Donar is fighting for an excellent starting position in the cup tournament

Landstede Hammers put Donar firmly on the parquet on October 10. After the bankruptcy, the Groningen team started the competition with a surprising victory over title candidate Heroes Den Bosch and then narrowly lost to Feyenoord. However, it became clear on October 10 that Donar is not one of the best teams in the competition. In Martiniplaza, the Zwolle team defeated coach Andrej Stimac’s team 75-53. The Croat said after that match that he did not have a team that would perform brilliantly every week. That prediction has so far come true. Donar is having a rough season. Defensively it is in good shape, but offensively Donar is by no means a well-oiled machine.

Good defensively, powerless offensively

In the quarter-finals of the cup tournament, Donar was paired with the team that inflicted the biggest defeat on the Groningen team this season. While Donar quickly faced a significant deficit against Landstede Hammers in October, it was now the Groningers who created a small gap in the opening phase. Landstede Hammers came back and the first quarter ended 16-16.

It became clear in the second quarter that Donar is doing well defensively and often makes a messy job offensively. The guests only managed eleven points, but Sander Hollanders only scored the tenth point of the second quarter on behalf of Donar at the buzzer.

Sufficient fighting spirit

Donar may be offensively powerless and at times unimaginative, the number of carelessness during a match cannot be counted on the fingers of a handful of hands and the audience is sometimes driven to despair, but the Groningers do not lack fighting spirit. And isn’t that where it all starts? For example, the unpolished American Dakota Quinn threw herself everywhere against Landstede Hammers and was already good for ten rebounds before half time.

It was that tireless effort that Donar’s players got the audience in Martiniplaza on the benches. It doesn’t always have to be good, it doesn’t always have to be beautiful, as long as there is a fight. The moment at the beginning of the fourth quarter was telling when David Gabrovsek shot from behind the three-point line and saw that his ball would not find the net. He bulldozed past two Zwolle residents, jumped into the air and, to the delight of the fans, grabbed the rebound on his own shot.

Good starting position

And so Donar continued to fight. It gave Donar a 55-46 lead halfway through the fourth quarter, but at that moment the Groningen team also suffered from errors. Landstede Hammers crept closer and Donar choked on his own good intentions. At 56-54 and with just over a minute left on the clock, the home team pulled off one last shot.

Thanks to a nice three-pointer from the Dutch and a funny score from Justinas Ramanauskas, Donar won by seven points: 61-54. With that lead, Donar will travel to Zwolle on Sunday for the return in the quarter-finals of the cup tournament.

The winner of the match between Donar and Landstede Hammers will play in the semi-finals against the winner of the match between Feyenoord and LWD Basket.

For the Donar players, the match against Landstede Hammers was the last home game for a long time. The Groningers will not appear again at the public prosecutor’s office in Martiniplaza until February 17, unless Donar qualifies for the semi-finals of the cup tournament.

Donar-Landstede Hammers 61-54

Quarter positions: 16-16, 10-11, 19-13, 16-14.

Spectators: 2900.

Scores Donar: Quinn 10, Meeks 10, Hollanders 9, Gabrovsek 9, Kuiper 9, Babusis 9, Zuidema 3, Ramanauskas 2.

Top scorers Landstede Hammers: Pagenkopf 11, Hoeve 10.

Next game: Sunday, December 17, 2 p.m., Zwolle, Landstede Hammers-Donar (basketball cup quarter-finals).