The special explosiveness: Jump Ball at Uber Arena at 12:30 p.m.! Are the players (and fans) even awake yet? In the capital, we know from painful experience that we have to be prepared for surprises in a New Year’s Eve game – be it that the opponent doesn’t come at all (like Braunschweig 2020, see below) or that the opponent simply steals the victory from Rostock as a party crasher, like last year.
Status quo: Berlin has after the return of the injured Martin Hermannsson regained its footing with the victories in Rostock and against Ludwigsburg and, as fourth in the table (8-4 wins), will face opponents from the bottom third of the table (Braunschweig, Oldenburg and Heidelberg) in the next three games. Braunschweig also looked forward to the comeback Scuka Wound against Vechta suddenly looked much better. Looking up at 14th place in the table (4-8 wins) is out of the question given the next three opponents: Berlin will be followed by Munich and Ulm in the new year!
Duel in focus: Your most effective players will be in Berlin in December Justin Bean (13.8 PPG and 5.8 in the last five games) and Braunschweig in David N’Guessan (18.3 PPG and 7.8 RPG in the last four games) in the frontcourt. Although N’Guessan will return from… Scuka Wound move back to the center position and Bean could move into the center position after the integration Martyn Echodas will be found more often in the third position in the future – both are mobile and versatile enough not to be tied down to one position. In this New Year’s Eve game, the paths of these currently hot players will certainly cross on the four.
Please pay: The Basketball Lions take the most twos in the easyCredit BBL (40.4 per game), although they have the second lowest twos rate at 49.7 percent. When it comes to three-pointers, Braunschweig shines with the fourth-best rate (37.7 percent), but only takes an average of 23 throws from a distance in the league – the fewest in the league! For the Berliners, litter selection and odds match better. ALBA takes the fifth-most twos (38.7 per game) and also has the fifth-best rate with 53.9 percent from this area. ALBA takes the fifth-fewest three-pointers (26 per game) and has the seventh-best rate from distance at 35.6 percent.
The eternal balance sheet: Berlin and Braunschweig have faced each other 80 times since 1988. Berlin won 67 games and Braunschweig 13. Both teams only reluctantly remember their last – canceled – New Year’s Eve duel. On December 31, 2020, the albatrosses were already warming up in the arena at Ostbahnhof when the health department forced the Braunschweig bus to turn back shortly before the Berlin city limits due to positive corona tests. The cup game had to be rescheduled four weeks later.
Milestones: Jonas Mattisseck still missing a threesome up to 250 and Ferdinand Zylka one more to 150. Martin Hermannsson needs four more steals to reach 100.
Record-breaking: The Berliners set a new defensive season record on Monday in the catch-up game against Ludwigsburg by keeping the MHP RIESEN under 50 points at 80:47. Bayern had achieved this for the last time in the easyCredit BBL when they won 67:49 in Würzburg on April 10, 2023.
In the eyes of the national coach: The playmakers Jack Kayil and Drive Water already faced each other in November 2024 as part of the European Championship qualification, when the DBB selection played twice against Sweden. Sweden won the first comparison in Stockholm 73:72 with six points and three assists from Njie. Three days later in Heidelberg, Njie even scored 15 points in 21 minutes against Germany, but Kayil led the DBB team to an 80:61 victory with ten points and four assists in 22 minutes.
On the edge of the gang: The only thing missing in Berlin is the turn of the year Alex O’Connell with a tweaking knee. The Braunschweigers also have young players Romario Holloway and Elijah Brown in the big positions Josh Hawley probably lasted so long that the lions are thinking about signing a replacement.
Old acquaintances: The one born in Berlin Ferdinand Zylka grew up at ALBA and was the top scorer of the Berlin NBBL team before he went on the long journey through many clubs in 2918 after winning the bronze medal at the U18 European Championships, which took him to Braunschweig in 2023. Also Nikola Tomic (Son of the former ALBA player Drazan Tomic) shot his first baskets for ALBA’s youth teams before moving to Bayern Munich’s youth department at the age of 17.
In Europe and worldwide – German Basketball is mad sexy: Germany goes into the new year 2026 as world and European champions, but unfortunately there is no medal to be won for Dennis, Franz and the other DBB heroes. The next World Cup is not scheduled until 2027, the Olympics in 2028 and the next European Championship in 2028. The women will play for the World Cup in Berlin from September 4th to 13th, 2026. German Basketball will remain mad sexy in the new year!
TV / live stream: The game will be broadcast live here on Dyn on Wednesday from 12:15 p.m. The commentator is Arne Malsch.
