Hamburg Towers forward Lukas Meisner was the star of his team’s maiden 7DAYS EuroCup victory last week. Afterward, he spoke to EuroCupBasketball.com about this season and more.
Lukas Meisner, Hamburg: 'This is the start of something'
Interviews
9 Mins read
Hamburg Towers made history in Round 4 by recording its first-ever win in the 7DAYS EuroCup, 96-100 over Lietkabelis Panevezys in Lithuania. One of its stars was forward Lukas Meisner, who came off the bench for 20 points, 7 rebounds and a PIR of 25. Meisner missed most of the 2020-21 season due to a shoulder injury and slowly but steadily is getting his rhythm back. Meisner is excited to be part of a young ambitious club eager to keep climbing spots in European basketball, as he said in this EuroCupBasketball.com interview. "Hamburg is such an ambitious city that it would be great to have a good basketball team, especially playing internationally in Hamburg," Meisner said. "So for the city, it's very important to have good sports teams and so the Towers just want to be one part of this successful city of sports."
Hello, Lukas. Congratulations on the win against Lietkabelis. It was a back-and-forth game. What allowed you to win it?
"Thanks. We had a great start. The first quarter was good. We came out with intensity and physicality, that's always our game plan, to be more active, bring more energy to the court than the opposite team. And it worked out well for a lot of stretches. But at some point, they were hitting good shots. We were like having some miscommunication, some backdoor cuts that we gave up. And so, at the end of the day, we always had an answer for their runs: even if it's a tough three-pointer that they hit, we had an answer and I'm glad we made it over the 40 minutes."
It was also the first win for Hamburg Towers in its EuroCup history. How great was being a big part of this achievement?
"It's great! It's always special to do something for the first time. It was special to play the first game internationally with Hamburg and also the first win. Obviously, it would be better to do it at home and celebrate with the fans. But we take every win that we get in this competition and we try to learn from every game. So it's just a great, great start for hopefully a better EuroCup's season. More to come!"
"It's always special to do something for the first time."
Despite being 1-3, Hamburg is sixth in scoring and reached 90 points three times already. How fun is it to play for this team?
"That's our playing style. We want to play offense by defense and we try to defend as aggressively as possible. We gave up way too many points, but usually, we like to just have more possessions than the opponent through crashing the boards, through playing aggressive defense. And that way, we can just turn it around quickly and score a lot of points, some easy points in transitions. That's where we want to score our most points. But we definitely have to work more on the defensive end and offense will come by itself."
Pedro Calles, your coach, takes a lot of pride in his teams being very aggressive and physical. How is it to play for Pedro and what role did he play to bring you to play for Hamburg?
"He is a young coach, but he is super ambitious. He teaches basketball. He doesn't only try to do certain things on a system level, but he tries to teach us, the players, to read the game, to have a feel for the game and to also play the game the right way, which is playing with a lot of energy, physicality and intensity. And it's about multiple efforts to help the team out in multiple sequences of the game, even in one position. And it was definitely one big argument for me to come to Hamburg because I have talked to him a couple of times in the past years and we were always discussing how I can evolve as a player. I thought it was the right decision to come to Hamburg now."
This is the first EuroCup season for most of Hamburg’s players, too. How is it to play the EuroCup for the first time?
"It is a great competition. It's also different to play that many games this year. With 10-team groups, you have so many games, which is great as a player. I have a little international basketball history with Bayreuth. They played in the Champions League in my first year as a pro and in the FIBA Europe Cup the second year. So I know what it's like to play internationally and have those double games a week. But the EuroCup is obviously a different level and it's way more challenging and you are going to have a great fight each night to get a couple of wins. So it's just great to play in this competition."
We talked about Hamburg Towers before. It is a young club in a city with a rich basketball tradition. How does it feel to bring elite basketball back to the city?
"That's the goal for the long run. I think we have a lot to learn. We have a lot of space to grow in certain aspects, not only on the court and the basketball side. Hamburg is such an ambitious city that it would be great to have a good basketball team, especially playing internationally in Hamburg. So for the city, it's very important to have good sports teams, and so the Towers just want to be one part of this successful city of sports. So I think there's a lot more room to grow. But I think this season also is the start of something."
"It's taking that momentum and that fun experience that we have playing and winning to the next game."
You suffered a serious shoulder injury. How was the recovery process? How difficult was it to shoot again and get back on track?
"Yes, it was a terrible, terrible injury just because it was my shooting arm, too. So I had to take a long time off and find other ways to develop my game even when I was injured. So if even if it's film or working on my left hand or whatever, but it was a long process. I'm kind of lucky and unlucky to have this injury at this specific moment, which gave me enough time to recover to play this season. But obviously, after eight months of not playing basketball, it was a challenge to start back up where I left. And of course, in a new environment, new organization routine, it's even difficult if you're not injured. But so at this point, I'm just happy to play again. I'm just happy to practice each practice. I don't take anything for granted and try to enjoy every part of it."
Up next, it's Boulogne Metropolitans 92 at home, a team that reached the EuroCup playoffs last year. You come to this game after your first win. Is it one of the most exciting games so far this season?
"Yes. I mean, right now it's about taking this momentum that we created not only in the EuroCup, but also in the league play. We had five wins in a row in the domestic league. So it's taking that momentum and that fun experience that we have playing and winning to the next game. And it's an important game. Winning at home is important, but also to climb the standings a little bit would be important to get that important win."
In your opinion, which teams are the favorites to win the EuroCup this year?
"I think that Partizan is, of course, one of the high-quality teams in the EuroCup, with the ambition to play EuroLeague. It was a great experience playing against them in the first EuroCup game, which obviously set the bar and the tone for the rest of the season. But other than that, I think that Valencia and Virtus Bologna always have a good chance in the other group to succeed. But right now, let's stick with Partizan just because of the experience with the head coach, but also with the players, then that can make the step at the right time, even though they lost last week, to push all the way to the championship and win it."
What would make it a good season for you, personally, and for Hamburg Towers?
"For me personally, humble standards, to say I want to get out of the season healthy and playing each game, which would help me just to gain back my rhythm and my confidence. Obviously, I try to help the team out as much as I can with becoming a better defensive player. I think last year I showed that I'm capable of scoring offensively throughout the season. And so now it was important for me to create the aspect of defense for me and become a better defensive player to play at the higher-level night in and night out. But for the team, it's trying to continue the ongoing trend with the club and the organization. It's obviously making the push in the domestic league to be there and compete for the championship. But with the EuroCup, it's just taking that experience and converting that also to the domestic league. But we take it as a process to try to see game by game and try to learn and try to make this process to be the best team at the end of the season. At this point, we are 1-3, so we have to look at the next games and see how they are going. And then we can think about the playoffs and the win-or-go-home games. But obviously in sports, if you have one game, you have one chance. Some magic can happen, and I think that's a great, great opportunity to make something special happen."