pic credit: Martin Jung

Nobody was giving the Dragons Rhondorf much of a Chance in game 2 against Leverkuseneven though it was in their own living room. It was shortly before game 2 and Dragons fans were predicting a 30-40 points loss against the Bayer Giants Leverkusen. I mean one couldn´t blame them as they had been crushed in game 1 and were without key player Kelvin Omojola and rookie role player Kenan Reinhart. The first quarter was solid as they were down only by 3 points. But in the second quarter occurred an awakening something never seen during the season. The Dragons Rhondorf had their best defensive quarter of the season where they forced the 26-1 Bayer Giants Leverkusen to an unbelievable 16 turnovers. German legends behind the bench Michael Koch and Hansi Gnad must have been caught in a nasty dream in those 10 minutes. Everything that the Dragons were doing defensively was correct. So correct that it seemed like they often knew the Leverkusen plays as their anticipation level was at an all-time high. The help defense was spot on and flying into the passing lanes was incredible. Even when it didn´t happen often during the season, because the team didn´t defend at a high level, but when they did show spurts of it, Kelvin Omojola would tell me, “when we are flying around the court on defense, it is hard to play against us”. Well in that second quarter, they were definitely flying around, but on an even higher level than ever before that season. I coined the term flying around in space ships. It was just a total delight to observe the passion and success rate the team was having. Unfortunately, the Dragons couldn´t keep the space ship level going as they lost some intensity at both ends and got tired while Leverkusen found better to their game and outscored Rhondorf 45-26 in the second half sweeping the series and moving on. Even if the Dragons Rhondorf season ended, they finished on a good note scaring the best team in the Pro B for a half and bringing a little fun to their own fans. But overall they could have used bigger spurts of that space ship flying around mode in the season for better success.

Going into the 2024-2025 Dragons Rhondorf season, nobody really expected the club to duplicate what they did the season before. The roster simply wasn´t built as strong as the 2023-2024 roster which won the Pro B title. Key players like Tyrese Blunt, Badu Buck, Avery Sullivan and Leon Bulic had left and this season´s team was less experienced. When one saw the roster when it was built in the summer of 2024, it was apparent that small ball would be the focus. The club was a lot smaller than last season, and one could predict quickly that it would have difficulty banging inside with some of the other teams. Rebounding was a problem for the Dragons. The club had a solid roster, but wasn´t as stacked as the 2024 Pro B title team and it was apparent that one wouldn´t see the kind of dominant season it had the year before. The club actually began off well winning 3 of it´s first 4 games, but then suffered 5 loses in 7 games and were 5-6 and that was the begin of an up and down season that would carry on until the end. The team just couldn´t find consistency and get a real big winning streak as there were only three 2 game winning streaks and not more during the whole season. They had a potent offense averaging 84 points per game, but also allowed 89 points per game. They allowed over 100 points 5 times and had problems winning the shoot out games. Inexperience played a role on the defensive end and under the boards. The biggest problem was never finding a true consistent defensive identity and having a better grip on 1-1 defense was a big deficit. Teams would attack the paint area over and over all season long and the Dragons couldn´t recover from it. They also didn´t have any big wins against top teams as they only beat a few playoff teams all season long. They only had 3 guys average scoring in double figures and were missing a few guys that one could always count on on taking over responsibility in tough times during the game. There wasn´t a player that was able to be consistent and lead the team to victory when it needed it most.

pic credit: Martin Jung

The team´s MVP was clearly Tim Smith Jr. (201-F-2000, college: N.Alabama, agency: 011 Sports) who averaged 17/5/1/1/1 stats during the season and was the team´s most scorer scoring in double figures in 22 games and scored 20 points or more in 12 games. He showed that he was a 3 level scorer and the teams best defender. It will be interesting where his journey goes. Perhaps a Pro A team will give him a chance or he might seek a new challenge in another country. I could see him donning a Leverkusen jersey next season in the Pro A. Experienced German Marco Rahn averaged 8/6/1 stats in 25 minutes per game. He could have been more of a consistent scorer, but he was a stable defender and leader and helped the young kids. Keeping him would be a plus for the organization. Danas Kazkevicius averaged 11/7/1 stats and I would classify him as the most improved if one compares that to his season in Coburg last season where he averaged 7/2 in the Pro B. He was a consistent performer on offense and never had it easy against the more experienced centers in the league. He was solid on defense and had some big memorable blocks. Keeping him would also be beneficial. The question is is he ready for the Pro A or would another Pro B year help his game? Janne Mueller had a great season averaging 13/2/1 stats and showed that he weas one of the leaders at only age 18. He scored in double figures in 17 of 23 games and continued to perfect his mid range game, but also became a better three point shooter. He should be retained as perhaps next season he could get regular minutes in the BBL with Bonn. Alexander Lagermann averaged 9/3/3 stats and was the team´s best 3 point shooter. He had a 2 month down stretch in the winter where he didn´t score in double figures, but finished the season strong. He definitely upped his aggressiveness on offense and improved his defense. He didn´t score as much as in the Pro B last season in Schwenningen, but he wasn´t the main scoring option in Rhondorf as he had a different role. He is a talented player and should really look to get to the Pro A next season as another Pro B season would be a waste. Antonio Pilpovic averaged 8/2/2/1 stats in 25 minutes. His stats were down a bit as he averaged 2 minutes less. His 3 point shooting percentage went down, but defended better. His double duty as player and manager tainted his focus a bit. Kelvin Omojola averaged 9/3/3 stats and averaged 4 less minutes. His stats were down especially his assists, but he was injured a few times at different parts of the season. It was a tough season for him, but he will bounce back. It would great if he would return for a third season. He is the clubs identity figure. Marco Rosic averaged 7/2/3 and upped his stats, but he also played 7 minutes more. He had a solid season and did a great job giving the team the needed energy always with the second unit. Keeping him would also be a plus, but he should get a bigger role. Mamadou Diallo averaged 2ppg and played 3 minutes more and as usual gave the team good energy, played aggressive defense and hit big three´s. He should be kept. Kenan Reinhart averaged 3/1 in 10 minutes. He came late from the RheinStars and in the first months got less minutes. He seemed to flourish under Marko Zarkovic. It would great to see him stay, but he definitely needs to paly more minutes next season. Dyami Janeck averaged 3ppg in 10 minutes getting 6 minutes more than last season. He made a big jump in his game always bringing energy and being more aggressive on offense. He also should be kept.

In a way one could of expected more from the Dragons Rhondorf season as the expectations for the ambitious club is always high, but then again, reaching the playoffs had been the goal and beating Leverkusen was more than a reach. I personally thought the dismissal of head coach Stephan Dohrn was not appropriate. Surely he could have had more success, but having kept him on board wouldn´t of changed anything drastically in the success of the team. Who knows the team may have won a few more games with him and had a somewhat easier playoff opponent than Leverkusen. Marco Zarkovic did a solid job getting the team into the playoffs. He hadn´t coached at that high of a level before and should be commended for his effort. What will happen this off season? That is a good question? A new coach will be named. A complete house cleaning won´t occur, but there will be changes. The ambition will always high. They should keep going in the direction of wanting to win while also helping develop German talents. I hope they can bring some new young German talent on board. Finding those right players will be very challenging as more young Germans head to the States to go to college.