Crailsheim Merlins

Last updated

Hakro Merlins Crailsheim
Crailsheim Merlins logo.png
Leagues Basketball Bundesliga
Founded31 January 1986;38 years ago (1986-01-31)
HistoryCrailsheim Merlins
(1986–present)
ArenaArena Hohenlohe
Capacity3,000
Team colorsBlue, Navy, Silver
   
Main sponsorHakro
PresidentMartin Romig
Team managerIngo Enskat
Head coach Jussi Laakso
Championships1 ProB
Website crailsheim-merlins.de

The Crailsheim Merlins, for sponsorships reasons named Hakro Merlins Crailsheim, is a professional basketball club based in Crailsheim, Germany. Established in 1986, the club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the highest professional league in Germany. The club is a part of the multi-sports club TSV Crailsheim. Home games are played in the Arena Hohenlohe, which has a capacity of 3,000 people.

Contents

History

The club was founded on 31 January 1986 by a group of students. Until 1994, the team was only active at the lower local leagues and had problems in finding a hall to play at. A year later, the club found a new home in the barracks of departed American armed forces. In 2001, the Merlins managed to promote to the German second division, now the ProA, for the first time. A new home arena was found again, in the form of a renovated market hall.

In the 2013–14 season Merlins promoted to the Basketball Bundesliga, by reaching the ProA Finals. [1] The club managed to avoid relegation in its first season in the league, because Artland Dragons was relegated the club received a wild card. However, in the following 2015–16 season the team was relegated once again after finishing last. In the 2020–21 season, coach Tuomas Iisalo guided the Merlins to their first Bundesliga playoff appearance in club history. [2] Iisalo left Crailsheim at the conclusion of the 2020–21 campaign, Sebastian Gleim was named the new head coach.[ citation needed ]

In the 2021–22 season, Crailsheim made its European debut as it was placed in the regular season of the FIBA Europe Cup. On 13 October 2021, the Merlins recorded an away win over Bakken Bears in their debut. [3] The same season, the Merlins also reached the final of the 2021–22 BBL-Pokal, its first final appearance in the national cup. The Merlins eventually lost to 86–78 to ALBA Berlin. [4]

Sponsorship names

Due to sponsorship reasons the team has been known as:

Honours

BBL-Pokal

ProB

Players

Current roster

Crailsheim Merlins roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
SF 1 Flag of the United States.svg Cook, Keandre 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)85 kg (187 lb)27 – (1997-05-01)1 May 1997
SG 3 Flag of Germany.svg Stuckey, Maurice 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)90 kg (198 lb)34 – (1990-05-30)30 May 1990
SG 4 Flag of Germany.svg Baggette, Elias 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)70 kg (154 lb)22 – (2002-04-28)28 April 2002
SF 6 Flag of Germany.svg Wulff, Luis 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)90 kg (198 lb)20 – (2004-03-14)14 March 2004
C 8 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Oduro, Prince 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)113 kg (249 lb)25 – (1998-10-27)27 October 1998
SF 9 Flag of Germany.svg Bleck, Fabian 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)105 kg (231 lb)31 – (1993-03-19)19 March 1993
PG 11 Flag of Germany.svg Kindzeka, René 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)76 kg (168 lb)29 – (1995-06-05)5 June 1995
SF 12 Flag of the United States.svg Murry-Boyles, James 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)95 kg (209 lb)27 – (1997-09-01)1 September 1997
PG 19 Flag of France.svg Westermann, Leo 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)89 kg (196 lb)32 – (1992-07-24)24 July 1992
C 21 Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Žejdl, Matěj 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)107 kg (236 lb)21 – (2003-03-30)30 March 2003
C 30 Flag of the United States.svg Smith, Galin 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)107 kg (236 lb)25 – (1998-12-29)29 December 1998
PF 10 Flag of the United States.svg Darden, Tremmell 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)100 kg (220 lb)42 – (1981-11-17)17 November 1981
PG Flag of Germany.svg Blunt, Tyreese 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)86 kg (190 lb)22 – (2002-06-03)3 June 2002
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Flag of Finland.svg Daniel Herbert
Athletic trainer(s)
  • Flag of Germany.svg Marcus Linder
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured
Updated: June 18, 2024

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

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.

