Rockets (Germany)
In-game article clicks load inline without leaving the challenge.
Rockets is a German professional basketball team. It is originally based in Gotha, Germany, but plays its home games in Erfurt. The Rockets is the first team of the BiG Gotha basketball club.
In 2017, Rockets promoted to the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the German first tier. Following its debut season in the BBL, the professional team of Rockets was dissolved. Since 2018-19 season the team plays in the 2nd Regional League under the name BiG Rockets Gotha. On April 12, 2025 the team became champion of the 2nd Regional League and got promoted to the 4th tier 1st Regional League.
History
The Oettinger Rockets were found as the first team of the club Gotha e.V. which was founded on 2 July 1998. The team started in the Bezirksliga and promoted to the fourth tier 1.Regionliga in 2005.
In the 2009–10 season, the Rockets was promoted to the national third level, the ProB. In the 2011–12 season, Gotha was crowned ProB champions and the team was promoted to the second tier level ProA.
Since the 2016–17 season, the Rockets play in the Messe Erfurt, which has a capacity of 3,236 people. On 3 May 2017, the team earned promotion to the Basketball Bundesliga by beating Niners Chemnitz in the semi-finals of the ProA to claim a promotion spot.
Rockets Gotha started the 2017–18 season as "Oettinger Rockets", named after its main sponsor Oettinger Brauerei. However, from January 2018 the main sponsor left and the club would be simply known as "Rockets". In its debut season in the BBL, Rockets ended in the 17th place and relegated back to the ProA. In July 2018, the organization announced that it was not able to play in the professional ProA league.
The same year the second team of Rockets managed to win the 1. Regional League South-East and promoted to the ProB. Due to loss of the main sponsor Oettinger Brauerei the team decided to sell their ProB licence to Basketball Löwen Erfurt and continue to compete in the 2nd Regional League under the name of BiG (Basketball in Gotha) Rockets Gotha.
Honours
Winners: 2011–12
Players
Current roster
| BiG Rockets Gotha roster | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Coaches | ||||||
| Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age PG 5 Germany men's national basketball team Deubner, Franz PF 6 Germany men's national basketball team Schiller, Lorenz 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 26 – (2000-04-05)5 April 2000 F 6 Germany men's national basketball team Lenz, William Valentin 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 22 – (2004-02-20)20 February 2004 F/C 7 Germany men's national basketball team Enders, Jonas C 8 Germany men's national basketball team Keßler, Simon F 9 Germany men's national basketball team Pleta, Dominykas 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 21 – (2004-10-06)6 October 2004 SF 10 Germany men's national basketball team Hüller, Magnus 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 24 – (2002-01-07)7 January 2002 PF 12 United States men's national basketball team Franklin, Robert 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 45 – (1981-01-20)20 January 1981 F 13 Germany men's national basketball team Rösler, Tom 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 22 – (2003-11-22)22 November 2003 PF 13 Germany men's national basketball team Lechler, Adrian 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 23 – (2002-07-01)1 July 2002 C 14 Germany men's national basketball team Jäschke, Maximilian PG 15 Germany men's national basketball team Arpasi, Moritz 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 22 – (2004-03-24)24 March 2004 SG 17 Slovakia men's national basketball team Kancír, Peter SG 47 Germany men's national basketball team Wolter, Nils | Head coach Vacant Assistant coach(es) Germany Jannek Fritzschek Legend (C) Team captain(DP) Development playerInjured Updated: 4 October 2020 | ||||||
| Pos. | No. | Nat. | Name | Ht. | Age | ||
| PG | 5 | Germany men's national basketball team | Deubner, Franz | ||||
| PF | 6 | Germany men's national basketball team | Schiller, Lorenz | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) | 26 – (2000-04-05)5 April 2000 | ||
| F | 6 | Germany men's national basketball team | Lenz, William Valentin | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | 22 – (2004-02-20)20 February 2004 | ||
| F/C | 7 | Germany men's national basketball team | Enders, Jonas | ||||
| C | 8 | Germany men's national basketball team | Keßler, Simon | ||||
| F | 9 | Germany men's national basketball team | Pleta, Dominykas | 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) | 21 – (2004-10-06)6 October 2004 | ||
| SF | 10 | Germany men's national basketball team | Hüller, Magnus | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | 24 – (2002-01-07)7 January 2002 | ||
| PF | 12 | United States men's national basketball team | Franklin, Robert | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | 45 – (1981-01-20)20 January 1981 | ||
| F | 13 | Germany men's national basketball team | Rösler, Tom | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | 22 – (2003-11-22)22 November 2003 | ||
| PF | 13 | Germany men's national basketball team | Lechler, Adrian | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | 23 – (2002-07-01)1 July 2002 | ||
| C | 14 | Germany men's national basketball team | Jäschke, Maximilian | ||||
| PG | 15 | Germany men's national basketball team | Arpasi, Moritz | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | 22 – (2004-03-24)24 March 2004 | ||
| SG | 17 | Slovakia men's national basketball team | Kancír, Peter | ||||
| SG | 47 | Germany men's national basketball team | Wolter, Nils |
Notable players
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| Criteria |
|---|
| To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time. |
- Germany Konstantin Klein
- Germany Andreas Obst
- Nigeria Ekenechukwu Ibekwe
- Serbia Nemanja Jaramaz
- United States David Hicks
- United States Darrel Mitchell
- United States Marcus Monk
- United StatesGermanyIsrael Travis Warech
Head coaches
| Period | Coach |
|---|---|
| 2003–2007 | Germany Peter Krautwald |
| 2007–2009 | Germany Alexander Uth |
| 2009–12/2009 | Lithuania Dainius Pleta |
| 12/2009–2010 | United States Mike Smith |
| 2010–2011 | Russia Alexander Chartschenkow |
| 2011–11/2012 | Switzerland Marko Simić |
| 12/2012–2013 | Germany Christoph Nicol |
| 2013–2017 | Germany Chris Ensminger |
| 2017–2018 | Germany Ivan Pavić |
| 2018–10/2019 | Germany Valentino Lott |
| 10/2019–11/2019 | Germany Ronny Schönau/Peter Krautwald |
| 11/2019–03/2020 | Spain Iria Uxía Romarís Durán |
| 09/2020 | Russia Germany Kemal Velishaev |
Season by season
| Season | Tier | League | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | 3 | ProB | 9th |
| 2011–12 | 3 | ProB | 1st |
| 2012–13 | 2 | ProA | 14th |
| 2013–14 | 2 | ProA | 7th |
| 2014–15 | 2 | ProA | 4th |
| 2015–16 | 2 | ProA | 3rd |
| 2016–17 | 2 | ProA | 2nd |
| 2017–18 | 1 | BBL | 17th |
| 2018-19 | 5 | 2nd Regional League | 7th |
| 2019-20 | 5 | 2nd Regional League | 8th |
| 2020-21 | 5 | 2nd Regional League | - |
| 2021-22 | 5 | 2nd Regional League | 10th |
| 2022-23 | 5 | 2nd Regional League | 5th |
| 2023-24 | 5 | 2nd Regional League | 2nd |
| 2024-25 | 5 | 2nd Regional League | 1st |
Source:
Sponsorship names
Due to sponsorship reasons, the team has been known as:
- Oettinger Rockets (2006–2017)
External links
- (in German)
- (in German)