Dhey at Ratiopharm Ulm want to dedicate this one victory on the way to the greatest success in the club’s history to their “coachman”. During the most spectacular basketball days of recent history, the sudden death of long-time bus driver and coach Andi Klee suddenly ripped the club out of luck.
Club boss Thomas Stoll tweeted on Thursday, the day before the fourth game in the final round of the championship against Telekom Baskets Bonn this Friday (8.30 p.m. / Sport1 and Magentasport): “Kutscher, one more victory”, plus four crying emojis and a photo of flowers and candles. Before the furious 112:84 on Wednesday evening, the second win in the third game, players and spectators paused for a minute’s silence. “Ulmer Basketball loses much more than an employee, we lose a piece of soul, heart and passion,” said the club. Klee was found dead in his office after the semi-final series against FC Bayern.
The sadness gave way to amazement and jubilation when the Ulm players dominated the Bonn team from the first minute. “That was the best performance Ulm has shown this season,” commented Karim Jallow from Ulm, his team’s top scorer with 24 points. Brandon Paul scored 23 points, center Bruno Caboclo 20. Bonn’s defence, like the offensive so far the strongest in the league, fell apart, the favorite from the Rhine, unbeaten in 25 league games up to the final series, seemed helpless. “We showed the worst performance of the season,” commented the Bonn coach Tuomas Iisalo: “Of course it’s disappointing in such an important game.”
If Ulmer, seventh in the main round, defeat the strongest team in the main round this Friday or in the last game of the season on Sunday, they will become German champions for the first time. After champions Alba Berlin (3-1 games) and cup winners FC Bayern (3-0), they also seem to be able to defeat Champions League winners Bonn. Coach Anton Gavel, who won the championship as a professional with Bamberg and Munich, is as concentrated as he is reserved before the possible culmination of his first year as head coach. “It’s just a win. We still need one,” he said. “There’s nothing left to spare.”
The Bonners, who seemed superior until they met Ulm, are threatened with their sixth defeat in the final series since 1997. “Everything went wrong,” commented the Bonn playmaker TJ Shorts, who was awarded the most valuable player in the league: “They made their shots. You made everything better.”