Bayer Giants Leverkusen

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Bayer Giants Leverkusen
logo
Nickname "The giants of the Rhine", "Giants"
Founded 1961
Hall Ostermann Arena
(3500 seats)
Homepage giants-leverkusen.de
Trainer Hansi grace
league ProA Men
ProA 2019/20 : 5th place
  NBBL U 19
2012/13: 1st place
  JBBL U 17
2012/13: 2nd place
Colours Red White
successes
German champion : 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1985, 1986,
1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
German cup winner : 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1986,
1987, 1990, 1991, 1993 , 1995

ProB champions: 2013 and 2019

Bayer Giants Leverkusen is a basketball club from Leverkusen and forms a division of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen .

The men's professional team, which until 2000 called itself “Die Riesen vom Rhein” , played in the German basketball league until 2007/08 and is the record champion there with 14 titles to this day. After the main sponsor Bayer withdrew and the professional license was sold to the Giants Düsseldorf , the Bayer Giants are currently playing in the ProA .

history

The beginning (1961–1979)

In 1961 the basketball department of TuS Bayer 04 Leverkusen was founded by integrating a basketball school team from the Carl Duisberg Gymnasium into the club. As early as 1968, the club rose to the top German division, the basketball league. In the same year, in October 1968, the TuS 04 Bundesliga players Kuprella , Pollex , Thimm and Wandel were appointed DBB sports supervisor by the Federal Coaching Council of the German Basketball Federation (DBB), chaired by the then Vice President of the DBB Anton Kartak , appointed to the 50-strong Olympic squad for the basketball tournament of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich . Günter 'Doc' Hagedorn , who worked as head coach in Leverkusen with great success after promotion to the basketball league, worked part-time as co-trainer of DBB national trainer Miloslav Kříž and was at the same time from the DBB with the task of base training in Entrusted to the DBB as part of the Olympic preparation. In 1970, only 2 years after the Bundesliga promotion, the club was able to celebrate the first German championship. In addition, the cup victory could be celebrated in the same year. Leverkusen even won all of their 25 games of the season: 18 games in the preliminary round, six in the second round and the final against MTV Gießen.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen were able to defend the title in the following two years. Even then, the Leverkusen youth concept bore fruit. Achim Kuczmann , Reiner Frontzek and Rudi Kleen were players from their own junior squad who were able to develop into a permanent fixture in the club and in the national team . In the 1970s, Leverkusen won a total of five championship titles and four cup wins.

The competition grows stronger (1980–1989)

In the 1980s, the Leverkusen basketball players faced stiff competition. With the ASC 1846 Göttingen and the team from BSC Saturn Cologne , two Bundesliga clubs developed with a similar level of performance, but they could not keep the game going for long. In this context, there was a great change in Leverkusen. Veteran basketball players of the club like Dieter Kuprella , Norbert Thimm , Rudi Kleen and John Ecker resigned or resigned. In addition, during the 1980s, the former national player Otto Reintjes became the first full-time manager of Bayer's basketball department. Under Reintjes, the generation change took place in a few years. From 1980 the US-American Chris Lee was Bayer coach and at times in a double function also German national coach. In November 1984 Lee resigned after the team had previously been eliminated in the DBB Cup against the then second division Bayreuth and had already gone through difficult times in the previous weeks. Among other things, they had lost heavily against Saturn Cologne (70: 104). Reintjes coached the team temporarily, in January 1985 the American Jim Kelly came as the new coach. This commitment turned out to be a good move. Because under Kelly, the team used their small remaining chance to move into the championship round and also benefited from a point deduction against SSV Hagen, which was pronounced after Reintjes had submitted documents to the association that raised doubts about a Hagener's eligibility to play. On the way to the final series, defending champions ASC Göttingen were eliminated and in the fight for the championship title they then prevailed against DTV Charlottenburg, the forerunner of Alba Berlin. After a six-year waiting period, Leverkusen became German champions again. In 1986 Leverkusen won the championship and cup, in April 1986 manager Reintjes announced the goal of "establishing himself at the top of Europe in the medium term over the next four years". John Johnson (with Bayer from 1985), who has US and British citizenship, was the outstanding Leverkusen player in those years. By reaching the semi-finals in the European Cup Winners' Cup (today ULEB Eurocup ), Leverkusen also attracted attention in an international competition. In 1989 Dirk Bauermann was promoted from assistant to head coach. He had already worked as a coach in Leverkusen's youth work before his two years in the United States. His temporary move to California (Fresno State University) came about thanks to Bayer’s financial support. In return, Bauermann promised to return to the Bayer Leverkusen coaching staff after his return to Germany. He first worked with Kelly and was assigned defense responsibility as an assistant coach. Considerations of placing an experienced coach at the young farmer's side in 1989 were ultimately discarded; the sporting management gave him the main responsibility, which turned out to be the right decision in view of the successes in the coming years.

