German easyCredit BBL Youth Preview - Part 2
German easyCredit BBL Youth Preview - Part 2
The easyCredit BBL tips off on Thursday and the league has a number of intriguing youngsters ready to shine - here is Part 2 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. -
medi bayreuth: Bruhnke’s time is now - as long as he stays healthy
The only name to watch with Bayreuth is Kay Bruhnke, who once was considered one of Germany’s higher level talents. The 2001-born swingman hails from Weiden, which is only about 30 kilometers from Bayreuth, where he actually started his youth career. Brose Bamberg - located also nearby - quickly brought him into their system but Bruhnke was never able to establish himself because of two separate broken foot injuries that drastically limited his playing time. Last season, Bruhnke made the move to Bayreuth and he had his moments, averaging 2.9 points and 1.0 rebounds in 10 minutes per game, highlighted by his 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against Hamburg. The club hopes he can stay healthy and will likely give him every possible chance to tap into his high potential.
FRAPORT SKYLINERS: Schoormann, Vrcic and others have to prove themselves anew
There is a new coach in Frankfurt in Diego Ocampo, a Spanish playcaller who learned as an assistant under greats such as Aito Garcia Reneses and also served in the youth ranks at Barcelona. The fact that Ocampo has recently dealt with youngsters definitely bodes well for some of Frankfurt’s top talents like Len Schoormann and Bruno Vrcic, who will have to prove themselves anew with the new man on the sidelines. The 2002-born point guard Schoormann is considered one of Germany’s next star prospects, debuting in the BBL in 2019-20 with 2.8 points and 1.0 assists in 12 games. He really showed glimpses of what is possible at the 2020 season ending tournament, where he averaged 4.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 16 minutes over six games - topped by 9 points against Bamberg. Last season, the 1.92 meter playmaker collected 2.2 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 7 minutes a game over 23 contests. His best game was a 14-point, 4-rebound showing against Göttingen. Frankfurt club officials will be hoping Schoormann can take the next step in his development this season. The 2000-born Vrcic really started to produce last season in his first full campaign with the pro team - and second in the club after his arrival from Bayern Munich. The shooting guard averaged 6.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 17 German league games while also shooting 35.7% from long range. Vrcic showed that he can produce as well, scoring 16 points against Crailsheim and then 18 points versus Hamburg in his final game of the season. New in the Frankfurt system is Lorenz Brenneke, who arrives from the ALBA Berlin ranks. The 2000-born power forward was limited last season due to injuries and really only got playing time in the ProB, where he averaged 13.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Brenneke, who won the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in 2018 with Germany and also took a bronze medal at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2019, failed to break through to the Berlin senior team and a change of scenery might be just what he needs. A couple of other names to watch are 2003-born Alexander Richardson and 2002-born Jordan Samare. Richardson is a 2.05 meter center who averaged 4.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in Germany’s third division ProB as a 17-year-old and then picked up 4.6 points and 4.8 rebounds at the FIBA U20 European Challengers this past summer - also still only 17 years old. Samare meanwhile averaged 9.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in the ProB last season.
BG Göttingen: Low expectations for ex-Panathinaikos guard Giotis
The only youth name even on the radar for Göttingen is Marios Giotis, a 2002-born Greek guard who played last season for Ionikos. The 1.97 meter wing is best known for scoring 25.3 points to go with 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 steals at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament 2019-20 for Panathinaikos. Giotis is not even listed on Göttingen’s roster on the league’s website so expect to see him in the club’s second and youth teams.
Telekom Baskets Bonn: Hounnou top candidate to get minutes
Bonn have a number of youth players listed on their roster on the league webpage but none of them have any experience in the BBL yet. The name who will most likely have the best chances of getting into games for Bonn this season is Ralph Hounnou. The 2002-born point guard came up in the MBC system and moved to Ludwigsburg last season - after having played for the club at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in 2019-20. And now he is in Bonn hoping to get playing time - which he will at least get in the ProB third division.
NINERS Chemnitz: Gregori a hope for the future?
