German NBBL (U19) and JBBL (U16) Final Four Preview
Can Ludwigsburg or Oldenburg become 5th club to win both JBBL/NBBL crowns? Bayern go for 4th NBBL title, ALBA aim for 4th JBBL win. Will Ulm win 2nd JBBL title or Dragons finally win for first time?
Germany have made massive strides in their youth development and the next wave of that talent will be on display this weekend in Berlin with the U19 NBBL and U16 JBBL Final Fours as well as the U18 WNBL women’s Final Four. Here is a breakdown of the stories to watch for the RSM Ebner Stolz Jugend-TOP4 games at the Sporthalle Charlottenburg from May 10-12 plus a look at some of the top names on the rosters of the teams.
The NBBL has existed since the 2006-07 season while the JBBL started in 2010-11. And one club took both titles on the same weekend four times with two teams - Baskets Juniors Oldenburg and Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg - having a chance to become the fifth youth program to do the double this weekend in the German capital. Interestingly enough, Oldenburg - who are making their debut in both NBBL and JBBL Final Fours - face off against Ludwigsburg in both Semi-Finals. Ludwigsburg will be playing in the U19 final event for the first time.
Other major storylines are if FC Bayern Munich can grab their fourth NBBL crown after 2015, 2017 and 2019. YOUNG RASTA DRAGONS meanwhile are probably thrilled that ALBA BERLIN are not at the NBBL Final Four. Dragons are making their sixth appearance and have lost to Berlin in the 2018 and 2022 Finals as well as the 2016 and 2023 Semi-Finals. Dragons will be taking on Bayern in the Semi-Finals - a club they lost to in the 2017 Semi-Finals but beat in the Semis in 2022.
In the JBBL, ALBA BERLIN claimed the title in 2017, 2018 and 2023. They beat Ludwigsburg in the 2018 Semi-Finals. Berlin’s Semi-Finals opponent are the 2022 champion ratiopharm ulm, who lost in the 2016 Final in their only other previous appearance. Ludwigsburg for their part claimed the 2015 JBBL crown and came up short in the 2011 Final.
Just a short note on the WNBL Final Four - the women’s U18 tournament will produce a first-time German champion as all four teams have yet to claim the trophy. Metropol Girls Recklinghausen take on BSG Basket Ludwigsburg and the winner will take on the victor of the second Semi-Final between MTV München 1879 and SC RIST WEDEL.
JBBL
Baskets Juniors Oldenburg vs Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg - 11:00 CET
What a match-up this Semi-Final promises as Oldenburg ace Djordje Klaric will be going up against Armin Pivac of Ludwigsburg - two of the best performers in the 2023-24 JBBL season.
Oldenburg
As goes Djordje Klaric so goes Oldenburg. Klaric averaged a massive 35.2 points per game this season while shooting 33.2 percent on three-pointers and 81 percent on free throws (172/212 in 20 games). He did plenty of other things for the Oldenburg team as well as 6.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.6 steals. Klaric had some amazing games including scoring 54 points against Young Lions Wuppertal on February 18 and 51 points versus SG Junior Löwen Braunschweig on January 21 as well as a triple-double of 41 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on January 14 against Wuppertal.
Yanu Slingerland is a great Robin to Klaric’s Batman as he averages 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists 3.4 steals and 0.9 blocks. Oldenburg also feature Nemanja Prodanic (11.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.2 steals), Bruno Walz (9.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals) and Matti Oldiges (8.3 points 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.3 steals).
Ludwigurg
Armin Pivac has been Ludwigsburg’s go-to guy all season. The 2.03 meter center is averaging 18.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.1 steals with three triple-doubles. He came up with a monsterous 27 points, 24 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over TS Jahn München on January 28, 2024. He collected 17 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in his first game of the season and tallied 20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 1 of the Quarter-Finals against Eintracht Frankfurt/FRAPORT SKYLINERS on April 21.
Pivac gets a lot of help from his teammates. Noel Polidori is a real sniper (11.8 points with 39.7 percent on three-pointers, 2.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.2 steals) while Ricards Harijs Rocans (11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals), Jannik Nägele (11.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 2.7 steals), Amadou Cisse (8.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals), Danilo Zdravkovic (5.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists) and Kenan Youdom (5.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.2 steals) all have versatile games in the Ludwigsburg system.
