Dës Woch spillt eis Hären Nationalequippe 2 Matcher an dem Pre-Qualifikatiouns Turnoi vir d’World Championship 2023. D’Matcher géint Island (26.11) an géint d’Slowakei (28.11) ginn LIVE iwwerdroen (Link ob eiser Websäit).
E Méindeg de Moien start d’Equippe hier Rees op Bratislava. Ënnerwee wäert den Thomas Grün, Alex Laurent an den Olivier Vujakovic, déi dësen Weekend nach Matcher haten derbäi stoussen.
Am Ganzen huet Lëtzebuerg 4 Professionell Spiller derbäi – den Clancy Rugg, den Ben Kovac, den Thomas Grün an den Alex Laurent. D’Erwaardungen sinn iwwer déi lëscht Joren vir d’Equippe gestiegen, well si et färdeg bruecht hunn ëmmer méi staark Leeschtungen ze bréngen.
Den Message vun de Spiller am Coaching staff ass ganz kloer: Lëtzebuerg wëll Gewannen. Vir dat ze realiséieren ass eng Equippenleeschtung gefrot. Nierf dem Clancy Rugg, deen momentan ganz staark ass (Leader an der Competitioun am Scoren esou wéi an den Rebounds), mussen déi aner Spiller Responsabilitéit iwwerhuelen.
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This week, our national team will play 2 games in the pre-qualification tournament for the World Championship 2023. The games against Iceland (26.11) and Slovakia (28.11) will be streamed live (you will find the link on our website).
On Monday, the team is starting their travel to Bratislava and on the way, some of our professional player will join the team. Thomas Grün, Alex Laurent and Oliver Vujakovic, who have been playing with their team this weekend, will then join the rest of the group.
In total, Luxembourg has 4 professional players on its roster with Rugg, Kovac, Grün and Laurent. The expectations for the team have risen over the last years as the team of coach Ken Diederich was able to show strong performances over and over again.
The message by the players and coaching staff has been clear: Luxembourg wants to grab wins. In order to do that, a complete team effort is necessary. While Clancy Rugg is clearly the main force on both sides of the floor (he is leading the competition in scoring and is the second-leading rebounder), other players need to step up.
Here are the leaders of team Luxembourg in the first 2 games:
SCORING:
Clancy Rugg –> 25.5 points per game
Oliver Vujakovic –> 13.0 ppg
Alex Laurent –> 10.5 ppg
Thomas Grün –> 8.5 ppg
Philippe Gutenauf –> 6.5 ppg
Mihailo Andjelkovic –> 5.0 ppg
REBOUNDS:
Clancy Rugg –> 13.5 rebounds per game
Oliver Vujakovic –> 5.5 rpg
Alex Laurent –> 3.5 rpg
ASSISTS
Thomas Grün –> 5.5 assists per game
Oliver Vujakovic –> 2.0 apg
Areas to improve
– Compared to the first games, it is clear that Luxembourg needs to shoot the ball better from 3-point-range. They only made 7 out 40 « threes », coaches and players have said that making 10 three-pointers in one game is necessary to grab a win. 17.5 % from 3-point-range is the worst percentage of all 8 teams in the pre-qualification tournament.
– Next to Clancy Rugg, the team is missing a second dominating rebounder. All players need to step up and help the team secure some « boards » as this is essential to get extra possessions.
Other articles about the tournament:
– Our men want to show a fast and aggressive playing style
– Coach Diederich announces final roster, all players tested negative
– Interview with Clancy Rugg: „It feels great to represent the country that I call home”
– Interview with “rookie‘‘ Mike Feipel: „Malcolm and myself put the basketballs away after practice”
– Pit Rodenbourg before the game against Iceland: „Their big guy Hlinason is a very talented player”
– Ken Diederich: „We are motivated and ready to play”
