“At first we had no luck, then we had bad luck too.” The saying that came out of the mouth of former FC Bayern penalty area cobra Jürgen Wegmann (59) in the 1990s is still valid today – at least as far as the tense situation at basketball champions OCS Swans Gmunden is concerned. Upper Austria’s team of the year is not just literally on the ropes following three Superliga defeats in a row.
Captain Daniel Friedrich is now expected to be missing for four weeks. The top scorer and leading wolf suffered a broken nose in the second quarter of the 72:84 win once morest Klosterneuburg on Sunday in the second quarter when Clemens Leydolf made an impetuous but unpunished attack.
This is nothing new for Friedrich. The 31-year-old had to go under the knife because of such an injury in February 2022.
The Swans’ generally relatively short bench is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. Calls from the Gmunden fan scene for more playing time for the additional players and the commitment of a fourth legionnaire are hardly heard. “The necessary change is not there,” says CFO Harald Stelzer frankly.
The coach is injured
These are tough times around Christmas Eve – especially for coach Anton Mirolybov, who is struggling with colon cancer. Basketball is his elixir, but the 46-year-old Finn still reaches his physical limits. After a bout of weakness at the end of the Klosterneuburg game, there is concern regarding Mirolybov, who is questionable for the next two away games tomorrow (7 p.m.) at BC Vienna and on December 26th (7:15 p.m., ORF Sport+) in the derby at Raiffeisen Flyers Wels , bigger than ever. “You can see that there are worse things in life than defeats,” says Stelzer, affected.
He doesn’t have much hope of an immediate increase in points because the team doesn’t seem to have recovered from a corona wave at the beginning of December: “Apparently there’s not enough strength.” Stelzer cannot explain the final collapse once morest Klosterneuburg (with a 21-0 run by the Lower Austrians) in any other way. “We have to be careful. If we lose the next two games, we’ll suddenly be seventh,” he says. Only the top six advance to the play-offs and the placement round. Gmunden is actually a regular guest there.
Lottery day in Vienna
The contrast program to the Swans is provided by the Flyers, who celebrated three wins en suite. Late arrival and returnee Terrell Allen (USA) has made a big impact and gives the squad the necessary depth. Tomorrow (7 p.m.) the next success should happen at UBSC Graz.
Things are already getting exciting for the people of the trade fair city today. At 1 p.m. at the win2day headquarters in Vienna there will be a draw for home advantage in the cup final on January 21st (3:30 p.m.). The final opponents Wels and Traiskirchen have a 50:50 chance. Both want the trophy – with a strong tailwind from the stands.
Author
Alexander Zambarloukos
Sports editor
Alexander Zambarloukos
