Ludwigsburg’s recent improvement has substance behind it. Carles Durán has found ways to turn defensive stops into quick attacks, while his guards keep putting pressure on the basket. Against Trier’s deep frontcourt, that mix of running and drawing contact is the part of this matchup that drives my judgement.
The Rostock game showed one version of that approach. Ludwigsburg finished with a 38–28 rebound advantage and committed 11 turnovers to Rostock’s 18, winning despite making only six threes. In Bamberg, Durán used his bench to change the game, and the team found transition baskets and earned 33 free-throw attempts. Elijah Hughes then supplied the decisive outside shooting in the closing stretch.
Trier brings a fast, well-connected attack and plenty of size, with EJ Onu joining an established group of big men. Ludwigsburg now has Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann and Oshane Drews back in full training, giving Durán more options alongside Tommy Rutherford. A full preparation week gives those rotation changes a useful setting: pressure Trier’s ball handlers, finish defensive possessions and make its big men defend moving attackers.
