Gießen 46ers have to improve against Löwen Braunschweig

The Gießen 46ers heads are up. The gaze is forward. Coach Pete Strobl‘s Bundesliga basketball team, threatened with relegation, has gained self-confidence. Last week’s home win against Hamburg was the hoped-for liberation. The next success must come against Braunschweig.

With the unexpected clear 100:73 home win against Hamburg Towers, which was badly hit by Covid, the Gießen 46ers brought the never-ending series of defeats of eight bankruptcies to an end last Saturday. A successful start to the second half of the season for the 16th table, which is far from off the hook. The team fighting to stay up in the league definitely has to step up – on Saturday at 8.30 p.m. (live on MagentaSport) the Braunschweiger Löwen should feel the new strength of the 46ers in the east hall.

The location: Breathe a sigh of relief at the Gießen 46ers, who were drawn after eight defeats in a row: The success against a decimated Hamburger was good for the battered soul. Victory is the best way to get other, better thoughts. The team around new captain Kendale McCullum, who played himself into a frenzy and narrowly missed a triple-double, has taken new courage in the fight for survival in the basketball league – with the realization that they can still win. In an interview with this newspaper, coach Strobl said that the 46ers need at least seven more wins to stay in the league. After the coup against the North Germans, there are still six. And after the home game on Saturday evening against the lions, there should only be five left from Gießen’s point of view. The Lahnstadt-based team lost the first leg one day before Christmas Eve with a score of 69:71 and lost an eight-point lead (35th minute).

The beacon of hope: With the signing of Martins Laksa, the 46ers appear to have acquired a complete player. The 31-year-old Latvia international showed his skills on his debut against Hamburg. The experienced 31-year-old three-pointer specialist received advance praise from coach Strobl. “He’s a very intelligent player who learns quickly and does almost everything on his own,” the coach told the newspaper. It will be interesting to see how Strobl manages to integrate the sniper into the systems so that the strong player can show off his skills.

The opponent: The lions from Braunschweig have created a reassuring cushion on the relegation zone – and landed a big point on Tuesday evening. In the Lower Saxony derby they kept the upper hand against the Baskets from Oldenburg, who were still in last place, with 94:78. After all, the seventh win after 17 competitive games, which gives the lions eleventh place and a six-point lead over the Giessen team. Point guard Tookie Brown was in top form, becoming the top scorer of the game with 20 points. Among the baskets, Owen Klassen shone with 18 points and ten rebounds for a double-double. The 46ers absolutely have to get a grip on him. The people of Central Hesse should also keep a close eye on the German all-rounder David Krämer. With an average of 13.5 points per game, the dangerous shooter with power forward Martin Peterka is the best point supplier in coach Jesus Ramirez’s offensive team. Giessen’s Benedikt Turudic has also been in good shape for weeks. The agile 2.07 m giant of the lions anticipates well on rebounds and is also a constant source of trouble on the offensive. The great strength of the Braunschweiger is the team play: The lions are behind Alba Berlin the team with the most assists per game. There is no ego gamble, the extra pass is played very often. Therefore, the Brunswick are difficult to calculate.

The hospital: The Braunschweigers are still missing national player Robin Amaize. The season is over for the native of Giessen. Amaize, who, like his friend Turudic, is captain of the Löwen, injured his knee badly in an away game in Bonn shortly before the turn of the year. The operation was a success. “I’m already pain-free,” said the 26-year-old Forward when asked by this newspaper. He has to walk on crutches for three more weeks. Then he expects to walk normally again.

That’s what Pete Strobl says (Trainer 46ers): »Brunswick has many national players and plays well together as a team. They play very physically in defense and all five players on the pitch use their bodies to generate stops. We need to take another step forward by moving the ball and not dribbling too much.”