One more player of note is 2009-born Yohann Tchouaffe, who averages 6.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.2 steals and is the cousin of successful France youth national team player Bathiste Tchouaffe. Yohann, who last fall took part in the German U15 national team camp, also has a younger brother born in 2012 that is interesting.
ALBA BERLIN vs ratiopharm akademie Ulm (14:00 CET)
This is a showdown of two of three biggest clubs in Germany in terms of members and the winners of the last two JBBL crowns - Ulm in 2022 and Berlin in 2023.
ALBA
Berlin are the definition of multi-headed monster. Seven players have averaged at least 10 points this season and 11 players averaged at least 15 minutes of action per game.
Anton Kemmer (16.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 2.0 steals) has put up the biggest numbers along with Maxim Bader (12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 4.3 steals) while Ben Kolebka (12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists), Ari von Wiegen (10.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals) and Wiktor Szczesko (10.6 points, 4.3 rebounds) all produce when they play.
Berlin have two very promising 2009-born players in Jona Drücke (10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.9 steals) and Philipp Hölsken (10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.2 steals). The team also has strong contributors in Bruno Felling (6.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.0 steals) and Fin Borczanowski (7.8 points 3.0 rebounds 2.4 assists, 2.0 steals).
Ulm
Ulm for their part are more focused on one player - that being Teo Milicic, the younger brother of former Ulm youth standout Igor Milicic and son of Polish national team head coach Igor Milicic. Teo has had an outstanding season with 23.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 4.7 steals including back-to-back triple-doubles in the playoffs. He poured in 27 points to go with 13 rebounds and 10 assists as well as 6 steals in Game 2 of the Round of 16 against Team Bonn/Rhöndorf and followed that with 21 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals in Game 1 of the Quarter-Finals versus FC Bayern Munich.
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Don’t be confused though, Ulm is not just Milicic. Kayaan Yeboah has been a problem all season for opponents with 17.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals. Noah Daleiden is considered one of the next hopes for Luxembourg basketball as he picked up 12.1 points 7.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.7 steals. Ulm also feature Felix Kiehlneker (12.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks), Tom Sommerfeld (9.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.7 steals) and Luca Ertekin (8.1 points 2.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists).
NBBL
YOUNG RASTA DRAGONS vs FC Bayern Munich (16:30 CET)
These are two of the best NBBL clubs for the past near decade - though Bayern are the only one to hoist the trophy. But Dragons - a collective effort between RASTA Vechta and Artland Dragons - have been close and also produced some strong talent. This promises to be a real battle with Jack Kayil going at it against Ivan Kharchenkov - two 2006-born guards who will team up later this summer and hope to help Germany win a medal at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 and qualify for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025.
Dragons
The club has been trying to get some German youth hardware for many years and have been close many times. This Dragons team definitely has a great chance to finally hoist the trophy with a lot of top level talent.
The main man will be Jack Kayil, who has been splitting time with the NBBL team as well as the ProA second division team. The 2006-born guard played in 10 NBBL games and averaged 18.2 points with 36.4 percent shooting on three-pointers, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.0 steals. Kayil is a versatile guard who can do so many different things on offense and really can take opponents’ top scorers out of the game on defense as well.
Joshua Bonga came to Vechta this off-season after a series of injury concerns that wiped out of the entire 2022-23 season. He finally got back onto the court in December 2023 and like Kayil played for both NBBL and ProA teams. In the NBBL, the younger brother of Isaac Bonga averaged 14.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals.
Dragons also have the forward duo of Linus Trettin (14.0 points 6.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 steals) and Karl Bühner (13.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.5 steals, 1.2 blocks) who really help the team in a lot of ways.
Another addition this off-season who used to play with Frankfurt like Bonga is Noah Koch. The 2007-born point guard is the son of former German league coach Stefan Koch and he averaged 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.1 steals for the season.
Yet another interesting talent for Vechta is 2008-born Marko Petric, who averaged 7.5 points with 36.1 percent on three-pointers, 2.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists and will be a part of the German national team at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
There is also an outside chance that star center talent Johann Grünloh will play in the event. The 18-year-old, who was just named as the easyCredit BBL Best German U22 Youth Player, played in one NBBL game and had 7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks. Vechta’s professional team still has two games to play this season and it’s unclear in what position in the standings the team will finish. If Vechta’s spot in the standings cannot change with the final game of the regular season - on Sunday May 12 - then maybe Grünloh could play in Berlin.
