betprepare.com

A post-John Bryant era begins for Ulm

The dominating center and MVP of recent seasons has moved to Bayern. Also, the away team is troubled by several absences

As expected, following a poor last season Braunschweig decided to change a lot of things. A lot of things didn't work out last year, causing the team to hover a good part of the season in or around the danger zone. It had been clear that coach Kostas Flevarakis wouldn't stay at the helm. Austrian expert Raoul Korner was brought in as the replacement and was presented with a clear goal - make a step forward compared to the last season and qualify for the playoffs.

It's a completely different team in many ways. Three important players from the last season are still there (Kulawick, McElroy and Nana), while the most notable departure is that of Dennis Schroder, who has joined the Atlanta Hawks. Irrespective of numerous departures, the Phantoms look none the worse than last year. They've signed two solid plays - Zazai from Giessen and James Florence from Hungary's Olaj seem like good solutions, and the shooting guard position will be occupied by Isaiah Swann, an outstanding scorer and ex-Ulm member, which should make it easy for him to settle in the Bundesliga.

There should be no settling issues for center Kyle Visser either. It's his third spell at Braunschweig. Good things are expected in the small forward position from Aaron Doornekamp, Canada's national team captain who spent the last season at Italian team Caserta.

It was a solid preseason for Braunschweig, and the team looks capable of getting into the playoffs, on paper at least. The only problem is their team depth, which could cause trouble in case of injuries, especially in the paint. Several players didn't train last week due to illnesses or minor injuries, but everyone's been good to go since the start of this week.

- We've prepared for Ulm in the best possible way. It's a team that looked good already in the preseason, which could be best seen in their last preseason game against Bayern. They dominated throughout the game and won convincingly. If we want to win today, we must show our potential from the first minute. I think the intensity in defense will be the key element. We must defend aggressively - coach Korner said.


- This season we're playing faster, with more intensity and with a bigger emphasis on physical basketball - said Robert Kulawick, one of the old crew.

A new era begins at Ulm. Center John Bryant has left the town and this is the biggest and worst news that a fan of this team could hear this summer. Nothing will ever be the same again without Big John. The double Bundesliga MVP dominated the last two seasons, he was the cornerstone of all game plans, able to win games on his own. They have found no replacement for him, because there is no one out there who could fill his shoes. The problem for Ulm is that a number of other key players have also departed. Alongside Bryant, those are former captain Steven Esterkamp, Dane Watts and excellent shooter Allan Ray.

The leader of the new Ulm is definitely their play Per Gunther. Keaton Nankivil and Philipp Schwethelm are also still in the team. Shooting guard Tommy Mason-Griffin was supposed to play an important role, but this player, who missed the entire last season, has suffered another serious injury during a preseason game and will again be out for a longer period.

Dominican Edgar Sosa was brought in as his replacement. He could get a few minutes of playing time today since backup play Till Jonke is also struggling with an injury. They won't be able to count on small forward Philipp Schwethelm today, who is troubled by his back, while the good news is that power forwards Nankivil and Matt Howard are good to go.

Ulm has been looking for signings mostly in the French market. They've brought Howard and Trent Plaisted from there, and these two should fill the gap created by Bryant's absence, as much as this is impossible to expect, while the shooting duties should be performed well enough by Adam Hess and Cameron Long.

- Braunschweig is a team with a lot of experience, they have good transition play and Isaiah Swann. We must do everything to stop him in offense, no matter how difficult this is - said Leibenath, who is well acquainted with the shooting ability of his former player.

In addition, Ulm spent most of their preseason without their key player Gunther, but managed to defeat Bayern in the last game before the start of the Bundesliga by 98-90 (had a 57-35 lead at halftime). Ulm was at 71% for three points (Hess and Long 8-for-9).

Although Ulm won against Bayern in the last preparation match on Sunday, I doubt they can shoot for three-pointers with 70% efficiency today. Braunschweing showed excellent performances during the preparation time, they are a well organized team with some very good defensive players. Above all it is Immanuel McElroy whose task will be to stop the best three-point shooter of Ulm, Adam Hess. With Nan and Visser the home team have centers which are capable of handling the tall away team players, especially after John Bryant left. That is not the only problem of Ulm. The forward Matt Howard is feeling consequences of a minor injury for a while and Nankivil, Theis and Plaisted haven't done full preparations either. Today they won't be able to count on the playmaker Mason-Griffin and the important forward Schwethelm. As the young Till Jönke is also questionable, the only solution for the playmaker is Per Günter. At the last moment they brought the lesser known Dominican Edgar Sosa. If Ulm were completely consolidated and healthy, favoring them would make sense, but now at the start of the season I think it is a 50-50 match which could be decided by only a few points.