Bakken Bears were the last to join the ENBL 2024 season but may finish first.
Winning tradition, European longevity, great team, staff and fans – the Bears have all necessary ingredients to succeed.
Anders Sommer and his men finished second in the Group A with a 5-2 record.
They played extraordinary series against the Newcastle Eagles to clinch the place in the Final 4.
Bears won at the Vertu Motors Arena, 92-87, and then outlasted the Eagles in overtime to post a 96-92 win.
They have a 7-2 overall record, just like CSO Voluntari – only win behind Šiauliai.
Uniclub Casino Juventus also had seven wins and two losses but didn`t made it to the Final 4.
Team statistics
Bakken Bears lead all Final 4 teams in assists per game – with 21.8 dimes on average.
Liège Basket are second with 21.4 assists, followed by CSO Voluntari (19.1) and Šiauliai (18.4).
Aarhus players are first in defensive rebounds per game – with 28.2 boards on average.
Liège Basket have 26.6 defensive rebounds, Šiauliai 23.6 and CSO Voluntari – 23.4.
The Bears are the best finishers inside the three point line – with 26.1 two point field goals made.
Šiauliai are second with 24.7 field goals, in front of Liège Basket (23.3) and CSO Voluntari (20.9).
Bakken Bears occupy the second place in steals per game (8.2), trailing only to Šiauliai.
Last but not least, the Bears are third in points per game (88.6) after Šiauliai (92.4) and Liège Basket (89.6).
Player statistics
Four players – Michel Diouf, Skyler Bowlin, Sylvester Berg and DeAndre Pinckney – have played in all ENBL games.
Ryan Evans, Gustav Knudsen and Noah Sorensen have eight games each – with an opportunity to finish in double figures.
The main rotation of Bears features nine players – seven mentioned above plus Darko Jukič and Malik Parsons.
The glorious nine have averaged from 19.2 to 28.6 minutes per game.
What`s even more amazing, eight of them have averaged 8.6 or more points.
Ball sharing is an art and the Bears excel in it.
Four Bears have 3.0 or more assists per game – Darko Jukič has 5.3 dimes, followed by Skyler Bowlin (4.4), Noah Sorensen (4.3) and Ryan Evans (3.0).
A trio of Pinckney, Knudsen and Evans average 21.1 rebounds per game.
Every Bear has a shooting touch and may strike from the deep.
Skyler Bowlin average two three pointers per game for a 18/51 total or 35.3%.
Loyalty and longevity
Center Michel Diouf wears Aarhus jersey from 2015 and has nine seasons under his belt.
Darko Jukič is a Bear from 2017.
Forward Ryan Evans plays in Aarhus from 2018.
Many guys – Skyler Bowlin, Gustav Knudsen, Noah Sorensen, Malthe Bjerregaard, Silas Oriane, Marcus Vinther and Magnus Madsen – joined the Bears in 2022.
They know each other very well and it shows.
History
Anders Sommer is the head coach from 2021 – he was an assistant coach from November 2019.
He has seven titles with the Bears, including a four peat in the Danish championship (2020-2023) and three Danish cups (2020, 2021, 2023).
In total, Bakken Bears have won the Danish championship 21 times: 1958, 1997, 1999-2001, 2004-2005, 2007-2009, 2011-2014, 2017-2023.
Aarhus club added 14 triumphs in the Danish Cup: 2000-2001, 2004-2005, 2007, 2009-2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020-2021, 2023.
The Bakken Bears are regular participants in the European competitions since 2004, including three seasons in the Basketball Champions league: 2016-2017, 2020-2021 and 2022-2023.
History was made on March 27, 2018, when the Bakken Bears qualified for the first time to a semifinal of a European competition – by eliminating ESSM Le Portel in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Europe Cup.
Bakken Bears repeated this achievement in 2020 and 2022.
The 2024 ENBL Final Four is the fourth time when the Bears have reached the semifinals of a European competition.
Be ready.
Final Four 2024
Tuesday, April 9
16:00 Liège Basket – CSO Voluntari
19:00 Šiauliai – Bakken Bears
Wednesday, April 10
16:00 Bronze medal game
19:00 Final
21:00 Award ceremony