The most successful period (1990–1999)

The logo of the giants from the Rhine in the 1990s

The 1990s were the most successful years in the club's basketball history for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The basketball players, meanwhile under the name "The Giant from the Rhine" in the league, celebrated seven championship titles in a row (1990-1996). In addition, the trophy was won four times. Players like Henning Harnisch , Michael Koch , Christian Welp , Clinton Wheeler or Kannard Johnson were the great performers during this heyday. The coach in these successful years was the future national coach Dirk Bauermann. With Koch, Harnisch, Kleine-Brockhoff and Welp, Leverkusen also provided important top performers in the national team, which won the gold medal at the European Championships in Munich in the summer of 1993. In the final against Russia, Christian Welp scored the all-important goal in the final seconds. With Alba Berlin , a big competitor for the Leverkusen grew up. The period of success ended with the so-called Bosman judgment in 1996. The upheaval turned out to be more difficult this time because the main sponsor, Bayer AG , began to cut the budget. So you bet on players like Hansi Gnad , Denis Wucherer or Tony Dawson . After a disappointing season in 97/98, in which the "Giant from the Rhine" were only able to qualify as the last team for the play-offs with difficulty and thus avoid relegation, the "Bauermann era" ends in Leverkusen.

The new beginning (2000-2008)

The Giants logo until 2009

In the 2000s they wanted to return to the top of the basketball league with talents around the American John Best . Coach at the beginning of this time was Calvin Oldham , who was already known as a player in the league. In the 1999/00 season he made it to the final with his team, but lost 3-0 against Alba Berlin. In summer 2001 the management was restructured. Otto Reintjes left Bayer Leverkusen and became managing director of the BBL, his successor being the former national player Thomas Deuster . In 2002 Heimo Förster became the new coach of the Bayer Giants Leverkusen. He tried to put a difficult project into practice with little financial means. Förster wanted to play for the championship with seasoned German players and German talents. Players like Denis Wucherer , Demond Greene and the American Ajmal Basit should lead the team. The Giants' greatest talent was Gordon Geib . Born in Wuppertal, he made his debut in the basketball league at the age of 16. But the three-year “German Concept” failed, and Heimo Förster and manager Thomas Deuster had to take their hats. Otto Reintjes came back as a manager in 2005, Achim Kuczmann became head coach of the Giants. In the summer of 2005, the foreigner restriction in German basketball was removed. This meant that from now on an unlimited number of players from non-European countries was allowed. In the case of the “new” Bayer Giants, these were Americans. The 2005/06 season was unsuccessful. The team was ten games before the end of the season in 15th place in the table, which would have meant relegation. But with a strong final spurt and the two strong newcomers Brandon Woudstra and Nate Fox , the Giants reached tenth place in the table with seven wins in a row and were thus able to hold the class. In the 2006/07 season, the Bayer Giants managed to reach the playoffs again for the first time. The main reason for this was the connection between the "long-established" players around Gordon Geib, Brandon Woudstra and Nate Fox and the newcomers such as Jared Newson , John Goldsberry and Eric Taylor . In the first round they failed with 1: 3 wins against EnBW Ludwigsburg .

