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Bremerhaven's style is perfect for Ulm

The guests have serious problems in the paint and defense. The hosts play faster and they might be able to keep it up

The first match has shown what will be Ulm's biggest problem after their center Joha Bryant left. They wont be able to rely on pick and roll and passing the ball into the paint. The replacements (Plaisted and Howard) do not have offensive power, and Keaton Nankivil is a wing center who mostly relies on the shot from the outside.

This is why Ulm relied on the backcourt in the match against Braunschweig. The play Günther led the game nicely, and the main shot duo, Hess-Long, have had a good day. The three scored almost 60 points. Thy did not have real support, and besides that, Ulm's defense was bad. The opponent had 70 shots and 13 field goals.

- We played good only for the first seven minutes so Braunschweig deserved to win - said coach Thorsten Leibnenath whose team played for the win until the end, but without any aggression and with very bad defense from the opponents outside shot which won them the match.

 Leibenath said that they did not scout Bremerhaven enough before the match:

- Some of their players are not familiar to us, but we are expecting Bermerhaven to be different than last season.

Ulm won't be able to count on the back-up play Tommy Mason-Griffin so the Dominican  Edgar Sosa, a recent reinforcement, will have his debut. The wing Philipp Schwethelm will probably miss the match.

Bremerhaven's way of playing should suite Ulm. The team from the north have obvious problems with centers. Some players are injured and they are not doing so well in the paint because of their way of playing. They played against Ludwigsburga in the first leg and it was clear they were missing the injured center Devin Searcy. They had the same problem in the preseason, and ti may be a problem against the offense orientated Ulm. A fast game style should suit the hosts, and Bremerhaven will certainly accept that because they do not have a chance in a 5 on 5 play.

-I' most unhappy with out defense. We said which players need to be stopped in the preparations, and these players were giving us most trouble. Ludwigsburg's center had his way with us - coach Clavin Oldham was disappointed.

Darius Adams who scored 20 points and the wing center Derrick Allen who scored 17 were the only ones who passed the test.

- We have to fix our defense. We have to be more aggressive in Ulm - said the experienced Allen.

The head director Jan Rathjen added:

- Ulm has a great team and they are hard to play against at home. Our advantage is the fact that we have nothing to lose. We can play unburdened in the Ratiopharm Arena.

The guests will not be able to count on the back Stefon Jackson who they'll particularly miss in the defense. The center Searcy will probably miss the match which is a big problem. Ulm does not have an impressive center court, but without the mentioned player, Bremerhaven's line is much worse.

Although Ulm have lost to Braunschweig in the first round, they have shown much more than Bremerhaven. Bremerhaven continue to play bad like in the preseason. They also have injury problems, so it is unlikely that they will be able to cope against Ulm, who are always strong at home. Ulm should fancy the away team playing quick and attacking, with loose defending as they have better players in the roster, especially the guard positions. With Bremerhaven playing poorly as they were in the preseason and the start of the season, I expect Ulm to be at their attacking best today. The away team are missing two key defensive players, Jackson and Searcy, so they lack quality in the paint to profit on the only weakness in the Ulm team. Jackson's absence means the away team can't really stop Ulm's top shooters, Hess and Long, while it can't be expected they'll dominate rebounds without Searcy.