Niners Chemnitz: BBL Champions 2023/24 – A Historic Season

Finally, there are certificates in the World Champion League!

SPORT BILD has closely followed the 2023/24 season in the Easycredit Basketball Bundesliga, observing, researching and analyzing on match days and between games. Now the basketball reporters are awarding the BBL final certificate.

Final certificate BBL, part 4: Niners Chemnitz

10,000 fans celebrated their Niners Chemnitz on the town hall square. The players signed the city’s Golden Book. And even Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (49) came to congratulate them. “The city will only really notice what happened today in 20 years,” said successful coach Rodrigo Pastore (51) on this historic Sunday at the end of April.

The Saxons had previously won the FIBA ​​Europe Cup at Bahcesehir Istanbul. The first major title in the club’s history – just four years after promotion to the Easycredit BBL!

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Before the season, the Niners had set themselves a clear sporting goal internally: to be in the top 4 in every competition. And they delivered: third in the main round! In the semifinals, on a level playing field with Alba Berlin, they were only knocked out in game five! This meant that they could get over their elimination in the round of 16 in the BBL Cup at the start of the season. Especially since the team had to hold its own for a long time with a mini squad due to injuries.

“My most important goal is always to play basketball in such a way that we make the fans proud,” said Pastore in the “Freie Presse” after the semi-final exit in Berlin. The reception at the town hall had already made that clear weeks before. In addition, the Chemnitz trade fair (average number of spectators 4,665) was one of the halls with the most heated atmosphere in the league – in which the Niners only lost three home games.

Pastore is the reason why the Niners have caught up with Euroleague clubs FC Bayern and Alba Berlin so quickly. The Argentinian has been with the club for nine (!) years. Type: workaholic, perfectionist, team player, motivator, defensive strategist.

The family man put together a team of professionals who had never been given a fair chance before, or for whom the Niners was their last big chance. He demanded of them a “blue-collar mentality”: hard work, every day. Under the motto: “We over me” – the “we” is more important than the “I”.

Led by former construction worker and captain DeAndre Lansdowne (35), Kevin Yebo (28), Wes van Beck (28) and Kaza Kajami-Keane (30) played the season of their lives.

Championship celebration in the dressing roomThe Bayern double party in video

Source: Instagram @fcbayernbasketballv15.06.2024

It speaks for Chemnitz that they were able to extend the contracts with Lansdowne and three other key players after the season, instead of completely falling apart like Bonn, for example, after winning the Champions League in 2023. In addition, the Niners were able to sign Nicho Tischler (23) and Eddy Edigin (28/Ludwigsburg), who were sought after throughout the league.

The outlook: In 2025, Chemnitz will be the European Capital of Culture – and the Niners will be the third force in the BBL. Especially since the budget of around 6 million euros will increase again. The plans for a separate hall with 10,000 seats (opening in 2030) are also becoming more concrete.

“In one year we achieved the goals we had set for the next two years,” Pastore summed up the year in the “Freie Presse”. So after the most successful season in the club’s history, there is only one logical grade to give…

SPORT BILD rating: 1

2024-06-27 14:08:09
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