End after 40 years of Bundesliga (2007/08)

In the 2007/08 season, Leverkusen started the season with seven Americans, five Germans and one Canadian. The first matchday was played at home against digibu Baskets Paderborn . You could narrowly defeat the opponent from East Westphalia. However, the season started anything but well. At first they lost against BG 74 Göttingen and Brose Baskets Bamberg , until the game against Deutsche Bank Skyliners Frankfurt came to a turn. The Giants won 93:71 against the Frankfurt team and now really started: They won nine of the last 12 games of the first half of the season, including games against Bundesliga heavyweights like Alba Berlin, the Cologne 99ers or the EWE Baskets Oldenburg . In the BBL Cup, Leverkusen beat their arch rivals from Bonn with 81:70. Leverkusen became more and more one of the top teams in the league. Nate Fox also represented the Giants at the annual BBL all-star game. The strength of the Bayer Giants was not a single player, but the cooperation as a team. With Nate Fox, Brandon Winters and Tyron-Clement McCoy, the Giants have players who have already made a lot of positive talk in the league. The second half of the season started rather bumpy for the German record champions. Although they beat Paderborn just barely but against the second division side, the Cuxhaven BasCats lost the Giants in the 2nd round of the BBL Cup. The press “celebrated” the defeat of the Giants as a “sensation”.

After they regained their self-confidence with a win over Göttingen, the Leverkusen team had two difficult weeks ahead of them: The Leverkusen team met the German champions, the Brose Baskets Bamberg and Alba Berlin. In an exciting game, the Giants beat the reigning champions 70:68. The following week the Leverkusen team drove to the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin and were able to bring the starting group of the so-called "Albatrosses" to their knees with 93:90. After this game day, the Giants were in third place in the table. During the season, the Giants also had to accept the suspension of Nate Fox . Traces of the prohibited substance THC were found on the team captain during a doping control . So the Giants Fox was missing for the rest of the season. In April 2008, the player Eric Taylor , who is said to have caused a car accident, was also suspended. Despite these setbacks, the Bayer Giants Leverkusen finished the season in third place. In the playoffs, the Giants met Deutsche Bank Skyliners Frankfurt . The Leverkusen lost 3-2 after a hard fight. That ended the Bundesliga history of the Bayer Giants.

Bayer AG leaves and moves to Düsseldorf

On May 21, 2007, the main sponsor of the Giants, Bayer AG , announced that they wanted to withdraw from their involvement in professional basketball after 40 years. However, Bayer AG continued to support the club financially in the 2007/08 season. The chemical company paid nearly 1.5 million euros per season for the Giants' budget.

The search for sponsors was difficult from the start. Otto Reintjes, manager of the Bayer Giants Leverkusen, said in an interview with the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger that he had written to more than 300 companies that all canceled a possible engagement. Only a contribution to the WDR program “Sport im Westen” in November 2007 made the explosiveness of this matter clear to the population. A later newspaper article in the Rheinische Post reported on a sale of the Bundesliga license from Leverkusen to Düsseldorf Magics . But Magic managing director Klaus Wischnitzki later denied it; due to "financial difficulties" there will probably be no agreement. In addition to Düsseldorf, several investors from Hamburg had already shown interest in the Bayer Giants license.

In a statement by Otto Reintjes on the Bayer Giants Leverkusen website at the beginning of November 2007, he estimated the chance of finding a main sponsor at around 15 percent. "However," says Reintjes, "we will not give up and continue to look for a sponsor."

On December 20, 2007, the Bayer Giants fan clubs founded the Leverkusen basketball fan initiative . The aim of this initiative was to collect signatures from the population to save the professional basketball team in Leverkusen. February 13, 2008 was planned as the end of the signature campaign. The fan initiative stated that they had collected almost 11,000 signatures. These signatures were presented to the Board of Management of Bayer AG. However, it was later read on the side of the fan initiative that a conversation with the Bayer AG company spokesman, Michael Schade (football official) , ended unsuccessfully.

