pic credit: Lukas Steppkes(@n1cecontent

Jonathan Almstedt (208-C-1999) is a 26 year old 208cm center that completed the 2025-2026 season with the ETB Miners Essen (ProB) averaging 8.0ppg, 5.1rpg, FGP: 53.8%, 3PT: 38.2%, FT: 57.6% and helped the team win the Pro B title. He has previous Pro A experience having played 3 seasons with the ROMERSTROM Gladiators Trier (ProA) playing a total of 89 games. Previously he played 2 seasons with SG DJK Saarlouis-Roden/BBF Dillingen (Regionalliga). In the 2023-2024 season he played with the Iserlohn Kangaroos (ProB) averaging 6.0ppg, 4.5rpg, FGP: 52.0%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 84.2% and in the 2024-2025 season played with the EN Baskets Schwelm (ProB) averaging 12.0ppg, 6.0rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 68.8%, 3PT: 29.1%, FT: 57.9%. He spoke to germanhoops.com after helping win the Pro B title

Thanks Jonathan for talking to germanhoops.com. Your 2026 Pro B champion. How good does it feel? Is this your personal biggest achievement as a player?

Thank you for having me. It feels great obviously and yes basketball wise this is my biggest achievement so far.

Essen lost game 1 by 36 points and won game 2 by 41 points. Many are saying this is the greatest comeback in German basketball. How special do you rate this massive comeback?

It was definitely a very special game. Was it the greatest comeback in German Basketball history? I don’t know…it was definitely a big one and I´m happy that I was on the winning site on this one. Now when I think of it, we once came back from a 20 deficit in just one quarter when I was in Trier against Leverkusen and that was also a special one.

Did you ever have doubts the last years of ever winning a title in your career?

There were phases when thoughts like that came up, but there was never the ultimate goal to win a title. For sure I had the wish to play in a successful team and be a contender for the championship and promotion. But like I said I never pictured myself winning a title or something like that, I’m just grateful that I’m able and allowed to play professionally and that we won it all this season is even better.

What was the team feeling after the horrible 107-71 loss at Orange Academy? How much soul searching did the team do the days following?

Well, what can I say…of course it was pretty quiet on the 7 hour bus ride back to Essen and everybody needed some time to process what just happened. But from the next day on, we all knew that it’s not over until it’s over and if they can do that at home we can do the same in our gym. So, all in all there wasn’t that much “soul searching”. There was nothing we could have changed, that’s why we focused on what we could to better keep the title in our gym.

How key was head coach Lars Wendt? How did he help the team most in the days leading up to game 2?

I mean what do you want to do if you lose by 36 in the first game. All he could do was fix the strategy and find some solutions to what went wrong and how we can put them under so much pressure that they might struggle as well. Besides that, he gave his best to keep the moral up and make us believe that we can still do it and I would say the result speaks for itself.

How quickly did the team know that game 2 would see only half of Orange Academy as all the talented youth players wouldn´t play because they were attending the NBBL Top 4 in Berlin?

To be honest we knew before game 1 that there is a chance that half of the team would play the NBBL Top4 in Berlin that weekend, but of course we didn’t know rather they would make it to the final or not. So that’s why we needed to wait until they played their semifinal and after that we knew that they might not come with their full roster. However, that didn’t influence how we prepared for the second game.

Any other team could have underestimated Orange Academy. Why didn´t Essen?

We never underestimated any team during the whole season, and I think that’s already the answer. The coaches did a great job preparing us for our opponents, it didn’t matter rather they were lower or higher placed in the table.

What was the focus of Essen going in? I mean did you have a plan how you would come back through out a 40 minute game so you would have more than 36 points?

Keep the pressure up, Fight and All Out until we have those 40 points. There is really nothing else you can do when you go into a Game with a 36 points deficit.

The team began well and led 53-32 at the break. Essen was playing well offensively, but still had to do more on the defensive end. What wasn´t functioning as well so far on the defensive end through the first 20 minutes?

Leading by twenty at halftime. That’s pretty much what you want if you must make up 40 points. Of course, we could have been a bit more consequent in defense and be up by a little more, but if you go all out for twenty minutes its normal that you have some minutes where the opponents get a little momentum.

What did head coach Lars Wendt give the team for advice at half-time?

To be honest I can´t say much about that, because our doc and I changed my cast (I had to wear one because I got myself a lymphangitis in between the two games) during the halftime (haha)

In the third quarter Orange Academy actually played well for the first few minutes outscoring Essen, but then came a 14-0 run by Essen which changed the game. You made drives and Ben Uzoma a big dunk. What was key in the run for Essen?

I can´t say much to that either. Because, like I said, I did not play due to my injury.
It just took us a couple minutes to get back to that intensity especially in defense. But after this short low I think the guys did a tremendous job by not letting them score in the paint and collect the rebounds to go and score quick on the other side of the court.

Essen was up with 32 points with 10 minutes to play. Essen was in the drivers seat. Which player at this moment was a big motivator with words?

I think Marc Friederici is our guy in those moments to speak up and make sure that we really keep going until the last second is played. He was our emotional Leader and on the other hand we have Nic Sperber with all of his experience and calmness, who knows how to stay cool in those situations to make the right decisions. Those two, that’s why they are our captains, are probably the perfect combination for those kinds of games.

Essen began with a 10-2 run to lead 86-46. Now all Essen had to do was manage the lead to the buzzer. Essen then held Orange Academy minutes without scoring. Did you want it more than Orange Academy?

I´m sure Ulm wanted it as much as we wanted it. But I think they were just out of gas at this point and kind of stunned by how we played them. Furthermore we didn’t want them now to take what we worked so hard for the last 35 minutes of this game and the whole season before that, as well at home in our gym and in front of our fans and families. We worked too hard to lose at that point.

Essen outscored Orange Academy 41-21 in the last half. Was this the best defense the team played in the season?

I don’t know if this was our best defense we played in the whole season, but it was a really good one and probably the most important one.

Essen held their 2 best scorers Joel Cwik and Namouri Omog to 8/28 shooting and 25 points. How much of a focus was the defense on slowing them down?

I´m not a big analyst of games I have to say, but yes in the end it was probably one of those keys to success to slow those two guys down and maybe let others create, who are not used to create for the team.

Quashawn Lane saved his best for last with a 28/11/10 game. Where would the Miners have been without him?

I don’t want to imagine that and the good thing it and I don’t have to. Q played a hell of a season and is/was the ultimate Teammate. Words can´t tell how much I and the team appreciated what he has done for us. That’s why he is the MVP and he deserves it. But I also have to tell that we had an amazing group this year all the way from the starting 5 to the bench and beyond. Everybody gave his all into the Team so that we were able to reach the ultimate goal. Nobody could have done that alone.

What was your fondest moment in Essen against Orange Academy?

Probably the celebrations on court after the game, when we all realized that we really did it.

Thanks Jonathan for the chat.