s.Oliver Würzburg and the Merlins Crailsheim have already met twice in the current season, both times in the Hohenlohe Arena and with the better ending for the hosts. In the third attempt, on the 25th match day, a Würzburg victory in the derby against the bottom of the Bundesliga table in front of their own audience is to come. Jump ball in the “tectake arena” is on Saturday at 8.30 p.m. 2355 spectators are admitted, tickets are available in the online shop.
AdUnit Mobile_Pos2
AdUnit Content_1
Before their two home wins on the first day of the league (111:84) and in the quarterfinals of the BBL Cup (82:79), the Merlins had only won once against s.Oliver Würzburg – that was last season without a spectator in the “tectake Arena”. A good atmosphere in the stands is guaranteed this Saturday, because the cup finalists will be accompanied to Würzburg by more than 150 of their own fans.
“We have respect for Crailsheim, they have a good team that plays a tough and aggressive defense. They also play very well in attack and have a lot of good pitchers and players who can win one-on-ones. That means that we have to be very concentrated in defense and also have a good day in attack,” says head coach Sasa Filipovski and adds: “Above all, we have to score better from the line of three than we did against Ulm last week. I’m expecting a difficult game and a good atmosphere in the hall.”
AdUnit Mobile_Pos3
AdUnit Content_2
With Maurice Stuckey, Dejan Kovacevic and assistant coach Eric Detlev, the Merlins Crailsheim are not only bringing three old acquaintances to Würzburg, but also the current top scorer in the league: TJ Shorts moved from the Hamburg Towers to Crailsheim last summer and has belonged to him for at least one Survey of the league’s coaches, managers, and captains about the inner circle of the MVP candidates.
Almost 88 points on average
The 24-year-old American averages 20.7 points and gives out 7.1 assists per game. In his four games against s.Oliver Würzburg so far, he averaged 16.3 points and assists. With almost 88 points per BBL game and the best field shooting rate in the league, the Merlins are anything but a one-man show: Six other players score between 8 and 12 points on average, including the three Germans Maurice Stuckey, Fabian Bleck and Bogdan Radosavljevic.
Especially at home, the Crailsheimer are hard to beat, nine of their twelve victories they have won in the Hohenlohe Arena. Away, however, they have the weakest record of all teams in the playoff ranks in the table with only three wins from ten games – defeats against teams from the lower half of the table included in Heidelberg, Frankfurt and Weißenfels.
AdUnit Mobile_Pos4
AdUnit Content_3
The Merlins’ away trip to Würzburg lies between the first and second leg of the FIBA Europe Cup quarter-finals: two days ago they won 71:68 at home against ZZ Leiden (we reported.
Due to the current regulations of the Bavarian Infection Protection Measures Ordinance, 2355 visitors are permitted. 2G applies (access only for fully vaccinated or recovered people) and a continuous FFP2 mask requirement throughout the hall. pw
