In their first participation in a European competition, the Hakro Merlins Crailsheim will play the quarter-final first leg of the FIBA Europe Cup on Wednesday. From 7 p.m. the magicians will meet the Dutch representative ZZ Leiden in the Hohenlohe Arena. Having already left two group phases behind, it is now a matter of one home and one away game to reach the semi-finals. Leiden came out on top of the group against medi bayreuth, among others, but, like the Crailsheim team, came to Hohenlohe last weekend with a defeat.
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After the highlight in Berlin, when the Merlins impressively finished second in the MagentaSport BBL Cup, the basket hunters were able to catch their breath. Because the last third of the season began last weekend, and it’s really quite something. The magicians are in a play-off rank in the BBL and still have several catch-up games compared to the competition. With the first participation in an international competition in the club’s history, things are now getting hot. After coach Sebastian Gleim’s team finished first and second in two group phases, the Hohenlohe team are now sensationally in the quarter-finals of the Fiba Europe Cup. Dutch club ZZ Leiden come to the bullring for the first leg on Wednesday. Exactly one week later, the decision will be made as to which team will make it into the last four.
Ups and downs
The team from the province of South Holland played the qualifying round for the Champions League in September, but then lost in the semi-finals to former group opponents Crailsheimer Tsmoki Minsk. The first group phase was a rollercoaster ride for coach Geert Hammink’s team – but they caught a high-quality group including Bahcesehir (Turkey) and Mornar Bar (Montenegro). The Dutch advanced to the second round with three wins and three losses each. There they really got going and qualified ahead of time as first in the table (5-1 wins, including two against medi bayreuth) for the quarter-finals. “The next club highlight awaits us on Wednesday. We are playing for the first time in an international quarterfinal against a team that knows this competition well and is experienced. After initial difficulties at the start, they are playing an outstanding FIBA season. Leiden has played extremely well and secured first place in the intermediate round with only one defeat,” says Sebastian Gleim about the upcoming opponent. The team from the university town is also on the road to success in the domestic BNXT League. They finished second behind Den Bosch in the Dutch group and will now play the best teams from Belgium in the next round.
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The Leiden squad features a good mix of experienced and young athletic players. The key players and top scorers of the Dutch play on the point guard and center position. Guard Jhonathan Dunn (24 years old) has played in all twelve games of the previous FIBA Europe Cup competition and has an average playing time of 28.2 minutes, in which he has 15.4 points, 2.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds. Only Big Man Asbjoern Midtgaard is on the field longer on average. The Danish center, who played for the Orlando Magic in the NBA Summer League this summer, has 15 points and 7.8 rebounds in 29 minutes. The most experienced player at ZZ Leiden is Worthy De Jong at 33. The guard is entering his tenth season in the college town.
On the opposite side, the focus will be, as usual, on the lively playmaker TJ Shorts II. Not only in the national BBL, but also in the entire FIBA Europe Cup, the point guard is the top scorer (18.4 points). In addition to the scoring support from his teammates, it will also be important how the players box out from under the baskets and get the second ball, because Leiden is the second-best team in the entire competition with 39.8 rebounds per game. “It will be crucial that we build on our offensive performance in Bonn and improve our defense,” said Gleim. on
