Crailsheim Merlins

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.

Hakro Merlins Crailsheim
LeaguesBasketball Bundesliga
Founded31 January 1986 (1986-01-31)
HistoryCrailsheim Merlins
(1986–present)
ArenaArena Hohenlohe
Capacity3,000
Team colorsBlue, Navy, Silver
     
Main sponsorHakro
PresidentMartin Romig
Team managerIngo Enskat
Head coachSebastian Gleim
2020–21 positionBasketball Bundesliga, 6th of 18
Championships1 ProB
Websitecrailsheim-merlins.de

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5]

Sponsorship names

Due to sponsorship reasons the team has been known as:

  • Proveo Merlins: 2007–2009
  • Hakro Merlins Crailsheim: 2018–present

Honours

BBL-Pokal

ProB

  • Winners (1): 2008–09

Players

Current roster
Crailsheim Merlins roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
PG 0 Shorts, T. J.  1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 73 kg (161 lb) 24 – (1997-10-15)15 October 1997
SG 1 Lewis, Jaren 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 25 – (1996-11-25)25 November 1996
SG 3 Stuckey, Maurice 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 31 – (1990-05-30)30 May 1990
PG 5 Kovačević, Aleksa 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 74 kg (163 lb) 20 – (2002-03-05)5 March 2002
SG 6 Lasisi, Elias 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 30 – (1992-01-09)9 January 1992
SG 8 Harris, Terrell 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 34 – (1987-08-10)10 August 1987
SF 9 Bleck, Fabian 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 29 – (1993-03-19)19 March 1993
PG 11 Kindzeka, René 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 76 kg (168 lb) 26 – (1995-06-05)5 June 1995
C 12 Kovačević, Dejan 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 108 kg (238 lb) 25 – (1996-12-27)27 December 1996
C 15 Radosavljević, Bogdan 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 117 kg (258 lb) 28 – (1993-07-11)11 July 1993
PG 30 Guðmundsson, Jón Axel 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 25 – (1996-10-27)27 October 1996
C 34 Aririguzoh, Richmond 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 104 kg (229 lb) 23 – (1998-09-09)9 September 1998
G Caffey, Mike 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 79 kg (174 lb) 29 – (1993-02-17)17 February 1993
Head coach
  • Sebastian Gleim
Assistant coach(es)
  • Eric Detlev
  • Marko Stanković
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: March 24, 2022

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

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality 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.

Season by season
Season Tier League Pos. 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 Runner-up 4 FIBA Europe CupQF

    References
    1. "Crailsheim schafft sportlichen Aufstieg". Handelsblatt.com (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. "Skyliners coach Gleim moves to rival Crailsheim | tellerreport.com". www.tellerreport.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
    4. "Tsmoki-Minsk survive fightback for OT triumph; Crailsheim, London enjoy debut road wins". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
    5. "ALBA comeback from down 16, beating Crailsheim Merlins for the German Cup". basketnews.com. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.