Alba Berlin does not want to be discouraged by the defeat in the first BBL final. The capital city team promises another tough fight against Bayern. What about Alba’s most important professional?
After a late knockout and defeat in the first final game of the German basketball championship, Alba Berlin has announced a quick revenge against FC Bayern.
“We fought like lions and will do the same again and hopefully come out with a different result,” announced Berlin’s Tim Schneider after the 67:79. The injury-plagued and exhausted capital city team had bravely stood up to the Munich team for three quarters – then Alba collapsed.
Before the second final game of the best-of-five series on Monday (8.30 p.m./Dyn), again in Munich, the Berliners do not want to be discouraged by the setback. “I know for sure that we will be here again, give 110 percent and do everything we can to make it 1:1,” said Schneider on Dyn. The fact that Alba was exhausted and also had to replace several injured players is not very positive, however.
It is unclear whether captain and world champion Johannes Thiemann, who was absent due to a knee injury, will be fit again by Monday. “We’ll have to wait and see from day to day,” commented coach Israel Gonzalez.
Bavaria warns
Bayern don’t want to become careless after taking the lead. “I told my players: This is just the start,” stressed Munich coach Pablo Laso. Former NBA champion Serge Ibaka demanded: “We have to keep working as hard as we did today.” And captain Vladimir Lucic also stressed: “It’s only 1-0, Alba is a great team. We have to be ready for the next match.”
Although Berlin had three days less time to prepare for the start of the final series and several key players were missing due to injury, the courageous guests from the Spree kept up with Bayern for three quarters. Alba showed a strong defense at times and scored basket after basket in attack.
Olinde prevents zero-point debacle
It was only in the final quarter that the exhaustion became noticeable – and how: Berlin almost didn’t score a point in the last quarter. It was only 50 seconds before the final whistle that Louis Olinde scored the first points thanks to free throws; in the end, the score was a measly five points. “We ran out of steam in the fourth quarter,” admitted Berlin’s Matt Thomas.
Source: Stern
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