MANISA (Türkiye) - Year 3 of the Youth Basketball Champions League opened with a game between Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg and Aliaga Petkimspor. The Germans ran the game from front to back and set the tone for the entire tournament with their pace, intensity, and physicality.
The level had been raised and everyone else needed to follow.
For Ludwigsburg head coach, Kheeryoung Rhee, the level of the competition has gone up a notch regardless of their strong performances.
"I think overall the amount of teams trying to play faster, the pace itself is very evident that it's improved a lot. There's more length, more athleticism," he stated.
With two wins from two and a place in the Semi-Finals secured after a win over perennial challengers, Igokea m:tel, Ludwigsburg became the first German club to reach the Semi-Finals and also guaranteed the highest-ever finish for a German club in YBCL.
In Rhee's mind, this dramatic improvement in their fortunes from last year's seventh place finish wasn't entirely what they expected from the tournament.
"We scouted obviously Igokea and Petkimspor really early and there they looked pretty impressive," he said.
"It's been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride, we weren't really sure how good we are but after the first result, we were pleasantly surprised," Rhee explained.
That element of the unknown in terms of their own team's strength is even more understandable when you consider that, like many of the teams at this year's YBCL, Ludwigsburg used the opportunity of playing in this competition as a tool for recruitment and also evaluating their own talent against some of the continent's best young players.
Players like 2008-born forward Lars Lenke, 2008-born guard Lars Danziger, 2007-born forward Daniel Biel, and 2007-born guard Raul Dumnici have all been brought in for this tournament.
All four players have grabbed the opportunity presented to them with both hands and taken key roles in the team.
"Both Larses are fun to watch, I think, from an outside perspective," said Rhee.
"Danziger, he brings a high pace bringing up the ball, I think he's also very, very creative and Lenke, I mean, he's athletic... He's so athletic," he clarified.
Danziger is producing 8.5 points, 6.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds across the two games, and Lenke is putting up 11.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, throwing down a series of above the rim plays in the process.
Biel has been all over the stat sheet in the same way that he's all over the court with the style that he plays.
Across the two games he's accumulated averages of 19 efficiency points, 9.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 steals.
Dumnici exploded for 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists against Igokea and added the kind of sauce that the fans in Manisa come to see.
It's not just been the new recruits getting the job done for Ludwigsburg, either.
This is a team that gets the job done by committee, with eight players playing more than 19 minutes in each game and young Danish international Anton Hjort, producing almost 2 points per minute in his 7 minutes this far.
Ludwigsburg have two players returning from last year, with 2007-born guard Sebastian Kuhn, who has gone on to make regular contributions with the Ludwigsburg senior team and 2008-born big man Armin Pivac.
"Sebastian has become more stable," said Rhee when describing the way his experienced point guard leads the team.
"It's something he actually tries to, let's say, assert on the guys as well and that's become evident this week."
Pivac is one player that Rhee was especially keen to pick out for praise and primarily because, on a clearly undersized roster, he's performing possibly the most difficult role in the team.
"For me, personally, Armin Pivac, he's our five-man and the position five in our, let's say, concept, is very difficult to play, not only offensively, but also defensively," described Rhee when talking about which player is the key to their success this week.
The pivotal nature of Pivac's performances has not only been evident in the results of both games, but also on the stat sheet. Pivac is putting up 12.5 points on 67 percent shooting and pulling 7.5 rebounds.
When Ludwigsburg faced Petkimspor and their massive frontcourt, including seven-footer Ahmet Kerim Andic and talented power forward Berat Cevik, he played his part in holding them both to just 6 points and 9 rebounds combined.
Both players doubled that contribution in their following game.
His own numbers in that game were 13 points and 9 rebounds, as he dominated the paint despite being undersized and often matched up against players one year his senior.
Up next for Ludwigsburg, in the first Semi-Final this Saturday, is Filou Oostende. The Belgians have been one of the hot topics in the whole tournament and brought a unique brand of basketball to the YBCL this week.
Rhee was effusive in his praise when describing the threat that the Belgians pose.
"In youth basketball, for a few years now, I think you can find talent everywhere, but having this combination of talent and being this mentally tough, they really impressed me," he stated.
"Also their pace is incredible, everybody has the freedom to do everything they want, be it pass, dribble or shoot. I say they are like a well-oiled machine."
The game tips off at 17:30 local time and you can watch it on the FIBA YouTube channel. Make sure you don't miss it.