Bayern
Bayern’s team is highlighted by a couple of key players who played most of the season with the ProB third division team and not much with the NBBL side.
The 2006-born Ivan Kharchenkov is the main instance of that as he only played in five NBBL games in March and April. The German youth international is given a lot of freedom to control the U19 team and he averaged 24.2 points on 60.4 percent on two-pointers and just 27.3 percent on three-pointers, 7.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.2 blocks. The second game of the Quarter-Finals series with KICKZ IBAM saw Kharchenkov flirt with a triple-double as he tallied 35 points - including 15-of-17 free throws, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Kharchenkov already earned minutes this season in multiple games in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Martin Kalu also has mainly played with the ProB team, appearing in just six NBBL games in which he tallied 11.2 points on 34.2 percent two-pointers and 27.3 percent on three-pointers, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Kalu has great athleticism and a good drive to the basket, but he did not really shine at the NBBL level this season.
Most of Bayern’s top players are all younger players with Ivan Volf being an exciting 2006-born forward who has played for Croatia at the youth national team level. In nine NBBL games, Volf is tallying 11.1 points 26.9 percent on three-pointers 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals. Fellow 2006-born Desmond Yiamu - a refugee from Ukraine - is an energy monster who is scoring 12.4 points on 76.2 percent shooting to go with 7.2 rebounds - 2.5 of them from the offensive glass - 1.0 assists and 1.6 steals. German-Greek 2007-born Nikolas Sermpezis is collecting 13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals, 2006-born Dominik Dolic averages 15.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals and 2008-born Dzenis Hodovic is picking up 10.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.1 steals. Two members of the 2005-born generation who stand out for Bayern are Jannis Grußendorf (12.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 steals) and Luka Pesic (10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists).
Baskets Juniors Oldenburg vs Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg (19:00 CET)
Saturday’s action starts with Oldenburg taking on Ludwigsburg and it will end in the same match-up - the latter being in the NBBL. Both of these teams are making their NBBL Final Four debut. Both of these teams played at the U18 Youth Basketball Champions League with Oldenburg taking sixth place and Ludwigsburg finishing 11th.
Oldenburg
Oldenburg’s NBBL team is not as centric on one player as the JBBL team with Djordje Klaric. In fact five players average double figures scoring.
The top producer is Igor Jokic, who averages 18.5 points on 44.3 percent three-point shooting, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.9 steals. Simon Kohlhoff for his part picks iup 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.6 steals.
Two of the other three players with double figure scoring are 2006-born players - Miran Evin (10.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals) and Colin Schroeder (10.7 points, 38.5 percent on three-pointers, 5.1 rebounds). There is also Tim Nocke (10.8 points, 6.9 rebounds). Oldenburg’s NBBL team also includes two older brothers of leading players from the JBBL side in Noah Slingerland (6.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.2 steals) and 2006-born Lazar Klaric (6.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals). The Slingerlands are from the Netherlands and the Klaric brothers are the son of Oldenburg club sporting director Srdjan Klaric.
Ludwigsburg
The Ludwigsburg team were forced to do without one of their leading players in the Quarter-Finals as 2006-born Travis Davis left the club to play AAU basketball in the United States. Before leaving, Davis had averaged 12.3 points on 26.7 percent three-pointers 2.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals.
One of the main guys to fill in for the Davis absence has been 2007-born Julis Baumer, who averaged 7.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals. In Game 1 of the Quarter-Finals against Team Urspring, Baumer picked up 9 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.
Esli Edigin is one of the 2005 generation’s top talents and the guard has had a strong sesaon as well with 12.6 points on 32.9 percent three-point shooting, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.1 steals. And his defense will play a major role in Ludwigsburg’s chances.
Ludwigsburg all season have done a good job distributing the offensive load upon many shoulders. Among those who have shared the load are Abdulhay Kömürkara (13.4 points on 35.3 percent three-pointers, 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals), Sebastian Schwachhofer (12.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.6 steals), Marko Masic (11.3 points 3.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.4 steals) and Lukas Modic (10.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.9 steals).
One of the best rim protectors in the Final Four will be Ludwigsburg’s Netherlands big man Moek Icke, who collected 9.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks. Ludwigsburg’s team also features two brothers with the Bulgarians 2006-born Stanislav Hinkov (10.5 points with 40.0 percent on three-pointers, 3.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals) and 2007-born Daniel Hinkov (5.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists).
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