Bayern against Alba is the final showdown between the German basketball greats. Berlin is also battling an increasingly serious injury crisis. No leniency can be expected from Bayern.
In the big showdown against the ruthless FC Bayern, the injury crisis of Bundesliga finalist Alba Berlin is getting worse and worse.
Hardly any point guards left, the captain and world champion out and, to top it all off, the stand-in playmaker is injured: In the final of the German basketball championship, the Berliners are not only fighting against title-hungry Munich, but also against their own bodies. The first final game went to Bayern with 79:67 – how much of a comeback is possible for the capital city team before game two on Monday evening (8.30 p.m./Dyn) in Munich?
Alba professional Tim Schneider made it clear that the attitude should not be the reason for the failure. “We fought like lions and will do the same again and hopefully come out with a different result,” he told broadcaster Dyn and promised: “I know for sure that we will be here again, give 110 percent and do everything we can to get a 1:1.”
Alba is facing another personnel blow. The eleven-time German champions had already started the showdown against Bayern without any nominal guards because all of their playmakers were injured. World champion and captain Johannes Thiemann also had to sit out the game, his damaged patellar tendon preventing him from playing. And shortly before the end, Malte Delow also twisted his ankle. “The ankle is a bit swollen,” reported sports director Himar Ojeda.
Fears for Thiemann and Delow
It is unclear whether Delow and Thiemann will be fit again for the second final game of the best-of-five series of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). “We have to wait and see how things develop,” said Ojeda. “We have to see from day to day,” commented coach Israel Gonzalez in a similarly reserved manner.
The consequences of the bad luck with personnel became apparent on Saturday in the final quarter of what had been an exciting match. “We ran out of steam in the fourth quarter,” admitted Berlin’s Matt Thomas. The guests – who lost the ball 20 times in the whole game, which was unworthy of a title – failed to score a basket until the last minute, and in the end they only managed to score a measly five points – by which time Bayern had long since made the preliminary decision thanks to a splendid defense.
Laso’s message to his Bayern
And the Munich team will not show any leniency towards their battered rivals in the remaining games of the series – the desire to win the championship is too great after four disappointing years without a Bundesliga cup. Coach Pablo Laso wants to follow up with a bang and travel to Berlin with a 2-0 lead. “I told my players: This is just the start,” emphasised the Spaniard.
He no longer has to motivate his key players. Former NBA champion Serge Ibaka demanded: “We have to keep working as hard as we did today. And we have to do even better.” Captain Vladimir Lucic, the game’s top scorer with 17 points, emphasized: “It’s only 1-0, Alba is a great team. We have to be ready for the next match.”
Who gets eaten in the cat and mouse game?
Before the two friendly coaches Laso and Gonzalez disappeared into the VIP area of the BMW Park late on Saturday evening, chatting, they were asked what they still had to change or adapt before game two. Alba coach Gonzales smiled and said: “Playoffs are like a game of cat and mouse.” Especially because of the precarious personnel situation, Alba has to fear being eaten by the hungry Bayern in the new week.
Source: Stern
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