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"Game for the cat": MBC frustration after the end of the European dream

"Game for the cat": MBC frustration after the end of the European dream
Captain Charles Callison was very disappointed after the defeat / Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
From: DieSachsen News
The MBC is deeply disappointed after being knocked out of the European Cup semi-finals. However, there is still room for a point in the direction of the German Basketball Association.

After the surprisingly shattered dream of a second European Cup victory, the Syntainics MBC are mainly frustrated. "The game is of course for nothing. It's so bitter," said Akeem Vargas, referring to the game for third place. Today (5 p.m.), the Bundesliga club will face defending champions CSO Voluntari and, above all, fight for honor.

The premature failure at the Final Four of the European North Basketball League (ENBL), which was held in their own city hall, was anything but planned. The team had finished first in the league phase with a 7:1 victory and had mastered the quarter-finals with ease. However, an 86:89 defeat against Manchester Basketball was the end of the line. The Brits will now face Dziki Warsaw in the final, who had just as surprisingly prevailed against Voluntari.

The MBC had dominated almost the entire game. "When we were 14 points ahead, we were already thinking about the final," said Manager Martin Geissler. And yet his team ultimately had no answer to the aggressive basketball of the English team. Now they want at least one win to finish the season: "Third place would be a success after the big goal of the season was to reach the Final Four."

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At least the semi-final showed that the sport on offer was not quite so unattractive and underclass. The German Basketball Association had issued a press release beforehand questioning the relevance of the ENBL. General Secretary Wolfgang Brenscheidt had described the competition as fifth-class.

"That showed that we are not in a village competition here. We play against teams that can also make life really difficult for a Bundesliga team," said Geissler. "This was Weißenfels against Manchester, not Weißenfels against Eilenburg. Sometimes it's not so easy to deal with a home advantage."

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