Ludwigsburg.. After the narrow defeat at Bundesliga leaders Telekom Baskets Bonn, the MHP giants Ludwigsburg flew directly from Cologne/Bonn Airport to Romania and are preparing for the most important game of the season so far. Or rather, the most important series. In a maximum of three duels, the basketball players compete against Cluj-Napoca (Klausenburg) in the quarterfinals of the Basketball Champions League. The first clash against the city of Transylvania will take place on Tuesday at 6pm. The winner of the series qualifies for the final tournament of the best four in Bilbao. “It would be phenomenal to do that,” said Giants coach John Patrick.
Impressive venue
The euphoria in the city with over 300,000 inhabitants is correspondingly high. The stately BT Arena has been sold out for days with 10,000 tickets. “It’s very impressive here,” said Patrick, who seems almost a little jealous because of the cheering fans in Romania: “I don’t know if the people in Ludwigsburg understand how great this opportunity is.” The only home game in the series next Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the MHP Arena.
First of all, however, the full focus is on the opening game. The Ludwigsburgers have to do without the important Tremmell Darden and Tekele Cotton. However, Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann should follow and try to play. The Romanians have only lost two Champions League games this season and finished first in both group stages. “It’s a team with a lot of attacking talent. They play fast and have a lot of internationally established players,” emphasizes Patrick.
For the third time in their club’s history, the giants have the chance to make it into the Final Four. In 2017, only seconds were missing in a dramatic quarter-final against Bandirma, a year later the giants booked the final tournament ticket against Bayreuth for the first time, but had no chance in Athens.
Huge talent at home
The stay in Cluj is a very special journey for the young giant center Eduard Roschnafsky. The son of long-time Bundesliga basketball player Bruno grew up in Cluj and played for the club for a long time in his youth. “As soon as we arrived, he greeted the first people and spoke to his former youth coach. His family lives just five minutes from the hotel,” reports Patrick. “I just spoke to his father earlier. It’s his birthday today.” Eddy Roschnafsky will probably not celebrate his professional debut today because the center position is sufficiently occupied.
