Riesen Ludwigsburg

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg
Leagues	Basketball Bundesliga Champions League
Founded	1960; 62 years ago (1960)
History	DJK Ludwigsburg 1960–1970 SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg 1970–1987 BSG Basket Ludwigsburg 1987–2012 Riesen Ludwigsburg 2012–present
Arena	MHP Arena
Capacity	5,325
Location	Ludwigsburg, Germany
Team colors	Yellow, Dark Grey
Main sponsor	Mieschke Hofmann und Partner
President	Alexander Reil
Head coach	John Patrick
Retired numbers	1 (4)
Website	mhp-riesen-ludwigsburg.de
Home Away Third

Riesen Ludwigsburg (English: Giants Ludwigsburg^[1]), for sponsorship reasons MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in Ludwigsburg, Germany. The club currently plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the first tier of basketball in Germany. As well, the club plays in the European Basketball Champions League competition.

Founded in 1960 as DJK Ludwigsburg, the club has been a regular in the BBL since the 1986–87 season, when the team promoted from the second division 2. Basketball Bundesliga. Between the period 1970–2012, the team was also known as SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg and BSG Basket, before changing its name due to the end of the sponsorship agreement with EnBW.

History[]

When the team was founded in 1960, it was founded as the basketball section of multi-sports club DJK Ludwigsburg. In the 1979–80 season, the team promoted for the first time to the highest tier, the Basketball Bundesliga. From 1970 until 1987, the club was known as SpVgg 07, as it was part of the multi-sports club SpVgg Ludwigsburg. In 1987, the team separated from SpVgg and was renamed BSG Basket Ludwigsburg.

In 2008, Ludwigsburg reached the German Cup Final for the first time, but lost to Artland Dragons, 60–74.

In the 2016–17 season, Ludwigsburg participated in the inaugural Basketball Champions League (BCL) season, where it was eliminated by one point on aggregate in the quarter-finals by Banvit. The campaign marked Ludwigsburg's best European performance in history, as it was the first time the team reached the knock-out phase of a European competition. In the 2017–18 season, Ludwigsburg set a new European club record when it advanced to the Final Four of the Champions League, after defeating Oldenburg and Bayreuth in the round of 16 and quarter-finals.^[2] This was the first time ever the club qualified for the final stage of a European tournament. Ludwigsburg lost in the semi-final to Monaco, 65–87. In the third place game, the team lost 74–85 to UCAM Murcia as it finished in the fourth place.

On 19 July 2019, David McCray announced his retirement and subsequently his number 4 was retired by Riesen, the first retired number in club history.^[3]

The 2019–20 season was altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a final tournament behind closed doors in Munich, Luwdigsburg reached its first German finals ever. In the finals, it lost to Alba Berlin on aggregate in two games.

Arenas[]

The MHP Arena is the home arena of the club since 2009

Ludwigsburg's home arena, since 2009, is Arena Ludwigsburg, later renamed the MHP Arena, after they moved from Rundsporthalle Ludwigsburg.

Naming[]

Partly due to sponsorship reasons, the team has known various names in its history:^[4]

Logos[]

• 

  Logo of Neckar Riesen Ludwigsburg (2012–2014)

Honours[]

Domestic competitions[]

• Basketball Bundesliga
  • Runners-up: 2019–20
• BBL-Pokal
  • Runners-up: 2008

European competitions[]

• Basketball Champions League
  • Fourth place: 2017–18

Season by season[]

Players[]

Retired numbers[]

Riesen Ludwigsburg retired numbers
No.	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure	Ref.
4		David McCray	PG	2007–2012, 2015–2019	[3]

Current roster[]

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age PG 1 Hulls, Jordan 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 31 – (1990-04-16)16 April 1990 PG 2 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 75 kg (165 lb) 19 – (2003-01-21)21 January 2003 G/F 3 Darko-Kelly, Zaccheus 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 24 – (1997-05-03)3 May 1997 SG 5 Simon, Justin 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 25 – (1996-05-06)6 May 1996 PG 6 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 74 kg (163 lb) 20 – (2001-12-30)30 December 2001 F/C 7 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 25 – (1996-09-12)12 September 1996 SG 8 Woodard, James 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 27 – (1994-01-24)24 January 1994 F 10 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 19 – (2002-02-13)13 February 2002 PG 11 Herzog, Lukas 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 28 – (1993-02-10)10 February 1993 PG 12 Radebaugh, Jonah 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 24 – (1997-06-17)17 June 1997 F 13 Polas Bartolo, Yorman 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 36 – (1985-08-08)8 August 1985 C 16 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 18 – (2003-06-20)20 June 2003 C 18 Wohlfarth-Bottermann, Jonas 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 105 kg (231 lb) 31 – (1990-02-20)20 February 1990 SG 20 Alkins, Rawle 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 24 – (1997-10-29)29 October 1997 G/F 21 Darden, Tremmell 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 40 – (1981-11-17)17 November 1981	Head coach John Patrick Assistant coach(es) Lars Masell David McCray Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: January 17, 2022

Notable players[]

- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in German)