"They are very, very similar", this succinct, but nevertheless meaningful assessment by Jesús Ramírez may seem almost superficial at first glance due to its obviousness.

But if you listen to the head coach of the Löwen Braunschweig basketball league club longer when he talks about his players Brandon and Nicholas Tischler, you will quickly notice that Ramírez is alluding to much more than just the visual similarities of the twin brothers, which the Spaniard especially at the beginning of the season caused difficulties.

"In training, if I wasn't sure which of the two I meant, I just shouted: 'carpenter'.

Then he came up with the idea of ​​having the twins wear different socks.

Brandon should cover his feet in black because of the first letter of his name and Nicholas in white.

This worked until all the black socks were in the wash.

Meanwhile, Ramírez no longer needs such help because on the one hand he has got to know his players better and on the other hand the twins have different hairstyles.

An unusual way

Twin brothers on the same team and in the same position: That was the case in the NBA from 2019 to 2021 with the Charlotte Hornets with Caleb and Cody Martin.

In Germany, Brandon and Nicholas Tischler, who were only known to insiders before this season, now form this extraordinary constellation.

Until 2020 they played in Baunach with the cooperation partner of the nine-time German champions Brose Bamberg in the ProA and ProB, the second and third divisions.

After Bamberg had ended the cooperation and the Baunacher had retired to the regional league, the Tischlers took an unusual path.

Because of the Corona imponderables, they decided not to play in any team in the 2020/21 season and instead only train individually with Nowitzki mentor Holger Geschwindner.

They had previously visited Braunschweig in November 2020 at the invitation of Dennis Schröder.

The NBA star is the sole shareholder of the club and met with Brandon and Nicholas in his home country for training and to get to know each other.

In the spring of 2021, the Tischlers decided to try the lions this season.

The venture BBL

After certainly valuable units with Geschwindner, it was still a risk, because the twins, who were 21 years old at the beginning of the season, made their debut in the first division after a year and a half without any competition practice and thus at a level that they had never known before.

In particular, the higher decision-making speed in the upper house was a major challenge at the beginning of the season.

The better they learn to deal with it, the larger their game shares are likely to be.

Nicholas Tischler played more than anyone else in his team in the narrow defeat against Crailsheim (84:87) on Tuesday, more than 28 minutes.

His brother Brandon came in at a good 16. This Saturday (6:00 p.m. on MagentaSport) the game is against the Hamburg Towers.

Coach Jesús Ramírez praises the excellent work ethic of Brandon and Nicholas, who put in extra shifts after each training session and have already proven to be valuable for the lions, especially defensively.

“In terms of character, they are two great guys who also work very hard.

They come first and go last,” says the 42-year-old coach.

The differences in the game of the twins are marginal.

Both are strong and fast, basically athletic types of players.

At two meters tall, they are small forwards, “little” wingers in third position, who can also play shooting guard (2) or power forward (4) offensively.

Defensively their variability is even greater, in principle they can defend all five positions, as was clearly seen on Tuesday in the narrow defeat against Crailsheim.

While they're already fully premier on defense, they're on the way there on offense.

Brandon has a stronger one-on-one scoring mentality, while Nicholas tends to be a bit more of an all-rounder and assist.

However, he scored ten points against Crailsheim and his brother three.

Ramírez is convinced of the potential of the twins: "In two to three years they can be an important part of the rotation in a play-off team.

They have the talent and the attitude to do it.” The fact that they play in the same position also makes them competitors.

They also end up fighting each other to secure game time.

But they do it in a "healthy way," according to their coach.

And they help the team with that.

In the victory over Göttingen last Sunday, Brandon (eight) and Nicholas (seven) collected 15 rebounds together.

Braunschweig can hardly be taken away from staying in the league – also thanks to the two newcomers to the league.

The author was coach of the year twice in Germany.