Bach Basketball Update
There is no doubt we are living in unprecedented times. Sports are no more immune to COVID than any other industry, and it's certainly been a trip to live through COVID with Rasmus as a professional athlete.
His season was cut short at Randers Cimbria in Denmark, due to COVID, and they were potentially on track to have their best season ever. We flew home on May 8th and have been kind of waiting this thing out. We do love Denmark! I miss everyone dearly from Cimbria 2019-2020 and my all friends in Randers.
Currently, we are home in New Mexico (USA) with my family. My mom is having some complications with cancer, so I'm happy to be home to help.
A Danish basketball news source wrote the article on Raz earlier this week, and Sebastian did a good interview on him and his goals.
This article appeared first in FullCourt.Dk in Danish (Rasmus speaks Danish), and I have translated it to the best of my ability. 25-year-old Danish international Rasmus Bach holds an Australian passport. From 2018-2020 is was in the top Danish league playing for Randers Cimbria. The Danish guard holds a number of accolades from high school and DII college in the USA.
While he played for the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks he was crowned the "winningest player of all time," won two RMAC championships, and made All-Academic First Team, NABC Honors Court, D2CCA All-Region Second Team, All-RMAC First Team, Academic All-RMAC First Team, RMAC Player of the Week, and RMAC Freshman of the Year.
2016-2017 season - Fort Lewis College DII
2018-2019 season - Randers Cimbria, Denmark
2019-2020 season - Randers Cimbria, Denmark
2020-2021 season - New Zealand Breakers
2021-2022 season - New Zealand Breakers
Rasmus Bach Seeks Adventure Abroad: "I want to take a step up"
Randers Cimbria's now-former guard wants to replace Denmark with Australia, and he has also been close to switching to Australia's best series, NBL. He says this in a longer interview with Fullcourt.
August 14th, 2020
The Danish-Australian guard Rasmus Bach tells Fullcourt that he will not extend his contract with Randers Cimbria, as he plans to try his hand in a stronger league abroad.
“I definitely think I will leave Denmark this year. Right now I am looking for a club where I get an opportunity to show off my skills as a team player, and my individual competencies. I want to go to a club where I get the opportunity to show myself in a bigger league, and I have interest from Spain, Germany, and France, ”says Rasmus Bach.
In the same vein, Bach says that the interest has not yet resulted in a contract offer, but that he considers a potential move from Randers to one of the three countries as a positive step in his career.
"I would like to take a step up in terms of level. I have been in Denmark for two years now, I have developed and I feel stronger and more confident, so I just think it's time to take the next step in my career to try something new.
If I play in a slightly lower division in Germany, France, or Spain, I think it's easier to get to a top league in one of the three countries one day, as the coaches do not look towards Denmark, but more towards the country's own second. and third division, ”he says.
Whether Bach and his wife should pack their bags and drive south to either Spain, Germany, or France is at the time of writing, minor, as the destination is not the most crucial for Rasmus Bach. For him, it is important to get playing time at a higher level in order to grow.
"I have no doubt that I can play in a top league, whether it is in Europe or Australia. I know myself. I'm not a super 'flashy' player.
I do not dribble one-on-one and make a sea of step-backs and then shoot, but I feel that my athletic skills, my defensive game, my basketball IQ, and my skills as a team player allow me to help a lot of top teams build a winning culture. "
Almost NBL Player
Although there is interest in Rasmus Bach from abroad, and he has not yet received a contract offer on the table, he could already have signed a contract with another club if everything had gone well.
"At the end of July, I got a call from the New Zealand Breakers' head coach. He told me they were looking at me. They liked what they saw and he also told me that they were looking for a player who could fill their last 'local' place, which is given to an Australian citizen, which I am. He told me that the choice was between me or another Australian player. "
For Rasmus Bach, it was unfortunately not him who pulled the longest straw, despite the fact that he and his agent had been in contact with the club two or three times after head coach Dan Shamir's call.
