The Towers start Friday against newly promoted Rostock in the second half of the Basketball Bundesliga (7 p.m.). And actually everything can only get better…
21 of 31 competitive games were lost. Only bottom Bayreuth is in worse shape. After two play-off participations, a relegation battle is announced.
“Of course that’s not what we imagine,” says boss Marvin Willoughby (45). “We weren’t good enough. But I still want to stay positive. Even if I’m positively angry.” Because the head of sport emphasizes: “I’m enough of a realist to know where we’ve been in the last two years. We performed very, very well there.”
This season, the towers have to pay the price for the Corona years under Pedro Calles (39 / Oldenburg), during which they lived beyond their means.
Willoughby: “We’ve spent the money that we’ve spent and we’ve had really, really bad problems getting the money back.”
Means: The Towers have to save until summer!
That’s why the squad was sewn to the brim with ten professionals right from the start. However, the new head coach Benka Barloschky (35) thinks he is good enough: “I have no doubt that we have the quality. What we have to work for is consistency. What we have to learn to deal with is resistance.”
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It is clear to those responsible that victories are urgently needed. “We have to do everything we can to win games as quickly as possible,” stresses Willoughby. And explores the market for reinforcements: “We’ll try everything.”
► Len Schoormann (20) is in the 17-man squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Sweden (February 24) and Finland (February 27).