Head coaches

PeriodName
1986–1989 Flag of Germany.svg Dieter Wolfarth
1989–1990no head coach
1990–1993 Flag of Germany.svg Markus Schmidt
1993–1994 Flag of Serbia.svg Zoran Borovnica
1994–1997 Flag of Croatia.svg Zlatko Nikolić
1997–1999 Flag of Germany.svg Matthias Braun
1999–2002 Flag of Croatia.svg Zoran Banozic
2002–2004 Flag of Croatia.svg Velibor Balabanović
2004 Flag of Romania.svg Marian Thede
2004–2008 Flag of Germany.svg Arne Alig
2008–2012 Flag of Germany.svg Ingo Enskat
2012 – November 2014 Flag of the United States.svg Willie Young
November 2014 – March 2016 Flag of Germany.svg Ingo Enskat
March 2016 – May 2021 Flag of Finland.svg Tuomas Iisalo
May 2021 – May 2022 Flag of Germany.svg Sebastian Gleim
May 2022 – November 2023 Flag of Germany.svg Nikola Marković
November 2023 –present Flag of Finland.svg Jussi Laakso

Season by season

Season Tier LeaguePos. German Cup European competitions
2009–10
2
 ProA
6
2010–11
2
 ProA
6
2011–12
2
 ProA
4
2012–13
2
 ProA
11
2013–14
2
 ProA
2
2014–15
1
 BBL
18
2015–16
1
 BBL
18
2016–17
2
 ProA
2
2017–18
2
 ProA
2
2018–19
1
 BBL
16
2019–20 1 BBL 10 Round of 16
2020–21 1 BBL 5 Group stage
2021–22 1 BBL 9 Runner-up 4 FIBA Europe Cup QF
2022–23 1 BBL 13 Quarterfinals 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2R
2023–24 1 BBL 17 First round

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Alba Berlin</span> German basketball club

    Alba Berlin is a professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Uber Arena and competes in the German League and the EuroLeague.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Bamberg Baskets</span> Professional basketball team in Bamberg, Germany

    Bamberg Baskets is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia/North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the FIBA Europe Cup. The license holder of the club is Bamberger Basketball GmbH.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Basketball Bundesliga</span> Premier German basketball league

    The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: Federal Basketball League), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season is split into a league stage and a playoff stage. At the end of the league stage, the top eight teams qualify for the playoff stage, and the teams positioned in the 17th and 18th places are relegated to a lower-tier league. The playoffs are played in a "Best of five" format. The winning team of the final round are crowned the German Champions of that season.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Telekom Baskets Bonn</span> Professional basketball team in Bonn, Germany

    Telekom Baskets Bonn, also known as Baskets Bonn, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bonn, Germany. The club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, which is the highest level pro basketball league in Germany. The club's sponsor is the German company, Deutsche Telekom, a major telephone and internet company, which also sells mobile phones (T-Mobile) in the United States. The club's home arena is the Telekom Dome.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Skyliners Frankfurt</span> Professional basketball team in Frankfurt, Germany

    The Skyliners Frankfurt, currently known as Fraport Skyliners for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball club based in Frankfurt, Germany. Their home arena is Ballsporthalle.

