Crailsheim Merlins
Crailsheim Merlins, for sponsorships reasons named Hakro Merlins Crailsheim, is a professional basketball club based in Crailsheim, Germany. Established in 1986, the club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the highest professional league in Germany. The club is a part of the multi-sports club TSV Crailsheim. Home games are played in the Arena Hohenlohe, which has a capacity of 3,000 people.
| HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim | |||
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| Leagues | Basketball Bundesliga | ||
| Founded | 31 January 1986 | ||
| History | Crailsheim Merlins (1986–present) | ||
| Arena | Arena Hohenlohe | ||
| Capacity | 3,000 | ||
| Team colors | Blue, Navy, Silver | ||
| President | Martin Romig | ||
| Team manager | Ingo Enskat | ||
| Head coach | Tuomas Iisalo | ||
| Championships | 1 ProB | ||
| Website | crailsheim-merlins | ||
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History
The club was founded on 31 January 1986 by a group of students. Until 1994, the team was only active at the lower local leagues and had problems in finding a hall to play at. A year later, the club found a new home in the barracks of departed American armed forces. In 2001, the Merlins managed to promote to the German second division, now the ProA, for the first time. A new home arena was found again, in the form of a renovated market hall.
In the 2013–14 season Merlins promoted to the Basketball Bundesliga, by reaching the ProA Finals.[1] The club managed to avoid relegation in its first season in the league, because Artland Dragons was relegated the club received a wild card. However, in the following 2015–16 season the team was relegated once again after finishing last.
Sponsorship names
Due to sponsorship reasons the team has been known as:
- Proveo Merlins 2007–2009
- Hakro Merlins Crailsheim 2018–present
Honours
- ProB
- Winners: 2008–09
Players
Current roster
| Crailsheim Merlins roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: November 4, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.
Notable players
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.
| Criteria |
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To appear in this section a player must have either:
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Season by season
| Season | Tier | League | Pos. | Postseason | German Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | ProA | – | |||
| 2010–11 | ProA | – | |||
| 2011–12 | ProA | Semi-finalist | |||
| 2012–13 | ProA | – | |||
| 2013–14 | ProA | Runner-up | |||
| 2014–15 | BBL | Relegated[lower-alpha 1] | |||
| 2015–16 | BBL | Relegated | |||
| 2016–17 | ProA | Quarter-finalist | |||
| 2017–18 | ProA | Runner-up | |||
| 2018–19 | BBL | ||||
| 2019–20 | 1 | BBL | 10 | Round of 16 | |
| 2020–21 | 1 | BBL | Group stage |
- The Merlins were offered a wild card because of the departure of Artland Dragons, and stayed in the Bundesliga.
References
- "Crailsheim schafft sportlichen Aufstieg". Handelsblatt.com (in German). 27 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
