World Cup effect: Manager of Niners Chemnitz hopes for positive impact on BBL

Manager Steffen Herhold of the Niners Chemnitz is counting on a positive World Cup effect for the Basketball Bundesliga. "We hope that this attention will also be transferred, at least to some extent, to the Bundesliga and the international games of the German teams," Herhold told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. "At the same time, the success of the national team can have a positive effect on the perception of the BBL, since many players of the current world champion team play in the Bundesliga or took their first steps there."

Chemnitz opens the new BBL season on Wednesday (8 p.m./dyn) with a guest game at champion Ulm. The Syntainics MBC from Weißenfels gets in on Friday evening (20.00 clock/Dyn), must compete immediately with championship favorites Bayern Munich. There plays the world champion Andreas Obst, who comes from Halle.

MBC manager Martin Geissler also builds on the lasting impact of the World Cup title. "We are the only German team that is world champion and will carry this title for the next four years," Geissler said. "If we stick to the high standards of training created over the past 15 years by qualified junior coaches and continue to build on them, we have a good chance of benefiting from this title in the longer term."