Image: © Pictorial / M.Filippovits
Now the season finish is really happening in quick succession. There are only 48 hours between the decisive matches in the best-of-5 series. Today (5.30 p.m., ORF Sport+) the OCS Swans Gmunden enjoy a home advantage with a score of 1: 1 against BC Vienna, game four takes place on Monday (5.30 p.m.) in the Hallmann Dome in Vienna. If there is still no champion, there will be a showdown on Wednesday (6 p.m.) in the Raiffeisen Sportpark above Lake Traun.
“Now it’s time to mobilize all the reserves again,” says CFO Harald Stelzer, who at least has a smile on his face at today’s early start. A week ago, the match took place at 8:15 p.m. because it was specified by the TV partner. “That cost us 200 to 300 people,” Stelzer calculated.
Nonetheless, the scenery was fine. 1137 visitors saw a 87:67 victory of the Gmundner. Today the house will be almost full. Yesterday there were only 80 seat tickets, there could be 1400 fans like in the game five against the Raiffeisen Flyers Wels.
The home advantage should become the trump ace in the series. Even BC Vienna manager Petar Stazic-Strbac bows to the audience in the Salzkammergut: “If there were a prize for the best fan crowd in Austrian basketball, the Swans would certainly be the winners this season,” said the maker: “It will be a great atmosphere again. The only thing I wish for is that it will be a 100 percent fair play game,” added Stazic-Strbac.
Hard work is definitely waiting for Gmunden, especially since BC Vienna has the upper hand after the recent 79:67 win. Especially Enis Murati, who was in top form with 30 points. The 34-year-old former Gmunden captain needs to be slowed down collectively.
The four-day break since the second final is extremely good for the Swans, especially as they showed signs of fatigue for the first time on Tuesday. The batteries should be halfway charged again. “Like in game one, we want to use the home advantage and secure two match points. That’s the declared goal,” stressed Daniel Köppel. Coach Anton Mirolybov expects “little things to make the difference”. “Vienna played as expected at home, now it’s up to us to find answers.”
One of the fingers crossed (this time from a distance) is 3×3 national basketball player Matthias Linortner, who is preparing with his colleagues for the World Cup starting on Tuesday in Vienna. “I played for the Swans for a long time and know a lot of people at the club. Of course I’ll keep my fingers crossed for Gmunden,” said the 26-year-old.
Source: Nachrichten
