Fri, 29. Dec 2023
On New Year’s Eve, the current Bundesliga leaders and the fourth-placed team will meet at 2 p.m. in the Berlin Mercedes-Benz Arena, which can accommodate up to 14,500 spectators. So far, it’s not an unusual headline, but the fact that the regular championship candidate ALBA Berlin is not going into the match against the NINERS Chemnitz as first place, but rather that they are on the pitch in the sun after 13 match days, seemed completely impossible before the start of the season. Although most experts believed that the Saxons would have a say in the bottom playoff places, hardly anyone would have expected Chemnitz to win 21 of its first 23 competitive games and thus win both the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga and the FIBA Europe Cup would become the most successful team to date. Nevertheless, the big test was missing from the previous schedule, but that’s exactly why the NINERS are looking forward to the top game in Berlin all the more. At a place where Chemnitz has never won against ALBA in its relatively young Bundesliga history, head coach Rodrigo Pastore’s team wants to demonstrate all of its qualities. Numerous NINERS fans will support the team in the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Everyone else can get excited again on Sunday for DYN, who will win the game www.dyn.sport broadcast live and in full length.
The match definitely promises plenty of excitement. After all, the best offense in the league meets the strongest defense. With an average of 93.3 points per 40 minutes of play, Berlin scores the most points of all BBL clubs, has the best field throw rate at 52.6 percent, distributes more assists (22.6) than any other team after Ulm (23.1) and achieves the highest overall effectiveness value ( 111.4). In contrast, Chemnitz only allows its opponents 73.1 points per game and a hit rate of 42.7 percent – both best values in the BBL. In addition, the NINERS are the only Bundesliga team that manages to force more ball losses on their opponents (15.7) than they achieve through direct basket assists (13.6). Mind you, this is achieved with just 20.6 fouls per game, which leads to an average of 19.8 free throws. Good values, but Berlin sets completely different standards in these areas. On average, ALBA only commits 16.8 fouls, which in turn only gives their opponents 14.4 free throws. The truth is that Berlin, for its part, has not yet played in the Bundesliga against six of the currently ten best-placed teams: Chemnitz, Munich, Würzburg, Hamburg, Bonn and Rostock. The duel with the NINERS on New Year’s Sunday is predicted to be both a real test and the other way around for the ALBA men, their playing strength and previous statistical achievements.
There is no question that Berlin, with its best line-up and its home arena, is Chemnitz’s strongest opponent so far this season. Spanish head coach Israel Gonzalez’s team is led by team captain and world champion Johannes Thiemann, who is the most effective German player in the entire BBL with an average of 15.5 points with strong hit rates as well as 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists (17.8), incidentally just ahead of Kevin Yebo (17.3). . With Gabriele Procida (9.3 points per game) and Matteo Spagnolo (8.6), there are also two Italian World Cup participants in the Berlin squad. There are also the NBA-proven Americans Matt Thomas (14.5) and Sterling Brown (11.9), their compatriot Justin Bean (8.1) and, among the baskets, Yanni Wetzell (10.7) and Khalifa Koumadje (8.6). The latter alone can change an entire game with his impressive height of 2.21 meters. Behind him lurks another towering giant, 2.13 meter Kresimir Nikic (4.0), while Louis Olinde (8.4), Tim Schneider (7.8), Malte Delow (5.6) and Jonas Mattisseck (5.1) have all already worn the jersey the German national team wore. With the Slovenian pointguard talent Ziga Samar (2.3), who was on loan to Hamburg last season, coach Gonzalez can rely on a squad of 14 mostly experienced professionals, which is necessary given the high pressure of the game. After all, Berlin has already played 28 competitive games in the Bundesliga, Cup and Euroleague to date, will play its 29th game just two days before the duel with Chemnitz against Olympiacos Piraeus and at the end of the regular season, before the start of the BBL playoffs there must be at least 71 encounters within less than eight months. The outcome of the upcoming Bundesliga top game will also depend on the day’s form and the available energy reserves. It is certainly no disadvantage for NINERS coach Pastore that he can rely on a full squad for only the second time this season and, depending on his tactical orientation, can freely decide which six foreign players will play alongside the Germans on Sunday in the Mercedes-Benz Arena The regular trio of Jonas Richter, Kevin Yebo and Dominic Lockhart as well as the youngsters around Brendan Gregori are to be used.
TERM
ALBA BERLIN vs. NINERS Chemnitz (easyCredit BBL)Sunday, December 31, 2023, 2:00 p.m., Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin
NINERS Chemnitz vs. MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg (easyCredit BBL)Saturday, January 6th, 2024, 8:00 p.m., Chemnitz Trade Fair
2023-12-29 18:24:10
#Frontrunner #meets #title #contender