    RheinStars Köln is a professional basketball club based in Cologne, Germany. The team currently plays in the ProB, the third tier basketball league in Germany. The club has won one Basketball Bundesliga championship and three German Cup titles in its history.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Riesen Ludwigsburg</span> Professional basketball team in Ludwigsburg, Germany

    BG Ludwigsburg, for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the first tier of basketball in Germany.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladiators Treves</span> Basketball team in Trier, Germany

    Gladiators Treves, for sponsorship reasons known as Römerstrom Gladiators Trier, is a professional basketball club based in Trier, Germany. The club plays in the ProA. Their home arena is Trier Arena, which has a capacity of 5,495 people. From 1990 till 2015 the club existed in the form of TBB Trier, which went bankrupt.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratiopharm Ulm</span> Professional basketball team in Ulm, Germany

    Ratiopharm Ulm, officially stylized as ratiopharm ulm, is a professional basketball club based in Ulm, Germany. The club has two teams, one professional team, which plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the major German professional league and one youth team, which plays in the NBBL. The home arena of the team is the Ratiopharm Arena, an indoor sporting arena with a capacity of approximately 6,000 spectators.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Basketball Löwen Braunschweig</span> Professional basketball team in Braunschweig, Germany

    Basketball Löwen Braunschweig is a basketball club based in Braunschweig, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, the top tier of German basketball. The club's home arena is Volkswagen Halle. Founded in 2001 as Metabox Braunschweig, the club was established as the separated professional team of SG Braunschweig.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">USC Heidelberg</span> Professional basketball team in Heidelberg, Germany

    USC Heidelberg, for sponsorship reasons named MLP Academics Heidelberg, is a professional basketball club from Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The club's men's senior team currently plays in the German first division Basketball Bundesliga since its promotion in 2021. The team has won thirteen German championships in its history, the last being in 1977.

    Medi Bayreuth, official stylized as medi bayreuth, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bayreuth, Germany. It was re-founded as BBC Bayreuth in 1999. The team plays in the ProA, the second-highest division of basketball in Germany. From 2013 until 2023, the company medi was the head and naming sponsor of the team. For the start of the 2023-24 season the club renamed itself BBC Bayreuth again.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">BG Göttingen</span> Professional basketball team in Göttingen, Germany

    Basketballgemeinschaft Göttingen is a German basketball club based in Göttingen, Germany. In 2010, the club won the EuroChallenge against Krasnye Krylya Samara from Russia. The team had played in Germany's second division nearly every season since its foundation up to the 2006–07 season, in which Göttingen played in the Basketball Bundesliga.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigers Tübingen</span> Basketball team in Tübingen, Germany

    Tigers Tübingen is a basketball team from Tübingen, a college town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany, playing in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the country's first tier league.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">SC Rasta Vechta</span> Basketball team in Vechta, Germany

    Sports Club Rasta Vechta is a German basketball club based in Vechta, Lower Saxony. The club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), following their promotion from the ProA in 2022–23.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamburg Towers</span> Professional basketball team in Hamburg, Germany

    Hamburg Towers, for sponsorship reasons named Veolia Towers Hamburg, is a professional basketball team, based in Hamburg, Germany. The Towers are currently playing in the Basketball Bundesliga, after promoting from the ProA in 2019.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">T. J. Shorts</span> American- Macedonian basketball player

    Timothy Neocartes "T. J." Shorts II is an American-born naturalized Macedonian basketball player for Paris Basketball of the LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. Standing at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), Shorts plays as point guard.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuomas Iisalo</span> Finnish basketball player and coach

    Tuomas Iisalo is a Finnish basketball coach and former player. He is currently serving as the assistant coach of the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.

    The 2020–21 BBL-Pokal was the 54th season of the BBL-Pokal, the domestic cup competition of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).

    The 2021–22 BBL-Pokal was the 55th season of the BBL-Pokal, the domestic cup competition of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).

    References

    1. ↑ "Crailsheim schafft sportlichen Aufstieg". Handelsblatt (in German). 27 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
    2. ↑ "HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim – Historisch! HAKRO Merlins schlagen Bonn und qualifizieren sich erstmals in der Vereinsgeschichte für die Playoffs! Freitag kommt der MBC". hakro-merlins.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
    3. ↑ "Tsmoki-Minsk survive fightback for OT triumph; Crailsheim, London enjoy debut road wins". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
    4. ↑ "ALBA comeback from down 16, beating Crailsheim Merlins for the German Cup". basketnews.com. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.