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Financial problems are the talk of the day in Würzburg

Total debt of this club is 835,000 EUR and the Bundesliga officials won't tolerate that. Würzburg have to come up with a repayment plan or they will face the consequences

 Bayreuth definitely cannot be happy with their schedule. They had to face 4 out of 5 Germany's best teams in the past 4 rounds. It is no surprise they lost all games. Bayern, Oldenburg, Brose and Ulm in the last round. That was the list of fixtures and only the Bavarian team left them without any chance whatsoever. 

In the other three games, the result doesn't tell the who story, even though the pattern was the same. Bayreuth did great until about 35th minute and then they stop functioning, especially in defense, and lose the points. This is exactly what happened against Ulm. Consecutive 3-pointers from their opposition left them no chance whatsoever.

- We've played a solid defense, but against such a powerful offensive team as Ulm, you have to do even better in defense-  said coach Predrag Krunic.

It is obvious Bayreuthrnwill have to increase their bench. Perhaps the solution is to bring in new players as Krunic virtually rotates six players. Bryan Bailey is currently injured and Sead Sehovic has been brought to replace him and he hasn't been doing so badly, but apart from him, no other bench player has made a contribution. The main four play 30 minutes on average and this cannot work against stronger teams.

Today they should have an easier job. Their opponents are not on the level of Ulm or Oldenburg and they will be able to make more rotations. In addition, they had a pretty convincing win against Würzburg in the pre-season (77-63).

- They've had a poor start of the season but they're definitely a better team than the standings would suggest. They have good players, solid defense...We expect a tough game in which we will show all we've got - said assistant coach Tim Nees.

Coach Krunic also added:

- We've had a very tough schedule lately and some injury problems as well. The most important thing is that we kept giving our best. We were competitive in all games, but the quality of the opposition was crucial in the end.

Considering Würzburg are coming to Bayreuth, this is a so-called Franken-derbi, that is, a derby between the clubs from the same region. Würzburgrn got their first win this season in the last round after six defeats, but some other things came into focus.

And that is the 835,000 EUR of debt that the club has which put their fist-division license in question. A special commission for granting licenses will be in session soon and Würzburg were asked to deliver the necessary documentation by the end of the month in which they will present their repayment plan.

If this plain is declared unfit, they will get the sanctions and this will probably mean taking away their points. This whole story reminds us of last year's situation with Giessen that lost points and all their top players. Würzburgu are certain they will avoid that situation.

The financial problems have, at least for some time, become more important than the problems with the results. Last weekend, coach Marcel  Schröder definitely didn't sleep well. Had he lost to Bremerhaven he would have been fired. This, however, didn't happen. His team's best defensive performance this season kept him on the bench. They limited their opposition to some 60 points and won despite having 12 rebounds less and a very poor 3-point percentage.

- Our defense was crucial for this win. We forced our opponents to get 24 turnovers and we got easy points this way - said Schröder who turned to the game today:

- Bayreuth's standings do not reflect their quality. They have a really good team with great players on all positions. This will be a really tough game for us. I'm sure Bayreuth will get into the play-offs.

The away team will be missing their important center Jason Boone. Their power forward Lamont Mack has recovered but he isn't fully ready.

- The financial problems are not something that the players should be concerned with. We try to focus on basketball as much as possible - added  Schröder.  

With this pick the context is much more important than bare figures. For example, Bayreuth lost their last four games and mostly played matches above the said margin, but their opponents were mostly top teams of the league (Bayern, Oldenburg, Brose, Ulm), against whom they could not keep up the same intensity on defense throughout the 40 minutes. Due to the losing streak, the home team are predicting a fierce game. Their opponent is Würzburg, in a local, so called Franken derby. These are always extremely aggressive games, and today should not be any different, considering the situation. Würzburg are in an even tougher situation. They have so far managed to score only one victory and coach Schröder is close to departure, but the players have said that they will do whatever they can on the court to avoid that. Würzburg have been playing much better defense in the last three rounds than at season's opening, managing to limit the run-and-gun Bremerhaven to only 63 points in the last round game. It is clear that the away team only stand a chance if they manage to put up a solid defense. On the other hand, the only two wins for the home team so far were those in which they limited their opponents to 67 and 49 points, in home games as well. Bayreuth and Würzburg played a 140 point game in the preseason.