On March 7, 2008, Reintjes confirmed to the Süddeutsche Zeitung that the team was moving to Düsseldorf and announced that more information would be available for the next few days. According to Reintjes, a “Düsseldorf businessman” guaranteed the minimum budget of one million euros for the following season and made 100,000 euros available as equity to the newly founded GmbH. In addition, further sponsorship funds amounting to two to three million euros should be obtained from major Düsseldorf companies. In a message from the Basketball Bundesliga it was announced that the Giants Leverkusen are transferring their license to the Düsseldorf location. The basketball Bundesliga had yet to approve this plan. A week earlier, the Leverkusen basketball fan initiative stopped working.

With the license transfer it was clear that the German record champions would only play in the regional basketball league in the future. The Düsseldorf Giants played in the basketball Bundesliga from 2008 to 2011 before they finally broke up in 2013.

The first season in the 1st Regionalliga West (2008/09)

The season in the Regionalliga West started for the Giants on September 6, 2008 with a home game against BB Salzkotten. The team around head coach Stephan Ruers was able to win this task with a clear 103: 59. Six new signings were made, in particular the US-Americans Timothy "Tim" Hailey and Christopher "Chris" Martin caused a lot of talk before the season started. The Leverkusen won the first four games without any problems, the Giants only received the BSG Grevenbroich for the top game of the league on matchday five . Despite a good performance by the "Giant from the Rhine", Grevenbroich was able to prevail with 73:78 and temporarily took over the top of the table. In Leverkusen there was a slight disillusionment after the opponents had been easily defeated beforehand.

The German record champions mastered the rest of the first half of the season without any major problems. Although they surprisingly lost with 90:94 against BG Dorsten , but top games against BSV Wulfen or NOMA Iserlohn were won by the Giants. At the Leverkusen team it became clear that the American Chris Martin had become the most important player. He was not only the team's best scorer, but also the Rhinelander's strongest rebounder. In addition to him, the twin brothers Tom and Ben Spöler and the team's point guard, Tim Hailey, were the most important Leverkusen players.

Shortly before Christmas in the Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle, home ground of the Bayer Giants, the Leverkusen team met the table leaders Schwelmer Baskets . Almost 2,100 spectators came to the top game in the Regionalliga West. The Giants were almost the entire game behind, but were able to win the game 85:80 in the end thanks to a combative team performance. The Giants were only two points behind the table leaders from Schwelm.

At the games this season, the average attendance in Leverkusen was just under 450 spectators per game. Above all, however, many fans remained loyal to the club after relegation, which was primarily evident in away games where Bayer fans were and are always represented.

On March 28, 2009, the Bayer Giants celebrated the championship in the Regionalliga West in front of 1,200 spectators with a 111-72 home win over GV Waltrop. Associated with this was the athletic promotion to the ProB. The giants from the Rhine were able to benefit from a surprising defeat of the Schwelmer Baskets, which had been leading until then, on the penultimate matchday. In Salzkotten they lost with a three-point throw, which bounced off the board through the basket when the game was running, with 99:98 and were now level on points with Leverkusen. The giants were able to secure a direct comparison in advance with a strong team performance in Schwelm (67:98).

Time in the 2nd basketball league ProA and ProB (since 2009)

After the Giants succeeded in being promoted to the ProB again, the first goal of the coach Stephan Ruers was to establish the club in the 2nd Bundesliga. Most of the players from the championship year could be kept. While the Americans Chris Martin and Tim Haley left the club, the Giants strengthened themselves at the beginning of the 2009/10 season with US forward Hunter Henry and John Grotberg, the best scorer in the third NCAA division.

