Brose Bamberg can win at Peristeri
Win it’s a must for both teams involved in the battle for a BasketballCL playoff spot and it seems like a balanced encounter, with the home side being the favourite of the bookmakers. But my firmly choice is staying with Brose Bamberg for a couple of reasons:
- Peristeri is not in good shape at all. In the last round of the Basketball Champions League, they almost got beaten at home by Mornar Bar, a team that came in Greece without many of their key players. Even so, after having an important lead at the halftime, Peristeri was in danger to lose the battle in the last quarter, being down due to their own negligence with the ball. They simply wasted at least a dozen opportunities and eventually won by luck. Peristeri didn’t convince me they have the proper level of motivation to reach out of the group. Lack of chemistry, average roster etc.
- On the other side, Brose Bamberg came strong the last round doing everything to secure their playoff spot. They destroyed VEF Riga with the biggest margin of the season in the entire competition (91-53) and even if the Latvian team is not a tough opponent, the game showed the hungry for victories of the German team.
- Let’s not forget that Brose Bamberg is a former Euroleague squad who opted to join BasketballCL signing a 5 years contract, instead of joining the Eurocup! Their elimination from the group will be a real disaster for them, while for Peristeri the same situation won’t be a tragedy.
- The German powerhouse is playing better and better (even if they have lost stupidly at home against Vechta), integrating all the bench guys in the game and this is a plus. They have a complete roster and this is great because this season the team was affected by a couple of injuries. I think that the Euroleague experience of some of their players will be clutch in this encounter.
Photo: Basketball Champions League
Gratian Cormos
