Basketball: Klepeisz collects historic air miles

The game at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the American west coast is not the first duel between a German and a US team, but it is still a special one. For the first time, the NBA players did not travel to Germany, but vice versa. “We are looking forward to the challenge of being the first German club team to play a test game in the USA against an NBA team.” “It is something very special,” said Klepeisz in the ORF interview, looking forward to the trip across the Atlantic.

What is also special is that the invitation did not go to one of the major German clubs such as Alba Berlin and Bayern Munich, both of which also play in the EuroLeague – the equivalent of the Champions League in football – but to the basketball players from Ulm, which is quiet in comparison . “It is an award for the club and the good work we have done in recent years – especially in training young players,” said Klepeisz, who was part of the historic first Ulm championship team last year.

Not only does Ulm have the tallest church tower in the world at 162 meters from base to top, basketball players from the city in Baden-Württemberg have also recently made it to the top of the scouts' list. Current NBA players like Killian Hayes, Jeremy Sochan and Pacome Dadiet make it from the Ulm “Orange Academy” to the dream destination of many young basketball players. With the 18-year-old Israeli Ben Saraf and the only 17-year-old Noa Essengue from France, two more potential candidates can now present themselves to the talent scouts in the test.

Six games and a trip around the world in 16 days

In order to compete with a team from the best league in the world, Klepeisz and his Ulm team are taking a long journey. Because the team's schedule is not for the faint of heart or people with a fear of flying. Because 48 hours before tip-off at the Moda Center in Portland, the German Bundesliga team played Besiktas in Istanbul in the EuroCup – the equivalent of the Europa League. With a 75:107 rejection under their belt, Klepeisz and Co. were back at the Istanbul airport bright and early on Tuesday and set off on the twelve-hour flight to Seattle and then on to Portland by bus.

After the game on Wednesday, the players only have a short time to shake the tiredness out of their bodies. Exactly just a whole day, because on Friday we travel via Paris to Hamburg and on to the Bundesliga game in Oldenburg. After that, Klepeisz and his colleagues only have three days left to prepare for the next away trip, as the EuroCup away game away to Gran Canaria awaits.

Including two games in the championship and the German Cup before the trip to Istanbul, it is the sixth game in 16 days for Ulm. The players will then have covered more than 25,000 kilometers. For comparison: the circumference of the earth at the equator is 40,075 kilometers.

Klepeisz: “Have fun and enjoy”

Therefore, for Klepeisz, the outcome of the test match after “18 hours of travel” is irrelevant. They simply want to soak up the atmosphere in the 20,500 seats, more than three times as many as the Trail Blazers' Moda Center in Ulm's Ratiopharm Arena. “So we want to have fun and enjoy the whole thing,” said the Burgenlander, who has been under contract in Ulm since 2020.

But a surprise is always possible because the team is basically in shape: “We started the season very, very well and got six wins from the first six competitive games.” The successful run only ended recently in the cup and in Istanbul.

Klepeisz himself has only been on the floor in the championship so far. The long-time national player will probably only make short appearances at the test in Portland. An Achilles tendon injury from last season is still causing problems for the Austrian. “The most important thing for me now is to get fully fit again in the next few weeks and be able to play at 100 percent,” said Klepeisz.

What is 100 percent certain is that the Burgenlander will make up for what he didn't have time to do before the game: “I haven't been in contact with Jakob Pöltl and therefore haven't gotten any tips. But I will definitely write to him in the next few days.” And Pöltl, who is currently flying the Austrian flag in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors, will certainly follow the outcome of the historic test closely.