The Giants immediately started the season with a home win against the champions of the 2008/09 season, Dukes Wolfenbüttel . With a clear 91:70 victory, the German record champions took the lead in the ProB. After the good start of the season in the new division, the Giants lost seven of the next ten games. On the fourth day of the season, manager Otto Reintjes dismissed the disappointing John Grotberg and signed Rodney Foster, a development player from NCAA I (Rice University). With Foster things went up and after the Hinserie (15 games) Bayer had a record of seven wins and eight losses. In the second half of the season you could keep up with the strong teams in the league, but in the end you always lost. The compulsory tasks were fulfilled confidently and ended the season with a balanced record of 15 wins and 15 defeats to a good seventh place in the table (out of 16 teams).

At the beginning of the 2010/11 season, coach Stephan Ruers was dismissed after three years as Bayer head coach and replaced by Chris Martin as player-coach. The Giants had to cope with some well-known departures (Henry, Foster, Mönninghoff etc.) and had to put together an almost completely new squad. Head coach Chris Martin signed his compatriots Nick Michael (previously GiroLive-Ballers Osnabrück ) and Justin Eller (Sacramento State University / NCAA I) for the foreign positions . As German players, Felix Engel (Original School) and Steven Monse (ALBA Berlin II) were two former U20 national players. The start of the season had to be viewed as a "false start" after twelve games at the latest. A record of four wins and eight defeats for Leverkusen forced those responsible to act and a strong shooter was signed in US Comboguard Josh Young ( Drake University / NCAA I). With an average of 27.5 points per game, Young played a major role in reaching the newly created “ProB Playoffs”. There they were eliminated in eighth place in the north against the first place in the south, Erdgas Ehingen / Urspring School , clearly with 0: 2. After the season, head coach Martin Bayer had to leave and Achim Kuczmann, a Leverkusen “veteran”, was hired to be responsible on the sidelines.

Under Kuczmann, the Giants moved back into the play-offs. The team had previously been transferred from the northern season to the southern season of the league. There the Giants finished the main round of the season in fourth place. In the playoffs, the Leverkusen team managed to advance to the final for the ProB title. There the Giants met the Schwelmer Baskets in the final . The Giants prevailed against the Baskets thanks to the basket difference and won the championship. Associated with the title was the athletic qualification for the ProA . After initially it appeared unclear whether the Giants would be able to take advantage of the sporting promotion due to economic constraints, the management announced in May 2013 that the Giants could create the conditions and will compete in the ProA for the 2013/2014 season. At the end of the 2015/16 season, the team was relegated to the ProB .

After relegation to the ProB, the squad of the team changed fundamentally. The crowd favorite Dennis Heinzmann left the record champions and signed a contract with the Rhenish rival, the RheinStars Cologne . The three Americans Kerry Carter, Brandon Nazione and Damon Smith as well as the former youth national player Alexander Blessig and the experienced winger Tim Schönborn were new to the squad . The main round of 2016/17 ended the Giants with a record of 13 wins and nine defeats in fourth place in the table of the southern season. Carter was then voted the best player of the year (“ Most Valuable Player ”) by the league's coaches, team captains and fans . With home rights, they met VfL SparkassenStars Bochum in the first round of the playoffs . In a balanced series, the Leverkusen team lost 2-1 and were eliminated in the fight for promotion.

In 2017/18 the record champions made a new attempt and changed the commitment strategy. Instead of a foreigner in the small positions, young German players should now lead the construction, as board players the Americans CJ Oldham (son of the former Leverkusen trainer Calvin Oldham ), Bruce Beckford and Donovon Jack could be signed. The season was rather average for the record champions, too often the foreign players fell short of their expectations and the Giants barely reached the final round for promotion to the ProA (ten wins / twelve defeats) as eighth of the table. In the playoff round of 16 Bayer met the Artland Dragons Quakenbrück. Since both teams have a common history in the basketball league, the pairing caused a lot of talk in advance. In the first game of the “Best Of Three” series the Dragons clearly got the upper hand with 95:71, before the Giants in the Ostermann Arena in front of 1,500 spectators caused a big surprise with an 84:70 success. The decisive third encounter was balanced for a long time and there was no big difference in performance between the two teams, but the favorite from Lower Saxony finally prevailed with 90:75 and advanced to the next round.

