German easyCredit BBL Youth Preview - Part 1
German easyCredit BBL Youth Preview - Part 1
The easyCredit BBL tips off on Thursday and the league has a number of intriguing youngsters ready to shine - here is Part 1 of Taking TheCharge’s look at who to watch.
ALBA Berlin and Telekom Baskets Bonn square off to start the 2021-22 easyCredit BBL season while the rest of the league will wait until the weekend to take the stage. Berlin and FC Bayern Munich are the overwhelming favorites to battle it out for the title next spring as the distance between the two Turkish Airlines EuroLeague teams and the rest of the league is quite massive. The fight against relegation should be entertaining as well with promoted side MLP Academics Heidelberg the number one candidate to head down to the ProA. But every team has a few good storylines - and many of them have good young talents to watch - which is the topic of this post.
- Note: The teams will be listed in order of final rankings from last season and only players born 2000 and later will be considered. -
ALBA BERLIN: Can Mattisseck move back ahead of Delow? And who is next?
ALBA Berlin have blossomed in recent years with the development of young players, especially with the arrival of Aito Garcia Reneses and his long history of nurturing prospects. Franz Wagner blossomed under Aito, who gave him a chance in the EuroCup in 2018-19 and then Wagner headed to stardom at University of Michigan and now will play in the NBA. The 2000-born Jonas Mattisseck was another who was granted an opportunity under the patient coach and really started taking off. Last season though Mattisseck failed to really take a clear step forward in his development. In fact, many could legitimately argue that the 2001-born Malte Delow actually moved past Mattisseck in the depth chart in 2020-21. Mattisseck does have more playmaking skills and is a better defender than Delow, but Delow is slowly making things uncomfortable for his older backcourt teammate. But it remains to be seen how Berlin will look with new personnel and Aito having left and being replaced by his former assistant coach Israel Gonzalez. Berlin have regularly been known to bring up more youngsters in their system and one who has already shown up in the preseason is Christoph Tilly. The main reason Tilly has been needed is because of a rash of injuries to Berlin’s big men - Ben Lammers, Christ Koumadje, Kresimir Nikic and Johannes Thiemann. Tilly is a 2003-born power forward/center who played in the German ProB third division last season and averaged 11.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
FC Bayerm Munich: George the only one left … alongside Obiesie
Bayern for a couple years seemed to be committed to giving their youngsters playing time but the likes of Sasha Grant, Matej Rudan and Jason George were never able to fight their way into the lineup amid the massive pressure the team faced to win at all costs. The 2002-born Grant was sent on loan for the season to Verona in the second division of his home land Italy, and the 2001-born Rudan has landed on loan at Mega Belgrade, which leaves the 2001-born George as the sole youngster. The 2.00 meter guard got in 22 German league games last season and averaged 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds in 9 minutes a contest. His top game was an 8-point, 5-rebound showing against BG Göttingen. George did, however, shine in his opportunity with Bayern’s second team in the ProB third division, averaging 20.3 points while hitting 34% on three-pointers, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists. But it remains to be seen if he can crack into a lineup this season under head coach Andrea Trinchieri. Though his good size at the guard position and athleticism might fit better into this season’s team than the group last year. The other player of note is 2000-born Joshua Obiesie, who is an NBA free agent after going undrafted in 2019. The guard played last season at s.Oliver Würzburg and averaged a modest 51 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists. While his chances of playing might be better than George’s, Obiesie is not really expected to make any sort of big impact on the team.
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg: Herzog and the Patricks
Ludwigsburg had no European distraction last season and concentrated solely on the German league. This season they will be playing in the Basketball Champions League - and it will be with a couple of youngsters as regulars in the rotation. The 2001-born Lukas Herzog already played his first BCL game back in the 2017-18 season and this will be his second full season with Ludwigsburg’s senior team. Herzog is an energy monster coming off the bench and giving his all at all times while also proving to be a solid three-point shooter. He shined at this summer’s FIBA U20 European Challenger, averaging 4.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists. Head coach John Patrick also has two of his sons on the team - the 2001-born Johannes and the 2003-born Jacob. Johannes will probably have more focus this season after he finished his schooling during the 2020-21 campaign. He provides energy and shooting as well. Jacob meanwhile is the bigger talent of the Patrick brothers - also being 1.93 meters to Johannes’ 1.86 meters. Jacob is a lethal shooter who played in seven German league games last season and made his debut at the 2020 season-ending tournament, during which he became the youngest scorer in league history at 16 years 6 months and 19 days. All three have had the advantage of growing up in the Ludwigsburg system and facing the likes of Nick Weiler-Babb, Marcos Knight, Jaleen Smith and Tremmell Darden over the past two seasons. A new name to the system is the 2003-born center Eduard Roschnafsky, who arrives from the NINERS Chemnitz program. Ludwigsburg are not particularly deep at center but it doesn’t seem like Roschnafsky will get a chance to play - at least not in the early months. Especially since the German U19 NBBL league did not have a season in 2020-21 and he lacked the development from playing regularly last year.
