The Veolia Towers will play against league leaders ratiopharm ulm on Saturday (November 2nd). The Swabians are still unbeaten at home this season. The game starts at 8 p.m. – DYN will broadcast live from 7:45 p.m.
The Veolia Towers experienced the fact that it is most beautiful at home, not least during the week. Almost 2,000 fans celebrated their first EuroCup victory with Hamburg for over a year and a half. On Saturday (November 2nd), however, Benka Barloschky’s team has to play away again. And all this with a team that has so far practiced the motto “home sweet home” more extensively than any other in Germany. We’re talking about ratiopharm ulm. The surprise champion of 2023 has a clean slate in the home arena this season. The self-proclaimed NBA talent factory has always left its own floor as the winner in both the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga and the BKT EuroCup. Hanseatic citizens traveling with their mobility partner Deutsche Bahn are warned. Also from our own experience: None of the nine duels so far have been won. The 7th matchday is all the more suitable to put an end to both series. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. DYN will broadcast the game live from the Danube city from 7:45 p.m – commented by Flo Pertsch.
Benka Barloschka: “Ulm has an incredible number of weapons offensively, they are very talented. With Ben Saraf and Noa Essengue, they have two exceptional European talents in the squad – the team exudes a slight NBA touch. What Alfonso Plummer has played so far is crazy. He has a phase in every game where he throws you several threes in a row. Marcio suddenly wakes up. And then they have extremely experienced and strong German players who provide the framework. Stopping this team will be the biggest challenge.”
Ulm exudes international flair
After master coach Anton Gavel left for his adopted hometown of Bamberg, former Vechta trainer Ty Harrelson took over the reins on the sidelines. But even under the new head coach, Ulm’s approach has not changed. Together with captain Tommy Klepeisz, Philipp Herkenhoff, Karim Jallow and new signing Nelson Weidemann form a stable German foundation. However, the international flair that the team has radiated through Germany and Europe since the opening of the club’s own training center from the otherwise rather tranquil twin city on the Danube through Germany and Europe is attracting greater attention.
The Puerto Rican Alfonso Plummer brings a good portion of show potential. Although the guard has always come off the bench, he is the team’s top scorer (12.6 ppg). Justinian Jessup (12.0) has secured the role of starter. The inconspicuous-looking US guard, who joined the team as an additional signing in the middle of last season, is considered an excellent shooter, even if his previous rate (28%) does not yet reflect this. Isaiah Roby (5.5) also seems to have some teething problems. The US forward already has over 150 NBA appearances under his belt, but he hasn’t really caught on yet while trying to give his career new impetus in Europe. And the Brazilian center – the Ulm team has not been able to do without it since 2021 – Marcio Santos (4.0) started the season cautiously, but recently appeared very dominant against Vechta and Trento.
From Ulm into the wide world
Then there are the talents that Ulm offers a platform for on their way into the big basketball world. This season, Noa Essengue (7.2) and Ben Saraf (11.8) take the places of the recently poached Pacome Dadiet and Juan Nunez. And like their two predecessors, who were drafted in the summer, the two current youngsters also seem to be making the most of their opportunity for a promising future. In order to offer their talents an additional stage and to continue promoting themselves, Ulm even traveled to Portland in mid-October for an NBA preparation game – and had to travel over 16,000 kilometers and endure five defeats in a row.