Before the 2018/19 ProB started the new season, the previous Bayer coach Achim Kuczmann gave up his post as head coach. His previous assistant Hansi Gnad inherited him . The 1993 European champion was previously the trainer for the U19 Bundesliga team at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and reached the playoffs for the German championship several times with the team. Kuczmann remains with the club as managing director of the basketball department. Gnad led the team to first place in the southern season of the 2nd Bundesliga ProB in the 2018/19 season, with a new ProB record with 22 wins. In the following championship round they moved into the final and defeated Nord-Erste Münster with 89:86 and 88:60 in the two finals. With this, Leverkusen ended the season as champions of the 2nd Bundesliga ProB, the athletic advancement had already been achieved by moving into the finals. The best Leverkusen basket shooters in the championship team were Tim Schönborn and Nick Hornsby, each with 12.2 points per encounter. As the best preparer, Nino Celebic gave an average of 4.3 basket assists per mission.

Before the ProA season 2019/20, the Leverkusen team strengthened themselves with established second division players such as Eddy Edigin or Luca Finn Kahl and were able to hold together most of their squad from the previous year. The Rhinelander lost the first two games quite clearly, before the first win of the season over the Kirchheim Knights followed on matchday three (103: 86). The Bayer Giants quickly made a name for themselves in the league and became an unpleasant opponent. The basketball record champion set an exclamation point on the 8th game day when the Nürnberg Falcons BC traveled to the Ostermann Arena. For a long period of time, the Franks were ahead by 21 points. Leverkusen, led by the strong Colter Lasher, not only came back, but ultimately also won the game 91:83. After ten games played, the Giants were surprisingly in fourth place in the table with a record of seven wins and three defeats. As a result, Bayer were able to establish themselves in the upper third of the table, despite a few failures such as their board players Dennis Heinzmann and Marian Schick. At the end of the 2019/20 season, which ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic , Leverkusen took fifth place. The top scorer of the Farbenstädter was Nick Hornsby with 14.3 points per game, followed by Colter Lasher (13.9 pps) and Nino Celebic (10.7 pps). On average, the 13 home games of the “Giants” in 2019/20 were attended by 1,002 spectators in the Ostermann Arena .