Chemnitz will not be relying on any youngsters this season but there are two names to watch. The more interesting one is Brendan Gregori, a 1.84 meter point guard who will not turn 17 until November. The 16-year-old appeared in four German league games late last season, facing high level competition against the likes of Ludwigsburg, Ulm and Berlin and totaling 4 points and 3 turnovers in 11 combined minutes. Gregori also played in two U19 NBBL games and averaged 9.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals. Again, Chemnitz will not be counting on him this season but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he's included on game rosters against big teams for the case the game should turn into a blowout. The other name to just have written down is Nick Lasch, a 2003-born power forward who picked up 9.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in two NBBL games. Both players will benefit greatly from the amateur leagues being played this season after they were stricken due to Covid-19 restrictions in 2020-21.
SYNTAINICS MBC: Caisin, former Berlin duo and Friederici on highly-interesting club
If you had MBC in your pool as perhaps the most interesting team in the league in terms of youth players, you might just be right. The club added one of Germany’s top youngsters as well as two players from ALBA Berlin and also have two other names to watch. Radii Caisin will be playing for his fourth team in the last four seasons - after Vechta, Ludwigsburg and Crailsheim - and the 2001-born small forward hopes he can finally break through with MBC. Caisin, who has played for Germany’s U16, U18 and U20 national teams, averaged 2.6 points and 0.7 rebounds in 7 minutes over 23 games for Crailsheim. It looked early on that he could have a breakout season, scoring 13 points against Ludwigsburg and Braunschweig in a four-game stretch. But he totaled just 30 points in his last 19 games of the season, failing to score 12 times. It will be good to see what Caisin can do with added responsibility. MBC also added the 2002-born duo of Evans Rapieque (a 1.93 meter point guard) and Hendrik Warner (a 2.08 big man) from the Berlin system. Neither player was able to advance to the pro team, both stalling out at the club’s ProB third division team. MBC will be fighting to avoid relegation so it remains to be seen just how much playing time they will give their youngsters. One young player who received BBL minutes last season at MBC was Vincent Friederici, who arrived at the club last season after previously playing with Bremerhaven in the ProA second division. The 2001-born guard scored 2 points and picked up 1 assist in six minutes over three games while also averaging 11.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals in the ProB third division. The 2001-born Robin Danes also got into two BBL games last season, his first with the club after coming in from the Bonn system.
s.Oliver Würzburg: Boehmer hopes to use chance, how much will we see Ndi
Probably the top youth development story for Würzburg last season was Julius Boehmer holding his own in the BBL, averaging 3.6 points, 0.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 11 games. Head coach Denis Wucherer gave the 2002-born playmaker more and more responsibility over the final stretches of the season and Boehmer rewarded the coach, scoring 10 points against Berlin in one game and combining for 13 points in his final three games of the season. The end of the season also saw the 2004-born Elijah Ndi play the final two games - finishing with 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 24 minutes over four total appearances. Ndi was drastically hurt by the Covid-19 restrictions, which cut out all amateur basketball in 2020-21. Fans really shouldn’t expect to see Ndi this season but he was given a taste of pro ball. Two other names to watch in the Würzburg system are the 2003-born Dutch shooting guard Yulian Ramirez and 2004-born small forward David Gerhard.
JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers: Binapfl and Begue hope change leads to more chances
Giessen brought in a head coach, Pete Strobl, who was known for giving chances to young players at Braunschweig and Kilian Binapfl and Maxi Begue hope they get playing opportunities as they also arrive new at the club. Binapfl grew up in the Bayern system and never was able to break through in Munich, deciding in 2019 to move to Bonn, where he played two seasons. In 2020-21, the 2000-born shooting guard averaged 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 26 games. Binapfl did finish strong, picking up 10 points and 5 rebounds against Ludwigsburg and 10 points and 3 rebounds versus Ulm in the final week of action. He will hope to build on that confidence this season. Begue meanwhile arrives from Frankfurt, where he spent his entire career. The 2001-born shooting guard totaled 12 BBL appearances, including nine games last season in which he averaged 1.9 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 12 minutes.
MLP Academics Heidelberg: Watkins hoping for opportunity
Heidelberg will be the top candidate to be relegated so it’s unclear how much the promoted team will give their young players a chance to play. The only possible name to make any kind of impact is Anthony Watkins. The 2000-born point guard, who went to high school in the United States, spent last season at Braunschweig and collected just 6 points in 29 minutes over 12 games - all of those points coming against Ludwigsburg.