Something is Bakken in the State of Denmark

Image: fiba.basketball

Bears continue their Basketligaen dominance

One week ago, Bakken Bears celebrated their eighth Basketligaen title in the last ten years. The Aarhus-based club has also made a lot of noise in European competitions recently. We discussed the flagship of Danish basketball but also the state of the league in general with local expert Sebastian Pfaff, editor of Danish basketball platform Fullcourt.dk. 

How do you rate the 21/22 Basketligaen season personally? In terms of level of play, entertainment factor, etc.?

It has been a great season. This past season had loads of quality players, so it was a very difficult task when we on Fullcourt.dk had to make our votes for the season awards. For instance, there were two obvious favorites for the MVP, but number three in the voting wasn’t as easy. I had three to five different players in mind for the number three spot so there was quality depth. 

Bakken Bears were once again completely dominant this season, and after months of them not losing a single game in Basketligaen, I truly believed that they were able to go undefeated through the whole season. That did not quite happen, but they ended the regular season without a single defeat. Their dominance affects the league´s competitiveness but given their participation in FIBA Europe Cup makes it totally worth it if you can say it like that. Luckily the teams behind - Svendborg Rabbits, Horsens IC, Randers Cimbria and Team FOG Næstved - fought a close battle for the last spots in the semifinals, so the playoffs were entertaining.

How about media coverage?

Fullcourt.dk is basically the only written media covering the league. Sometimes a few of the bigger news outlets write an article about the league, but it is kind of rare. But I must say that some of the local media are doing a great job writing about their city’s club.

This season the league rights were owned by TV station “Sport Live”, and they showed roughly one game every week, some weeks had two games – and their contribution media-wise were great.

But I will say that I believe there is potential for more – a lot more. The coverage of NBA in Denmark is getting better and better, but Basketligaen can sometimes be forgotten. But that will most likely change over the next years, because the Danish players are getting better and better and with the growth of the sport in Denmark. And Bakken Bears now seriously aim to win a European competition and that is going to positively affect the media coverage as well.

Where do you see the league positioned? Is it in good shape for the future? What are areas of improvement? 

I’d say it is looking good, but there will always be room for improvement. Bakken Bears are dominating the Danish league, their depth is incomparable, and they seem very motivated to win a European tournament, so my prediction is that they will continue spending the same amounts of money as previously – maybe even more – so they can get a title in for example FIBA Europe Cup. 

So, for the competitiveness of the league, other teams are needed to do something like Bakken Bears. Otherwise, the teams will realistically be competing for a silver medal instead of a gold. A championship is never(!) guaranteed, but if no teams are doing something similar, Bakken will continue to be huge favorites for the title in the league every year.

My hope is that at some point in the future, another Danish team will follow in the footsteps of Bears and compete in one of the European tournaments. I consider both Svendborg Rabbits and Horsens IC as great candidates to do so.

But I also think the league is in good shape for the future because there are multiple young, great Danish players that can be the future. We also have many up-and-coming players playing outside Denmark who could return home at some point.

As you mentioned, Bakken are very dominant at the top and have become a force in Europe, as well. What makes them so good? Their core is largely 30+, do you think they will be able to keep it up in upcoming years?

Bakken Bears are a very professional organization. They are very resourceful, and no other team in Basketligaen can compete with their budget. So, they have the money to pick up great players, but they also have a great, talented coach in Anders Sommer and the whole staff seems very competent. To be honest, i do not know much about their GM Michael Piloz' work approach, but the club is very often able to choose players that fit into their system. This is where they stand out. 

Bakken's age average is 29, true, but I am sure they will be able to keep it up in the upcoming years. They keep adding great import players to the team, but they have also shown the importance of having Danish players that have knowledge about the club and its system on the roster. Luckily for Bakken, it’s my impression that many Danish players are interested in playing for their club, both because of the club´s professionalism and mostly because of their ambitions in European tournaments. The club is also very focused on talent development, which is great for their future.

How about challengers to their dominance? Svendborg, Horsens, etc., anybody with enough ambition and funding to be able to give them a go?

