Compared to the previous season, the Fraport Skyliners are way ahead of their time.
Frankfurt's new basketball coach Geert Hammink already had his team together when training started last week, and six players in the 13-man squad were signed this summer.
That was the first step in the right direction, because the lack of continuity in personnel and the resulting turbulence had contributed to the Hessians being relegated for the first time.
Now they assembled a team early on, hoping it would be competitive and well-rehearsed right from the start without much need for correction.
To this end, the two partners Gunnar Wöbke and Thomas Kunz took a bit of a risk by investing their own capital.
The Skyliners needed a wild card in order to continue to belong to the group of 18 Bundesliga clubs in the future.
This costs the club a total of 700,000 euros, an amount that places a significant financial burden on Frankfurt.
Another mistake the Skyliners made must not be repeated either.
In terms of characters, the team “didn’t really work properly in the past round.
It was all a bit difficult," says point guard Lukas Wank, who lost his place in the national team squad.
Hammink, a 2.13 meter tall giant who played for Alba Berlin and Cologne during his active career, placed great value in putting together the Frankfurt squad on "players with very strong characters who are willing to work hard and go beyond the pain threshold walk.
I'm very happy with how we put the team together," he said.
The Skyliners are one of the youngest teams in the league.
With point guard JJ Frazier, who measures 1.78 meters, and center Matt Haarms (2.21 meters), the club has the largest length difference in the squad of any player in the league.
Hammink does not name a specific goal for the season.
The minimum goal must be staying in the class.
Otherwise, the relegated would not have learned from his mistakes.