– Even the toughest experts would not have believed in this, the large German newspaper Bild rants.
In south-western Germany, in the city of Heidelberg with a population of over 160,000 roars the Finnish sensation.
Daniel Jansson has led the city’s basketball team USC Heidelberg to first place in the German Bundesliga. Heidelberg leads the Bundesliga with eight wins and three losses.
Last weekend, Heidelberg, coached by Jansson, came from far behind to win in the top fight against Ulm.
The top spot is a tough deal when you think about the budgets of Bundesliga teams. German Bundesliga according to published figures Heidelberg’s budget is the third smallest and personnel costs the fifth smallest.
Of course, four teams from the 17-team series have not wanted to publish their financial figures, but probably including them, Heidelberg’s rankings would still be more or less the same at the end.
The biggest announced budget is Alba in Berlin, i.e. a good 14.6 million euros. Heidelberg’s budget is a little over 5 million euros.
When Urheilu reaches Jansson by phone, he laughs at the sensationalism.
– By nature, I’m so Kymiläinen and Finnish that I can put stones in my pocket here, Jansson reassures.
The German Bundesliga is not a league of ten. The Finn, who has coached in Germany for a decade, sees that the Bundesliga is among the top five national leagues in Europe.
According to Jansson, nobody gets “free lunches” in the Bundesliga. Awarded as coach of the year in Finland at the Sports Gala at the beginning of the year by Gordon Herbert Bayern Munich and another big club, Alba Berlin, have stumbled from the beginning of the season due to the stress of European games.
– The biggest strength of the Bundesliga is extreme consistency. The German teams playing in the Euroseries are not necessarily at the same level as the top teams in Greece, Spain and Turkey.
– In Germany, the weakest team can still fight against the top team. In that sense, I would say that the German Bundesliga is among the five or even higher in Europe, says Jansson.
From a wild situation to Heidelberg
The joint sky between Heidelberg and Jansson started interestingly. Last season, Jansson coached Tübingen in the Bundesliga.
Last season, Heidelberg secured its place in the series by beating Tübingen coached by Jansson in the final round. The relegation of Tübingen, which suffered from injuries at the end of the season, was already certain.
Jansson heard for the first time about Heidelberg’s interest after that match. He was still in the Heidelberg hall in the dressing room when the agent called.
Jansson experienced the situation as wild for himself.
– There was a dystopian feeling at that point, Jansson explains.
Jansson still had a contract with Tübingen, but since the team was relegated back to the second tier Pro A, he basically had a buyout clause in his contract.
Three weeks later and after many twists and turns, Heidelberg was ready to pay for Jansson’s termination of the Tübingen contract.
Heidelberg is familiar to Finnish basketball fans. Jonas Iisalo coached Heidelberg last season, but got his starting passes after a weak start in January.
Iisalo was one of the first people Jansson contacted after hearing about Heidelberg’s interest. They had talked a lot and gone through both the pros and cons of the club.
Jansson reminds that in his first season, Joonas Iisalo coached USC Heidelberg to the hardest performance in the club’s modern history: 12th place and one win away from the playoffs.
– The discussion about Joonas turns surprisingly many times to the last year. It’s sad. This also shows that sometimes it really depends on the little things. Even our good start could look different if some small thing went a little differently, says Jansson.
A trick compared to Tuomas Iisalo
At the beginning of November, Jansson described in Urheilulehti that Tübingen did not understand his departure. According to Jansson, the Heidelberg fans had compared him Thomas To Iisalo.
Under the leadership of Tuomas Iisalo in Germany, Bonn and Crailsheim succeeded beyond expectations.
Iisalo also took up to six players from Bonn to the successful Paris Basketball last season.
From Tübingen to Heidelberg, Jansson was followed by three players. In addition, Jansson was acquired in Heidelberg Ryan Mikesell’s. A player who had previously excelled under Jansson in Pro A in Tübingen.
Jansson sees the continuity brought by four familiar players as the absolute key to the success of the early season.
– I know exactly what I’m getting and what kind of people they are. It was quite clear that recruitment could not go wrong with them, says Jansson.
He laughs at the comparison with Tuomas Iisalo, who is currently the number one assistant coach of Memphis in the NBA.
– It’s not necessarily a bad thing if someone compares me to him. That’s quite a positive thing.
Mikesell has been the team’s number one player with averages of 16.1 points and 6.5 rebounds.
The name is also familiar to Finns Paul Zipser. He will be remembered Lauri Markkanen From his NBA rookie season as a teammate in the Chicago Bulls and Peter Koponen as a teammate from Bayern Munich.
In recent years cleared the cerebral hemorrhage Zipser even belongs to the team’s experienced guard in his thirties, when the average age of the team is around 22-23 years.
– We have young members who understand that they are not yet the best versions of themselves. It has brought the right amount of hunger and competition to the exercises.
– The pieces have fallen into place at different game locations. We have an understanding that if you are ready to sacrifice your own agendas, you will get surprisingly a lot back. The early season wins have fueled this idea, Jansson opens the team’s strong early season.
Jansson’s calming reaction to sensational speeches is explained by the match schedule. They will face the big clubs Bayern Munich and Alba Berlin for the first time only in January.
– On the positive side, we have shown that it is difficult to beat us at the moment – especially if we play well, Jansson summarizes.