Funding wise both teams are much behind Bakken. But Svendborg is right now in a great period, and they even beat Bakken Bears in this season’s cup final. They definitely have some momentum. Horsens have previously won the league multiple times when Bakken were considered favorites, and that’s because they have done some great scouting. Horsens IC have been able to sign great players even though they have some economic limitations compared to Bakken. And many of these players have been MVP-candidates. 

I hope that Bakkens success is further motivating clubs like Svendborg and Horsens. 

As it stands now, no clubs are close to have the same budget as Bears. I don’t have that much insight to the money in the league, but Svendborgs GM told in an interview heading into the cup final that Bakken's budget was five times bigger than theirs.

Randers Cimbria are also a very interesting team. The club is driven pretty well and their GM seems to be one of the best ones in the league, but it seems like they are behind clubs like Horsens and Svendborg regarding their setup for now.

Further down the table, there seems to be a big gap between the Top 5 and the rest. How come? Is it budget-related?

The gap is without a doubt budget-related. The bottom five teams are very limited, and they only have a few full-time pros – if they any at all. These teams are more focused on talent development. BMS Herlev have for example changed their strategy to only using young players. They decided not to sign any import players and their average age this season was only 20, close to 21 years of age. I like this strategy, but they won’t be considered a medal contender – but that’s not quite their ambition anyway.

Bears Academy, who ended the season as number six, is Bakken Bears´ farm team, which is further proof of the club's dominant position in the league. 

Which team was the pleasant surprise and which one the biggest disappointment?

Pleasant surprise: Svendborg Rabbits. They’ve been promising these past seasons and this season they ended up in the finals for the first time since season 2012/13. And they, as mentioned before, won the cup final against Bakken.

Biggest disappointment: Randers Cimbria. In season 2019/20, which was cancelled because of Covid-19, Randers were the biggest competitor to Bakken Bears. I truly believe that Randers could’ve challenged Bakken in a final’s series. This season they barely ended up in the semifinals. But with a bit of luck, they got the last spot instead of Team FOG Næstved. Randers also ended up losing the bronze medal game against Horsens IC. 

They had a pretty good team centered around MVP-candidate Reginald Kissoonlal. Just to clarify, their season wasn’t bad. My reason for calling them the biggest disappointment is that it looked like they would take over as the first competitor to Bakken, but this season they didn’t accomplish that.

From a player perspective, who were the most exciting stars in 21/22? In particular when it come to younger prospects (25, 26 and under). Who do you see embarking on a great career on higher levels? Can be Danish players or imports.

Sebastian Åris (age: 26) from Svendborg Rabbits was named this seasons MVP. Åris played his heart out and totally deserved being named MVP. This summer, he´s playing for Canadian CEBL team Saskatchewan Rattlers.

Number two in MVP voting was Reginald Kissoonlal (age: 26) from Randers Cimbria. Kissoonlal is a versatile big man who is a force in both ends. He´s 211cm tall, but still one of the greatest three-point shooters in the league – as is Sebastian Åris.

I have high expectations for Jonathan Klussmann (age: 19) who played this past season for Randers Cimbria. He is a huge talent and even had his debut for the Danish national team earlier this year. This seaons was his third year in the league, so he already has a lot of experience. Klussmann is one of the biggest Danish talents there is.

Other notable talents/young player: Magnus Møllgaard, Marqus Marion, Leonardo Carlino, Mads Bro Hansen, Sharif Barfi. There is also Tobias Mønsted, age 17, who saw action in 22 games. He did not average a lot when it comes to numbers, but he looks exciting.

How about the reputation of the league when it comes to attracting exterior talent?

You sometimes hear about those complicated situations, where a player either is getting paid to late or promised something that could not be fulfilled. In my five years covering the league, I have never experienced something like this in Basketligaen. So, I guess players can be confident in clubs keeping their promises when they think about signing here. 

Lastly, can you tell us more about Fullcourt.dk? It seems like a comprehensive platform on all things basketball?

Fullcourt.dk is the biggest basketball media outlet in Denmark. We cover as much basketball as possible, but the two main leagues/tournaments are Basketligaen and of course NBA. The media is driven by volunteers, but with the sport growing, I am confident we will be able to pay our writers in a few years time.

We are the only media in Denmark covering Basketligaen to the fullest, as the local media obviously only write about the team of the city. We always hear that our work is important for the exposure of the league.

Our goal is to be the place to go on all things basketball.