The Niners Chemnitz are not allowed to lose in the second round of the Champions League. Against the Turkish representative Manisa BB, the Saxons showed nerves in the first duel, but also good approaches.
After the dramatic end in the first duel, the Niners have their backs to the wall in their own hall. A defeat against Manisa Basket on Tuesday evening (January 14th, 8 p.m. live in the audio stream and ticker) and the Saxons are out of the third most important European competition in club basketball. If they win, Rodrigo Pastore’s team would earn a third game in Turkey, which would then determine progress in the best-of-three series.
“A lot of things went right in the first leg”
The starting position could have been significantly better. The Niners on the Aegean had a surprisingly clear lead with 13 points, but completely lost track and didn’t score a single point In the end they had to admit defeat 86:87. Captain Jonas Richter has experienced moments like this before: “Games like this make basketball interesting. Unfortunately this time we were on the wrong side.”
The Saxons didn’t seem broken by the setback a day before the second duel with Manisa. Youngster and national player Nicholas Tischler was full of confidence: “We are all highly motivated. A lot of things went right in the first leg.” Chemnitz was convincing defensively, but committed too many fouls and gave the Turks free throws. “And the last two minutes were a total failure.”
“Be focused for 40 minutes”
Tischler and the Niners don’t have to change much. “We played 38 minutes of good basketball and now see our chances in the Chemnitz fair as pretty good.” In order to equalize in the second leg, Chemnitz must approach the game with a cool head. Jonas Richter agrees with his teammate and saw his team perform well for 38 minutes. “We feel well prepared,” said the 27-year-old. The key to victory is to show the performance over 40 minutes this time, “with a lot of energy” to make the opponent tired. And the game plan suits the Saxons: In contrast to Manisa, the Niners had no games at the weekend and were able to fully prepare for the task at hand and regenerate. “Anything can happen,” says Richter. “The most important thing is to be focused for 40 minutes, to do the little things right, then we have a good chance.”
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