The serious interest from both parties never turned into more than a close-and-almost deal. The dismissal of Bach is due to the fact that the New Zealand Breakers wanted a so-called 'next-star player', as RJ Hampton had at the New Zealand Breakers, and LaMelo Ball with the Illawarra Hawks.
With a 'next-star player' on the team, they will thus have Rasmus Bach to fill the last Australian place, but as the club from Auckland did not succeed, Rasmus Bach also did not succeed in signing a contract with the New Zealanders. That’s why the last Australian spot went to a ‘big guy’ instead.
Dream Destination
Even if the shift did not go through, it does not make Rasmus Bach lose heart, on the contrary.
"This is how it can go, this is the game, but it was really exciting to experience and hear from the coach. It has always been my dream to play in the NBL, and that is why I work hard every day.
When I got that call this summer, I became more confident that it can be done over time, but I think I'm just a year or two away from it. That is why I need an intermediate step with a good season next year, ”says Rasmus Bach.
Rasmus Bach was born in Denmark to Danish parents but moved at the age of two to Brisbane, Australia with his family, where they lived for ten years until the suitcase was packed again and the trip went to the USA and Austin, Texas.
It was in Australia that Bach started playing basketball and fell in love with the game. It wasn't long before he also started following the city's local basketball team, the Brisbane Bullets. Therefore, it can hardly come as any surprise that Bach wants to play in the league he followed so closely as a child.
"Since I was eight years old and started playing basketball, it has been the league I grew up with and have followed. I saw them (the NBL players) play as a boy, and I remember sitting there thinking it might be cool to play for the Brisbane Bullets. But I think just getting into the NBL would be huge for me, ”says Rasmus Bach.
Danish Interest and National Team Dreams
In addition to concrete interest from New Zealand Breakers, there has also been Danish interest in Rasmus Bach. Not so surprisingly, it turns out that his former team Randers Cimbria has shown interest in continuing the collaboration, but there have also been bids for him from Fyn (an island in Denmark).
“Svendborg was the first to contact me, but it did not seem like the right place for me (at the time). Of course, Randers would like me to stay, and I have also been told that I could still return if needed," he says and elaborates on what his offer from Randers is more specifically about-
I have a really good relationship with Morten (Hansen, sports director at Randers Cimbria), and we still talk once in a while, and he understands well what my dream is. He (Morten) just said: 'Of course, you just have to try to go after your dream, but if it does not work, then we have a place ready for you in Randers'.
It's really nice and sweet of Randers that they try to help people further towards their dreams, so I have not said 'no', but I have said that I would like to try to go for something else, and they understand that. ”
With a good relationship with his now-former employer, Rasmus Bach can safely continue working on finding his new foreign club. But if it should end up with Bach not finding happiness abroad, then he will most likely accept Randers Cimbria's offer to take another run at Randers Cimbria.
"If nothing happens abroad, then it is probably Randers I will return to, but it is probably a little early to conclude. I definitely think I will leave Denmark this year, and if that does not happen, then there is a good probability that I will continue in Randers,” says Rasmus Bach.
Notwithstanding. Rasmus Bach himself is convinced that in the long run, he will play basketball in Denmark again. Whether the choice falls on Randers at that time will be obvious, but Bach also points out that if other clubs can offer a better overall 'package', then he may well decide to turn out for another Danish club.
"I am open to more opportunities, but if I have to return early, it must be in Randers, because they have taken good care of my family. But in the end, it is a business decision, so if Horsens IC, Bakken Bears, or Svendborg Rabbits can give me a better package or better opportunities to develop me, then I can not just say that it is only Randers that is interesting. "
At the end of the interview, Rasmus Bach says that he wants to get more chances on the Danish national team, which he has only practiced with, but has never played a match for. He also hopes that a move abroad can help him contribute to his homeland's success as well.
Raz' 2019-2020 Season Highlights:
Shoutout to Raz' agent, Duncan Lloyd, with Overtime Sports for being so good to us, and pushing Raz to chase his dreams.
Love to all, we will keep you updated here, as always!