JNow there are still two Bundesliga games for the Fraport Skyliners in January. After a compulsory Corona break of several weeks, the basketball pros will return to the field this Friday (7 p.m. at MagentaSport) in Chemnitz. Most recently, the team of head coach Diego Ocampo was fit to play on January 2nd in the 90:79 against Gießen. The Skyliners then stopped five coronavirus cases in the team in the past two weeks, and the matches against Göttingen and Würzburg had to be postponed.
The duel before that with the Oldenburgers also had to be canceled because the Lower Saxony were affected by a corona outbreak. “But we’re not looking for excuses. No Covid, no injury, no quarantine can be used as an excuse. Because these things happen to a lot of people these days. And everyone is expected to give 100 percent when they return,” said Ocampo before the showdown with sixth-placed Saxony. Marco Völler, Sport Manager at the Skyliners, thinks that the Spanish head coach is dealing with the situation “well” – even though it is “difficult”. “Every day is a challenge. Diego has to keep adjusting things and rearranging his training schedules.”
All five players, including pillars of the team who were infected when they were 15th, are ready to play against Chemnitz. “But you were at home for two weeks. They are therefore not as fit as they should be – and also not as resilient as they were three weeks ago.” Völler therefore “does not have such high expectations” for the return to Chemnitz. “But the effort has to be right,” he demands. Center Matt Haarms, who has recovered from his ankle injury, is also fit to play again.