Squad 2019/20

  • As of November 22, 2019
Bayer Giants Leverkusen squad in the 2019/2020 season
Attention: The squad information is out of date!
(current season: 2020/2021)
player
No. Nat. Surname birth size info Last club
Guards ( PG , SG )
1 SerbiaSerbia Nino Celebic January 03, 1991 1.90 m GermanyGermany SC Rist Wedel
25th GermanyGermany Michael Kuczmann March 27, 1993 1.93 m Own youth
11 GermanyGermany Sheldon Eberhardt November 02, 1995 1.96 m GermanyGermany Central German basketball club
13 GermanyGermany Lennard Winter December 8, 2000 1.91 m DL GermanyGermany FC Bayern Munich (basketball)
3 GermanyGermany Luca Finn Kahl June 01, 1997 1.90 m GermanyGermany Paderborn Baskets
GermanyGermany Sören Queck April 19, 1998 1.84 m Own youth
20th GermanyGermany Jacob Engelhardt January 19, 1997 1.78 m DL GermanyGermany Phoenix Hagen (NBBL)
Forwards ( SF , PF )
0 United StatesUnited States Greg Logins Jr March 16, 1988 2.01 m DenmarkDenmark Team FOG Næstved
GermanyGermany Tim Schönborn October 29, 1990 1.93 m (C)Captain of the crew GermanyGermany Dragons Rhondorf
5 United StatesUnited States Colter Lasher January 06, 1994 2.01 m AustraliaAustralia Geraldton Buccaners
8th GermanyGermany Valentin Blass April 17, 1995 1.98 m GermanyGermany Dragons Rhondorf
GermanyGermany/NigerNiger Eddy Edigin October 17, 1995 2.01 m GermanyGermany Baunach Young Pikes
9 GermanyGermany Benjamin Nick April 22, 1997 1.98 m DL United StatesUnited States Whitworth University (NCAA III)
United StatesUnited States Nick Hornsby June 21, 1995 2.01 m GermanyGermany Pouring 46ers Rackelos
GermanyGermany Thomas Fankhauser August 26, 2001 2.01 m DL GermanyGermany RheinStars Cologne
Center ( C )
14th GermanyGermany Marian Schick October 22, 1986 2.01 m (C)Captain of the crew GermanyGermany Pouring 46ers Rackelos
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina Dzemal Selimovic June 24, 1996 2.05 m DL Own youth
GermanyGermany Dennis Heinzmann January 22, 1991 2.16 m GermanyGermany RheinStars Cologne
Trainer
Nat. Surname position
GermanyGermany Hansi grace Trainer
GermanyGermany Jacques Schneider Assistant coach
Legend
Abbr. meaning
(C)Captain of the crew Team captain
DL Double license
swell
Team homepage
League homepage
Status: November 22, 2019
    • Head of department: Frank Rothweiler
    • Managing director: Henrik Fronda
    • Press spokesman: Christopher Kwiotek
    • Medical department: Manuel Mutschler (team doctor), Achim Münster (team doctor), Martin Reuter (team doctor), Christian Happ (physiotherapist), Dieter Happ (physiotherapist)

Additions: Sheldon Eberhardt (PG / SG / SF - Mitteldeutscher Basketball Club / EasyCredit BBL ) Colter Morgan Lasher (SF / PF - Geraldton Buccaneers / AUS), Greg Logins Jr. (SF / PF - Team FOG Næstved / DEN), Eddy Edigin Jr. (PF - Baunach Young Pikes / ProA), Luca Kahl (PG - Uni Baskets Paderborn / ProA), Thomas Fankhauser (SF / PF - RheinStars Cologne / 1.Regionalliga West)

Departures: Eric Cooper Jr. (PG / SG - November 19 '/ destination unknown), Alexander Blessig (PG - SSV Lokomotive Bernau / ProB-Süd), Lars Thiemann (PF / C - University of California, Berkeley / NCAA l) , Benjamin Nick, Jacob Engelhardt (both TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen / 1.Regionalliga West), Ron Mvouika (SG / SF - Plymouth Raiders / British Basketball League )

Former known players

Coach history of the club

Term of office Surname successes
1969-1972 GermanyGermany Günter Hagedorn 3 × German champions, 2 × German cup winners
1977-1978 RomaniaRomania Dragoş Nosievici
1979-1980 United StatesUnited States Lorin Miller
1980 - 11/1984 United StatesUnited States Chris Lee
11/1984 - 01/1985 GermanyGermany Otto Reintjes
02/1985 - 1989 United StatesUnited States Jim Kelly 2 × German champions, 2 × German cup winners
1989-1998 GermanyGermany Dirk Bauermann 7 × German champions, 4 × German cup winners
1998-2002 United StatesUnited States Calvin Oldham
2002-2005 GermanyGermany Heimo Forester
2005 - 2008 GermanyGermany Achim Kuczmann
2008 - 2010 GermanyGermany Stephan Ruers 1 × Champion of the 1st Regional League West
2010-2011 United StatesUnited States Chris Martin
2011 - 2018 GermanyGermany Achim Kuczmann 1 × Master of the ProB 2012/13
since 2018 GermanyGermany Hansi grace 1 × Champion of the ProB 2018/19

The venue

The venue of the Bayer Giants Leverkusen is the Ostermann Arena . It was built in 1974 and at that time it was one of the most modern circular sports halls in Germany. It offers space for up to 3500 spectators, whereby the capacity can be flexibly adapted to any type of event.

