The first round in the men’s LBBL has been played. After 11 games, it is time to take a look at the main takeaways in the league.
1. Résidence leads the league behind best offense in the country
The team of coach Alexis Kreps leads the LBBL with a record of 9 wins and 2 losses. The team is scoring 95.1 points per game, that’s 8.4 more points than the second and third placed teams in this category (Etzella and Contern). Walferdange also hits a league best 10.7 « 3-pointers » per game. The recipe for success is also Résidence’s balanced offense with multiple players that can score 15+ points on any night.
2. The Musel Pikes are already far behind
With only 1 win out of 11 games, the Musel Pikes are on the bottom of the standings. Over the next weeks, the Pikes will look for a new coach as Anan Majdi did the interim together with assistant Gilles Surkijn. It will be difficult for the Musel Pikes to turn the season around, but 11 more games and a play-down still have to be played. The team has the lowest shooting percentage from the field (40.2 %) in the league.
Update: The Musel Pikes announced the signing of new head coach Milan Skobalj.
3. Contern has flipped the switch
In the first episode of the main takeaways after 7 game days ( –> Main takeaways after 7 game days in the LBBL ) Contern was entitled as the « unluckiest » team in the league after losing close games to start the season. Especially on the double game day, Contern has flipped the switch by winning both games including one huge game in overtime against Etzella on Friday-evening. With a record of 5:6, Contern is in a play-off-spot after the first round.
4. An exciting play-off race ahead
Places 6 to 11 are separated by 3 points, multiple teams have the goal to reach the play-offs (top 8) this season and the race for these places might become a thrilling one until the final game day.
5. The role of the favorite?
The answer which team should be considered the favorite of the league can still not be answered. Résidence deserves credit for standing at the top of the league at this moment but there are plenty of contenders that clearly have the goal to win the title(s). Résidence, Sparta, Etzella and Basket Esch can be named as the top teams of the league, but Arantia and Heffingen also have winning records and they are clearly having a strong season and reasonable hope of competing with the best teams. With a new play-off format coming up this season, a lot will be possible in a « best of 5 » series.
6. More road wins than home wins
Out of the 66 games played so far this season, 34 were won by the road team, 32 by the home team. Another reason why most play-off series’ at the end of the season will not have clear favorites.
7. Basket Esch with the best defense
Basket Esch only collects 69 points per game, that is 7 points less than the second best defense (Sparta). The Musel Pikes have the worst defense in the league with 87.9 points per game scored against them. Obviously, this statistic also depends on the pace that a team is playing at.
8. The scoring leaders in the LBBL
professional players:
Jace Hogan (Racing) – 29.9 ppg
Alex Stein (Résidence) – 29.1
Bryan Jefferson (Telstar) – 26.8
JICL players:
Bob Melcher (Amicale) – 18.1
Mike Feipel (Sparta) – 16.8
Pit Biever (Esch) – 14.4
9. Cup competition
Only 7 clubs from the men’s LBBL are still in the cup competition, the 1/4 finals will be played on December 8 and 9.
Mondorf (+10) – Arantia
Basket Esch – Résidence
Etzella – AB Contern
Telstar – Sparta
10. BREAK
The league will go on a break because the men’s national team is in action over the next weeks in the Eurobasket 2025 pre-qualifiers.
