Hagen is the promoted side with no league win yet, and the thing that stands out is how many points it gives up. Frankfurt has shown it can score when it gets out in transition and hits its threes. I expect this to be a game with plenty of scoring at both ends rather than a grind.
Hagen has allowed 96.3 points a game, the worst number in the league so far, and its three league games went for 194, 171 and 187 in total. The one low game was the home loss to Ulm, where Hagen only scored 78. At Chemnitz it led by 15 at one point, was level after regulation and lost in overtime, with Cameron Krutwig putting up 27 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Frankfurt beat Vechta at home with 93 points on a high three-point rate and fast breaks, with Isaiah Swope scoring 21 and Race Thompson adding 18 and 10 rebounds. The heavy loss in Venice came in a third game in six days with two trips, and this is a normal league week again.
Both teams are poor on the glass, Frankfurt last in the league in rebounding and Hagen second to last. That means more second chances and more possessions. Frankfurt's coach talks about dictating tempo, but against a defence this leaky the pace is likely to be set by whoever scores first and fastest.
Hagen was also without guard Marcus Graves at Chemnitz, so the ball handling runs through Krutwig and Bjarne Kraushaar, who had 13 points and 8 assists there. That keeps Hagen's offence flowing through passing rather than slowing down.
