After two game-free weekends in the basketball Bundesliga, the players of BG Göttingen took short breaks in Paris, Brussels, Mallorca, Fuerteventura or Usedom together with their families, wives and partners to recharge their batteries for the final spurt of the season with 15 games left until April 1st .May. The violets will play eight more times in front of their home crowd – and that in the future with a possible occupancy rate of the Sparkassen-Arena of up to 75 percent. Or in the best case: 2600 spectators. The first opponent in this long main round final sprint are the Niners Chemnitz, who are visiting Göttingen on Sunday at 3 p.m.
The Saxons come to the Sparkassen-Arena as second in the BBL table after the international break. In the second year of their affiliation with the basketball upper house, this placement alone is historic, but the semi-final entry into the top four for the MagentaSport BBL Cup, in which the Saxons failed at Alba Berlin, also deserves this designation.
Against the team from the capital, Chemnitz was not a fright for favorites, but in the cup competition the team of head coach Rodrigo Pastore threw two highly regarded opponents out of the competition: after ratiopharm Ulm in the round of 16, defending champion FC Bayern Munich also had in the quarter-finals (and not only there) looking back – and in each case in a hard-fought final phase, with which the team has earned the nickname “Chemnitz Crunchtime Kings”. Because ten of the 21 Chemnitz competitive games so far have been decided with a maximum of five points difference – and the Niners won nine of them. Including the first leg against BG Göttingen, which they lost after a high lead (73:60/30th) and 35 points from Kamar Baldwin in the end with 86:87.
With their large formations, the Chemnitz players play to one of their strengths: the Saxons defend extremely aggressively with switches. Meanwhile, with Jonas Richter, a center is sometimes placed directly on the opposing point guard or top scorer: Kamar Baldwin and TJ Shorts (Hakro Merlins Crailsheim) felt the effects. With Nelson Weidemann as combo guard, the Veilchen have a guest who was in the Göttingen squad in the 2020/21 season and will meet some old acquaintances.
For Chemnitz, the season continues after the cup highlight with three away games in a row. The opponents are consistently not without: The guest appearance in Göttingen, which is only the fourth direct meeting between the two clubs (Göttingen leads 2-1), is followed by trips to the Oldenburgers, who are in danger of relegation but have recently regained their strength, and the playoff candidate Crailsheim. Defending the current second place in the table will not be easy.
By Kathrin Lienig
