When the Bundesliga team BG Göttingen plays their home game against Ratiopharm Ulm in the Sparkassen-Arena at 6 p.m. on Saturday, days of quarantine and training with a reduced squad are behind the violets: After the game at Syntainics MBC, five BG players were positive tested, followed by ten days of self-isolation with fitness training in your own four walls. On Saturday in the game against Ulm, to which 500 spectators are admitted, it will be shown how the squad survived the quarantine period.
The training over the past few days has been good and intense, reports head coach Roel Moors. The players who were in quarantine were looking forward to returning to team training and were motivated to get down to business. “We actually got back in very well, I was happy with the week,” says Moors, who was infected himself but survived the illness well except for two days of severe headaches.
The Norwegian point guard Harald Frey, who Moors thinks highly of, appears for the BG for the first time on Saturday. “We need to give him some time and get him up to the BBL level, but he’s very good,” Moors said. “He’s a very good thrower, he plays very smartly, is smart at pick and roll and a good passer. He’s actually a point guard, and we needed one like that.” For the center position, on the other hand, there is still no signing in sight. “The market is currently difficult for all teams,” says the BG head coach.
Opponent Ulm has “an unbelievable number of individual qualities” and is a “very physical team”. His team must find the identity of the beginning of the season, especially on defense. The Belgian expects a lot from the participation of a healthy Stephen Brown. “In two or three games he was at maybe 50 percent ability and had problems both offensively and defensively. Now he’s back to 100 percent.”
There are two home games for the youth teams of BG Göttingen on Sunday. First, the Sartorius Juniors in the junior basketball league (NBBL/U19) receive the Niners Chemnitz Academy at 1:30 p.m. in the local Sartorius Basketball Lab (live on Sporttotal). The Sartorius Youngsters will then play the Eisbären Bremerhaven in the youth basketball Bundesliga (JBBL/U16) at 4 p.m. Admission to both games is free – the 2G-plus rule applies.
By Edward Warda