The circular sports hall is named after its sponsor , a furniture store group . The hall used to be known as the "Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle".

The basketball, handball and volleyball departments of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen have shared the hall since the 2008/09 season. For this purpose, a new parquet floor from the USA was laid in order to clearly separate the field markings.

successes

  • 14 times German champion: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
  • German Cup winner 10 times: 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995
  • Champion of the Regionalliga West: 2009
  • Master of Pro B : 2013, 2019

Senior and youth area

The senior and youth area for basketball players plays under the club name TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen . A total of four senior and 14 youth teams play in the various leagues of the West German Basketball Association . The U19 and U16 of the club play in the youth basketball league and in the youth basketball league . In 2013, Leverkusen celebrated the German championship in the JBBL, in the final Bayer defeated TuS Breitengüßbach with 64:54.

In the basketball department, there are four trainers, Hansi Gnad , Karsten Schul , Jacques Schneider and Marcel Buchmüller, who have the DBB A license.

Coaching positions for youth Bundesliga and seniors:

  • NBBL: Jacques Schneider
  • JBBL: Nick Bruwer
  • 2nd men (1st Regionalliga West): Karsten Schul
  • 3rd men (Oberliga): Marcel Buchmüller
  • 4th men (district league): Osman Öztürk

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Letter from Anton Kartak, Vice President of the German Basketball Federation and Chairman of the National Coaching Council, on October 10, 1968, to the fifty basketball players nominated for the '1972 Olympic Squad'.
  2. easyCredit - The biggest sensations. Retrieved May 9, 2020 .
  3. Leverkusen: Coach Lee threw in the towel. In: The world. November 12, 1984. Retrieved December 6, 2019 .
  4. ^ Curt Morrell: Leverkusen ended the drought. In: The world. March 29, 1985. Retrieved May 22, 2020 .
  5. MICHAEL ZEIHEN: Curious, turbulent, dramatic and crazy. June 28, 2005, accessed on May 22, 2020 (German).
  6. Goal: Top team in Europe. In: The world. April 25, 1986, accessed May 22, 2020 .
  7. https://www.abendblatt.de/archive/1985/pdf/19850422.pdf/ASV_HAB_19850422_HA_014.pdf
  8. Dirk Bauermann: Mission Success: My vision, my plan, my path . Herbig, FA, 2012, ISBN 978-3-7766-2679-7 .
  9. Confirmation of the move to Düsseldorf
  10. BARMER 2. Basketball Bundesliga | Audience numbers. Retrieved December 21, 2018 .
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  12. 2. Basketball Bundesliga | Table ProB South. Retrieved May 3, 2019 .
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  14. Thomas Austermann, Alexander Heflik: No chance in Leverkusen - and yet the WWU Baskets are proud of the runner-up title. Retrieved May 3, 2019 .
  15. Hans Joachim Moers: BAYER GIANTS SUCCESSES RISE IN THE PROA. In: Sport on the Rhine and Erft. April 23, 2019, accessed on May 3, 2019 (German).
  16. 2. Basketball Bundesliga | Squad | Bayer Giants Leverkusen - ProB Süd - 2018/2019. Retrieved May 3, 2019 .
  17. a b BARMER 2. Basketball Bundesliga | Squad. Retrieved June 18, 2020 (German).
  18. ^ The 2nd basketball league live ticker. Retrieved June 18, 2020 .
  19. BARMER 2. Basketball Bundesliga | Table ProA. Retrieved June 18, 2020 (German).
  20. BARMER 2. Basketball Bundesliga | Audience numbers. Retrieved June 18, 2020 (German).
  21. Team ProA | BAYER GIANTS-Leverkusen. Retrieved January 17, 2020 .
  22. Youth | BAYER GIANTS Leverkusen. Retrieved December 27, 2018 .
  23. ↑ Returnees : Marcel Buchmüller takes over the men III of TSV Bayer 04. Accessed on June 18, 2020 .