After the third surprise coup against Bayern Munich, the Niners Chemnitz basketball players now also want to deliver a big fight in the cup to Alba Berlin.
“They can dress warmly,” said Berlin-born Malte Ziegenhagen after Chemnitz’s league win against Bayern on Tuesday. The Niners had already caused a sensation against Munich in the league and especially in the quarter-finals of the cup. Now on Saturday (7:00 p.m. / Magentasport) in the semifinals the German champion Alba should believe in it. Before that, the Basketball Löwen Braunschweig and the Crailsheim Merlins will meet in the first semi-final (4:00 p.m.).
“How often do you have such a chance? We’ve worked it out and now we want to use it,” said Niners Managing Director Steffen Herhold to the magazine “BIG”. It would be the preliminary culmination of an impressive development. Because it was only in 2020 that the Saxons made it into the first division, where they established themselves faster than many expected. Meanwhile, the Niners are well on the way to becoming the first East German team to qualify for the playoffs. They have long outstripped Central German BC as number one in the East.
Ludwigsburg coach Patrick believes in a chance for Chemnitz
As second in the table, the Chemnitz players go into the top four in Berlin and are therefore the best-placed team in the league. The Niners are taking the momentum from four straight wins and have made an impression on the competition. “You have a chance in the final tournament,” said Ludwigsburg coach John Patrick after he and his team lost 56:74 in the Chemnitz Arena. “Just stay who you are. Play your basketball. You’re doing great.”
One of the main guarantors of the Niners’ sporting upswing is coach Rodrigo Pastore. The 49-year-old Argentinian has been in office in Chemnitz since the summer of 2015 and has long since made a name for himself internationally as a meticulous worker and tactical fox.
“His teams have a clear structure, and his tactical adjustments during the game are imaginative and precise,” praised Stefan Koch, two-time coach of the year in the Bundesliga, in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” the Argentinian bald man with an Italian passport.
Ojeda: “Chemnitz showed why they play at the top”
A cup victory (final, Sunday, 3:00 p.m./Magentasport) would be the crowning glory of the impressive development work. But Alba will certainly be a tougher opponent in his own hall than the corona-plagued and tired-looking Bavarians were on Tuesday. In any case, the Berliners will not underestimate their opponents.
“Chemnitz showed why they play at the top. They are very consistent. It will be a difficult game,” said Berlin’s sporting director Himar Ojeda. “You can’t say that we are the favorites in the semi-finals.” The Chemnitz Ziegenhagen sees it the same way. “We’re ready to get this thing. We’ve never been more in the mood.”