ratiopharm ulm: Zugic looking for the Killian Hayes effect
Ulm are clearly looking to further build up their reputation as a club where youngsters can come to be developed. Armed with a fantastic facility like the Orange Campus, Ulm then made a huge splash when they were able to bring in Killian Hayes in the summer of 2019. The French star talent was attracted by the chance to play for a EuroLeague winner like Jaka Lakovic as head coach while also being given the keys to the car. And Hayes turned that into a lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Next up on the star prospect to come to Ulm is Fedor Zugic, the 2003-born Montenegrin guard who holds the mark as the youngest player in EuroLeague history. It remains unclear what Zugic’s exact role will be as the Ulm backcourt also features Semaj Christon, Justin Simon, Thomas Klepeisz, Jaron Blossomgame as well as veteran Per Günther. Zugic will undoubtedly learn loads from his daily interaction with those players. Ulm also has a couple of other youngsters - the 2000-born duo of Moritz Krimmer and Nat Diallo. Krimmer played in 13 German league games last season but was able to use his workouts with the pro team to his advantage and really dominated at the ProB third division level, averaging 14.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals. He had two double-doubles and torched Karlsruhe for 32 points and dropped 26 points against Giessen the next game. Ulm have a history of giving their youngsters a chance, so if Krimmer can produce when his number is called, the 2.02 meter forward could get more playing time. Diallo, an athletic 2.08 meter center, meanwhile is still on the raw side and will undoubtedly benefit from going at it every day in practice against ex-NBA center Cristiano Felicio.
EWE Baskets Oldenburg: Agbakoko might get his chances
Oldenburg are not nearly as stacked at the center position as they were last season and that could lead to the 2000-born Norris Agbakoko to getting a chance to play a role this season. The team’s centers are Martin Breunig and Tai Odiase and if there are any injuries or foul problems, head coach Mladen Drijencic might just call Agbakoko’s number. Some have compared him to Tibor Pleiss because of his size and feeling with the ball. The 2.18 meter giant is a quick learner and he appeared in 10 games in the German league last season - 1.8 points and 1.8 rebounds. Agbakoko didn’t have a lot of playing time otherwise last season due to Covid-19 restrictions, which hurt his chances to develop. But he will be playing in the club’s amateur Regionalliga team to gain confidence, and his first game in that competition saw him collect 18 points on 9-18 shots, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.
HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim: Aleksa Kovacevic will play as a German
Crailsheim’s new head coach Sebastian Gleim arrives after being part of a FRAPORT SKYLINERS system which regularly gave young players a chance to play at the senior level. That was Frankfurt’s philosophy and it remains to be seen if having Gleim around bodes well for the 2002-born Aleksa Kovacevic. The Serbian point guard has been with the club since 2017, meaning he will actually count as a German on the club’s roster. The hard-nosed playmaker performed well for Serbia at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021, averaging 1.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists - which ranked fifth in the competition, and 1.1 steals. Kovacevic, who will not turn 20 until early March, did appear in nine German league games last season and also played at the 2019-20 Adidas Next Generation Tournament for Ludwigsburg, averaging 9.0 points, 5.5 assists and a tournament-best 5.0 steals.
Hamburg Towers: Hollatz ready for the next step, can Drescher come back?
The big name in Hamburg - and rightfully so - is Justus Hollatz. The 2001-born point guard made a major step last season with the arrival of Pedro Calles as head coach, averaging 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists and working himself into two games for the German senior national team in the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers. Hollatz, who hails from the Hamburg area, entered his name in the 2021 NBA Draft but withdrew it after gauging the league’s interest. This will be a big season for him - also to see if he can improve that outside shot - hitting just 27% last season. The other name to follow on Hamburg is Hendrik Drescher. The 2000-born big man came through the Berlin Lichterfelde and Alba systems but was not able to make the jump to the pro team. In 2019, he signed a three-year deal with Oldenburg and stayed there just one season, averaging 9.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in the ProB third division. Drescher moved to Hamburg prior to last season, but in the preseason, he tore his ACL and missed the entire 2020-21 campaign. Drescher is back and working out with the team, though he will probably play in the ProB to start the campaign. Drescher is someone who really had to work hard to change his game from cadet to junior because he was bigger than everybody and just dominated everybody at those early ages. But then he started to take his game outside a bit because he knew he would need that to be a pro, and it seems like he has been able to do that. Now he just needs to stay healthy and get that chance.
Brose Bamberg: Don’t expect too much from Baggette - yet
Bamberg’s only youngster of note at the moment is Elias Baggette, but fans really shouldn’t expect to see much of him this season. The club has publicly said they have a three-year plan with him and this season is basically just to get him accustomed to being a professional for the first time - dealing with grown men et cetera. Bamberg officials like the 2002-born guard, but want him to learn to become a point guard and know he can’t just go out there and play but he has to learn his game. So, expect to see him playing much more in the club’s second team.
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig: Next step time for van Slooten
Pete Strobl may be gone as head coach but new playcaller Jesus Ramirez will continue on the club’s commitment to giving youngsters quality playing time. And the main beneficiary will be Luc van Slooten. The 2002-born forward took a step forward in his first season with Braunschweig in 2020-21 as he averaged 5.6 points, 1.6 rebound and 1.0 assists in 17 minutes a game. Four times he scored 13 points or more, including 15 points against his former team RASTA Vechta in November 2020. van Slooten has all the tools to be a high level player but this season he will need to take the next step and assume responsibility within the team. Braunschweig also have the twin brothers Brandon and Nicolas Tischler, 2000-born athletic swingmen who were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic by the fact that they really didn’t get much playing time anywhere due to amateur sports restrictions. Both Tischlers came up in the Brose Bamberg system and will be hoping a change of scenery helps them take a step forward - but first after they make up for lost time.
PART II with the other nine clubs to follow