Bakken Bears

Bakken Bears
Leagues	Basketligaen
Founded	1954;71 years ago (1954)
History	Aarhus Basketball Forening 1954–1962 Skovbakken Basketball 1962–1999 Bakken Bears 1999–present
Arena	Vejlby-Risskov Hallen
Capacity	2,050
Location	Aarhus, Denmark
Team colors	Navy, Silver, White
President	Claus Hommelhoff
Team manager	Michael Piloz
Head coach	Anders Sommer
Affiliation(s)	Bears Academy
Championships	20 Danish Leagues 12 Danish Cups 1 ENBL
Website	bakkenbears.com
Home Away

Bakken Bears is a Danish professional basketball club based in Aarhus. The club plays in the Basketligaen, the top-tier basketball league in Denmark.

Founded in 1953, the club has won the Basketligaen 20 times, holding the record for the most championships, and has also won 11 Danish Cups. Along with their domestic play, the club is a regular in European competitions. The Bears are a three-time semifinalist of the FIBA Europe Cup.

History

Bears' alternate logo

Bakken Bears was formed in 1953 under the name of Aarhus Basketball Forening, or simply ABF. From 1962, the club was known as Skovbakken Basketball. Bears has been in the top Danish league almost every year since then and won its first title in 1958. Since then, the club has won a number of domestic titles and is now the most winning sports team in the history of the city of Aarhus.

In the years 2005 to 2009, Bakken Bears was a part of Aarhus Elite A/S, an elite sports organization in Aarhus that includes ia. AGF Football (soccer). In the last months of 2009 a group of local businessmen, sponsors and fans bought the team.

When Bakken Bears hosted Team FOG Næstved in Game 1 of the league semifinals in March 2009, 4,816 spectators watched the game in Aarhus Arena, which set an all-time attendance record for basketball in Denmark.

In the summer of 2018, the Bears' development team EBAA entered the Basketligaen as well.

On 27 March 2018, Bakken Bears qualified for the first time ever for a semifinal of a European competition, by eliminating ESSM Le Portel in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Europe Cup. ^[1]

Players

Current roster

Bakken Bears roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age PG 0 Ogundiran, Jordan 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 77 kg (170 lb) 28 – (1996-11-30)30 November 1996 SF 1 Chenery, Tymu 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 25 – (2000-09-15)15 September 2000 F 2 Møllgaard, Magnus 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 24 – (2000-11-20)20 November 2000 F 4 Sherry, Sam 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 100 kg (220 lb) G 5 Ates, Filip 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 71 kg (157 lb) 20 – (2004-12-28)28 December 2004 F 7 Schwartz, Simon 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 21 – (2004-01-05)5 January 2004 SF 8 Jukić, Darko 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 35 – (1990-08-23)23 August 1990 F 9 Vinther, Marcus 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 22 – (2002-10-15)15 October 2002 F 13 Berg, Sylvester 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 27 – (1998-05-27)27 May 1998 PG 21 Deen, Duke 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 77 kg (170 lb) 23 – (2001-12-17)17 December 2001 C 25 Rombley, Shaquille 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 28 – (1996-12-08)8 December 1996	Head coach Anders Sommer Assistant coach(es) Florian Wedell Thomas Hemmingsen Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: September 25, 2023

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• Chris Christoffersen
• Tobias Jensen
• Darko Jukic
• Daniel Mortensen
• Kaido Saks
• Jonathan Galloway
• Tony Bishop
• Maurice Acker
• DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell
• Jeffrey Crockett
• Ryan Evans
• Shawn Glover

Individual awards

Basketligaen MVP

• Eric Bell – 2003
• DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell – 2017
• Ryan Evans – 2019

Basketligaen Finals MVP

• Chris Christoffersen – 2013
• Kenny Barker – 2014
• DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell – 2017
• Jeffrey Crockett – 2018
• Tobin Carberry – 2019
• Michel Diouf – 2021
• Marvelle Harris – 2022

Honours

Domestic competitions

• Basketligaen
  • Winners (21) : 1957–58, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
    • Runners-up (8) : 1962–63, 1964–65, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2005–2006, 2009–10, 2014–15
• Danish Cup
  • Winners (13): 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023
    • Runners-up (7) : 1980, 1995, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2022

European competitions

• FIBA Europe Cup
  • Semi-finalist (3): 2017–18, 2019–20, 2021–22

• European North Basketball League
  • Champions (1): 2024

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Danish Cup	European competitions
2010–11	1	Basketligaen	1st	Champion
2011–12	1	Basketligaen	1st	Runner-up
2012–13	1	Basketligaen	1st	Champion
2013–14	1	Basketligaen	1st	Runner-up	3 EuroChallenge	T16
2014–15	1	Basketligaen	2nd	Round of 16	3 EuroChallenge	RS
2015–16	1	Basketligaen	2nd	Champion	3 FIBA Europe Cup	R32
2016–17	1	Basketligaen	1st	Semifinalist	3 Champions League	RS
2017–18	1	Basketligaen	1st	Champion	3 Champions League	QR2
					4 FIBA Europe Cup	SF
2018–19	1	Basketligaen	1st	Quarterfinalist	3 Champions League	QR2
					4 FIBA Europe Cup	QF
2019–20	1	Basketligaen	1st	Champion
2020–21	1	Basketligaen	1st	Champion
2021–22	1	Basketligaen	1st	Runner-up	4 FIBA Europe Cup	SF
2022–23	1	Basketligaen	1st	Champions	3 Champions League	L16
2023–24	1	Basketligaen	1st	Runner-up	R European North Basketball League	C
2024–25	1	Basketligaen	1st	Runner-up	R European North Basketball League	QF

Head coaches

• Steffen Wich

References

1. "Bakken Bears survive overtime drama in Le Portel, book ticket to Semis". FIBA Europe Cup. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.

External links

• Official Website (in Danish)
• Eurobasket.com Bakken Bears Page

56°11′33″N10°12′37″E / 56.1924°N 10.2103°E / 56.1924; 10.2103