European Prospects

After the first two games of the NBBL Playoffs, we come up with a little update on the best of 3 series.

We will start with the North Playoffs and the ALBA Berlin versus Phoenix Hagen series. The runner-up team from last season lost its main players due to age restrictions in the summer and so were not among the favorites. However, they managed to win the first game in Berlin with a huge team effort. But the favorites from ALBA destroyed Hagen in their arena this Sunday with a fantastic last quarter won 28-4. Inside player Andreas Seifferth was the clear cut leader of Henrik Rödl’s team in both games and the series goes back to Berlin for a decisive game next weekend.

Oldenburg had high expectations this seasons but the Playoff run got directly stop in the first round against the IBBA Berlin team. U18 National team candidate Nico Adamczak was the man of the series and finished the game at home with a nice 22/12/5 performance against a team where Milan Obradovic completely missed his series.

A close series has been awaited between the Hamburg based Bramfelder SV and the Bayer Giants Academy from Leverkusen. But the second game this afternoon in Leverkusen was a clear cut win for the team for Northern Germany behind a extraordinary team effort. After a short win in the first game, Bramfeld dominated the second half today and won the two last quarters with a combined 56-30. Leverkusen’s top scorer Florian Trmal was totally off with just 6 points and Marvin Kruchen’s 22pts and 17rebs were not enough. Malte Schwarz played a great game leading his team with excellent court vision (10 assists) and precise shooting. Simon Michaelis had the best game of his season and the zone defense totally destroyed all the hopes of Leverkusen.

Bonn/Rhöndorf had some trouble in the first game as the winner of the NorthWest Division lost on a buzzer beating shot at home against Central Hoops Berlin. But the team from the Rhine valley comes back into the race for the Final Four with a huge overtime win on the road. 5 players in double figures and led by Forward Dominique Tholey and U18 NT candidate Bastian Winterhalter with 25 and 23 points. So there will be a decisive game next weekend in the favorite’s gym .