weak clubs have to show courage in scouting
In March 2024 it can be said: Filipovski took advantage of the opportunity. As a supposedly small Bundesliga team, building a team over several years is almost impossible in the fast-moving basketball world. This makes it even more important for the financially weaker clubs to make bold decisions on the player market. Last season, the Baskets had a long sniff of the play-offs before the team was particularly troubled by bad luck with injuries in the final spurt. Nevertheless: Many players were able to increase their market value – and left the city on the Main. Filipovski and sports director Kresimir Loncar had to replace almost all key players.
They achieved this brilliantly before the current season, meaning that the mentioned potential as a basketball location is even more evident than before: the tectake Arena is regularly sold out. The atmosphere in the small venue, popularly known as “Turnhölle”, can be compared to few arenas in Germany. The team on the floor also provides plenty of reasons for the loud support: Würzburg has won 15 of the last 17 league games, most recently winning three times in eight days by a difference of more than 20 points.
Würzburg forces the game through the smaller players
Offensively, Coach Filipovski relies primarily on small one-on-one players, like Otis Livingston II: The guard is the league’s top scorer with almost 20 points per game; at the beginning of the year he scored 42 points in a game in Tübingen. A BBL player had not managed so many points for 21 years. Last season Livingston played for Crailsheim and Bayreuth, but was relegated with Upper Franconia at the end of the season. A Franconian basketball location that the Würzburgers have now overtaken. As did, at least temporarily, the former series champion Bamberg Baskets, who fired head coach Oren Amiel in February after a 39-point disgrace in the derby in Würzburg.
But Filipovski and Loncar didn’t just show courage with the signing of Livingston: winger Zach Seljaas, now known for his mullet look, played in Pro A last season and achieved promotion with Tübingen. One level higher, he puts up 13.6 points per game in the Würzburg jersey. In the previous season, the Lower Franconians brought in Stanley Whittaker, a top performer from league two – who became the top scorer in Würzburg but moved to Italy before this season. Other minor position players who recorded double-digit points include Darius Perry, who came from Hungary, and Isaiah Washington. The latter and his Frankfurt team were also relegated from the BBL last year.
The heart of the team is without a doubt the small positions: But it doesn’t work with just small players. Before the season, big man Max Ugrai from Heidelberg returned to his hometown club. The experienced veteran Owen Klassen and Collin Welp, son of the 1993 European champion Christian Welp, who died in 2015, share the brunt of the baskets with Ugrai. Due to the style of play in attack, which focuses more on individual actions by strong individuals than on ball movement, the team achieves the fewest assisted baskets in the BBL, but also does not lose the ball as often. The team is also dangerous from the outside: 38, A 6 percent three-pointer rate documents this.
Würzburg’s successful coach Sasa Filipovski often has reason to celebrate this season. IMAGO/HMB Media
Short rotation could become a problem in the play-offs
Defensively, the baskets’ small lineup is predestined to put pressure on the opponents all over the field. Würzburg stole the second most balls in the league thanks to their aggressive and well-coordinated defense. Defensively, two players deserve special mention: Firstly, there is captain and local hero Felix Hoffmann. He doesn’t spend many minutes on the floor, but he’s never above doing dirty defensive work. The Würzburg defensive leader is forward Javon Bess. The ex-Göttinger can defend almost all positions and is currently the hottest contender for the title of Defensive Player of the Year in the BBL. But he also takes responsibility offensively, scoring on average in double digits with a strong three-point rate.
Good ingredients on both sides of the field for Würzburg to maintain their current position until the end of the main round and reach the BBL finals for the first time since 2016. In addition, the team is already well-coordinated due to the rather small rotation. But: This means that the top performers have to play for a lot of minutes; four players are on the floor for an average of more than 27 minutes. Whether the team survives the quarter-finals in the play-offs will also depend on whether all players remain injury-free. The loss of a top performer could pose problems for Filipovski given the short rotation and shorter regeneration opportunities in the postseason.
The indoor issue will also have to be discussed again in the future
First of all, the Lower Franconians have an important duel against the German champions ratiopharm Ulm on the agenda, which they could keep at bay with an away win (Saturday, 6.30 p.m.). Time to make amends, the first leg in the league went narrowly to Ulm. And the Swabians also eliminated Würzburg in the cup with just four points difference in the round of 16.
It is difficult to predict what will happen to the Baskets beyond the season. Whether the Würzburgers can maintain their current supremacy in Franconia will depend primarily on the personnel in the near future: players like Livingston and Seljaas will be difficult to keep, so a good sense of scouting will once again be important. Filipovski will inevitably maintain his successful playing style with smaller players; as we all know, every centimeter costs money.
An existential issue will also come to the table in the not too distant future: According to BBL regulations, the minimum capacity of the halls from 2032 will be 4,500 seats, which the current venue with a capacity for a maximum of 3,140 spectators is a long way from. So far, a new hall that has often been discussed in Würzburg has failed. First of all, this summer it’s about finding the right players for the Bundesliga team again. In recent years, coach Filipovski and Co. have managed this quite well.
2024-03-23 09:20:00
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