GER - New boys gearing up for life in BBL

BERLIN (BBL) - As Nurnberg and Karlsruhe bid a fond farewell to the BBL this weekend, BG 74 Gottingen and POM baskets Jena are feverishly making first division plans after securing promotion to Germany's top flight.

After using a run-and-gun, up-tempo style to capture the Second Division North crown, BG 74 Gottingen this week formed Starting Five Ltd, with a brief to prepare the club for the BBL.

Gottingen's two main issues to be ironed out over the coming months are securing an arena large enough to satisfy the BBL requirements of 3,000 spectators and upping their budget to the 1 million euros minimum.

Gottingen moved in the middle of the season from the 900-seat FKG-Halle to the 2,250 strong Godehardhalle. And the club moved very close to securing the allowance to play in the city's 3,300-seat Lokhalle - although there were hold ups as the club sought political approval.

"We're very happy that the local council found a satisfactory solution to give us the necessary planning security," said team co-ordinator Marc Franz.

Gottingen also have plenty of work to increasing their budget. Franz says the club would like to secure 500,000 euros by May 14 as the license needs to be approved a day later.

"That's a real challenge for us, but we're on a good way regarding the budget," Franz said.

One way Gottingen may go about bringing in more sponsors is drawing a connection to the club's successful past - which includes the 1980, 1983 and 1984 German titles.

"Basketball in Gottingen has enormous potential," said Franz, reflecting on the days when ASC Gottingen dominated with the likes of German national team veterans Erhard Apeltauer, Eckhard Lodders and Armin Sowa as well as American Wilbert Olinde and former UCLA Bruin sparkplug Terry Schofield as coach.

Their arrival also swells the number of BBL clubs in northern Germany, which pleases Marko Beens, managing director of nearby Artland Dragons Quakenbruck.

"Along with Quakenbruck, Braunschweig, Oldenburg and Bremerhaven, BG Gottingen is the first northern club in the first division. And that gives us even more great derbies," said Beens.

Gottingen coach John Patrick had his team running all season, averaging 95.8 points per game while committing just 14.2 turnovers a game and collecting 11.5 steals.

"We're the fastest team in the league and made the fewest mistakes. That's a nice combination," said Patick, who returned to Germany after leading Toyota Alvark to the 2006 JBL Superleague title.

Kyle Bailey was the team's leader with 20.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.8 steals. Six players scored at least 9.9 points a game and 22-year-old German big man Michael Schroeder averaged 11.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks.

Jena meanwhile collected the Second Division South crown thanks to a more deliberate and defensive style, just six years removed from being in the third division.

Jena management raised plenty of eyebrows in the off-season when they named 24-year-old Bjorn Harmsen as head coach of a team which finished second the previous season. But the team bought into Harmsen's philosophy.

"Before the season it was yes a strange situation. But all that was put aside relatively quickly when you saw how hard and professional the coach work," said veteran forward Gregor Linke, who is five years older than his coach.

"There are not a lot of young coaches that have a chance like this," said Harmsen.

Take out a quartet of little-used youngsters, the average age of Harmsen's eight-man rotation is 26.8 years. But that didn't stop Jena this season.

The main two players for Jena were Alexander Seggleke, who averaged a team-high 17.1 points as well as 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals, and Sean McCaw who had 12.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks.

Jena became the first team from the former East Germany to get promoted by performance to the German first division. And just like Gottingen, Jena also are dealing with arena and budgetary concerns.

The club has also solved the location problems as a temporary tent construction is planned around the facilities of the team's main sponsor until a new arena is built and ready by mid-2009.

"We're standing in front of a historic chance, and we can't let it go by," said club manager Steffen Hausdorfer.

Regarding the finances, Hausdorfer added: "In order to be competitive in the first division, we'll have to triple our current investments to 1.5 millions."

Both Gottingen and Jena are happy to have the chance of dealing with these problems.

David Hein
FIBA