The World Cup has not brought the hoped-for boost, the early out of the national team has also disappointed the expectations of the basketball league. When it's 54th in the evening, the league has to start without a championship boost. The top teams will be relatively unimportant, their halls are usually full anyway. And that, although the master question is already answered before the first matchday. There it is in basketball as well as in football: Bayern Munich is no way around.
What else is important before the league starts? Here are the questions and answers for the new season.
Who is the title favorite?
There is basically only one: Bayern Munich is already lifted by the competition on the plate. The defending champion has made one of his best players with Derrick Williams, Stefan Jovic and Devin Booker are also among the departures of the champions. But as is so common at Bayern Munich: It was extremely active in the transfer market to compensate for this: Former NBA pro Greg Monroe comes to Bayern, as well as national player Paul Zipser and Frenchman Mathias Lessort. Bayern President Uli Hoeneß says: "We go into every competition to win him." That applies first and foremost to the Bundesliga.
Who are the strongest competitors?
Also, there is a name called above all, and that's no surprise. Alba Berlin with coaching coach Aíto García Renenses is most likely to jeopardize the dominance of Munich. In Berlin itself, however, you are rather small before the season. Managing Director Marco Baldi says of the Bayern squad: "We have never seen such a team in Germany."
Who could be the star of the season?
Greg Monroe is now 29 years old, his big NBA time is over, but the record of the American is already impressive: 632 times Monroe stood in the US professional league in the field: Especially for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks then Phoenix, Boston and Toronto, before moving to Europe and Munich. Monroe is the league's new attraction.
FEDERICO ANFITTI / EPA-EFE / REX
The new Bayern star Greg Monroe
Newcomer Hamburg Towers is going into the season with international Heiko Schaffartzik as the new leading player. With Killian Hayes Ulm has an 18-year-old super talent in his ranks, the German press agency calls him the "perhaps the most exciting player in the league".
Why are there only 17 teams?
The league this time with an odd number of teams in the season. Promoter Nuremberg Falcons had qualified athletically for the league, the financially in the past few years, however, increased demands of the league, the team could not meet. The license was denied the Nuremberg after weeks of back and forth. There is no follower, the league plays with only 17 teams, so at the end of the season only one team will drop.
The smaller clubs feared for some time, the league wants to achieve a reduction by the back door. The conditions for a Bundesliga license have been significantly increased recently, a minimum budget of three million euros is now required, which is a million more than before. As a result, smaller teams reach a capacity limit.
Who transmits on TV?
Since not much has changed to the preseason. The paid streaming service Magenta Sport Telekom transfers all games. In FreeTV, Sport 1 is as recently the provider and transmits selected games of the league and later from the playoffs.
What about the European Cup?
With the European Cup and its importance, it's such a thing in basketball. There are four competitions, but ultimately the Euroleague outshines the other three competitions by far. Especially for Bayern Munich is the Euroleague a prestige competition, as is the comparison to the Champions League in football quite permissible. So far, however, Bayern have never made it to the top, this season the next attempt is made. Alba Berlin has qualified after a long absence thanks to a wildcard for the Euroleague.
The Bundesliga is also represented in the other competitions: EWE Baskets Oldenburg and ratiopharm Ulm play in the Eurocup, Brose Bamberg and Rasta Vechta in the Champions League. Medi Bayreuth is in the Fiba Europe Cup, the Telekom Baskets Bonn start either there or in the Champions League.
