Alba Berlin has won the German basketball championship for the ninth time in a superior manner. The capital city also prevailed in the second final game against Ludwigsburg.
The wait is over: after a dry spell of twelve years, Alba Berlin is again number one in German basketball. The former series winner won the second final game against the giants Ludwigsburg on Sunday (28.06.2020) at the final tournament of the Bundesliga (BBL) in Munich thanks to a confident performance over long distances with 75:74 (42:35) and took an overall lead out of 24 points his ninth German championship.
For the first time since 2003, Berliners can celebrate the double. Alba had already secured the trophy for the tenth time in February against the Baskets Oldenburg.
“I need a few more moments to make it happen,” said Berlin international Johannes Thiemann: “It’s a damn weird situation, but we’re happy that we did it. Incredible that we got the double.” Despite the failure, Ludwigsburg’s Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann was “very proud. Nobody had on the slip that we would come back again. Alba was the measure of all things.”
Exceptional position demonstrated
Especially in the two finals for the German championship, the fourth of the canceled main round then demonstrated its current exceptional position. The glamorous 88:65 against the giants on Friday was followed by another convincing performance against the again weakened giants on Sunday. As in the first game, top scorer and driver Marcos Knight was missing due to an injury to the right ankle.
Faulty start, then came Alba
“Titles are the salt in the soup, it is a total pleasure to win titles,” said Berlin managing director Marco Baldi before the last 40 minutes of the season. And after the game on Friday, Alba didn’t want to let that joy go away. After a faulty start for both finalists, the team of Spanish coach Aito Garcia Reneses took over the game towards the end of the first quarter: at this point, the overall lead was already 33 points, halfway through 30 points and 36 points after three quarters.
Homogeneous team
In the past two years, Alba, permanent master in the BBL from 1997 to 2003, had lost the final series for the championship against Bayern Munich. In his own hall, however, the defending champion already eliminated Ludwigsburg in the quarter-finals. The Berliners with their well-stocked squad, on the other hand, presented themselves in the dome as a homogeneous team that always fulfilled their role as a favorite with ten wins from ten games.
Baldi’s work is paying off
With the first championship title in twelve years, Baldi’s persistence also pays off. In the past few years he had worked with passion and dedication to outperform the dominating Bamberg (masters 2010 to 2013 and 2014 to 2017) and Munich (masters 2014, 2018, 2019). In the corona crisis, he succeeded – against a team from Ludwigsburg, which after the struggles in the quarterfinals against FC Bayern and in the semi-finals against Ulm was at the end of their strength.
Baldi has been working with Aito on the development of the major Alba project for three years now. This is primarily aimed at promoting young people. The final participation in Munich was already the seventh of a total of eight possible under the Spanish coach. “Hardly any team in Europe has this consistency – or very few,” said Baldi. And currently none in Germany.
Aito Garcia Reneses’ future still open
A decision about the future of coach Garcia Reneses will be made during the week at the earliest. The Spaniard’s contract expires. “He needs a little rest now. He can stay with us as long as he wants,” said managing director Baldi at “Magentasport”. Garcia Reneses did not want to comment on his future yet. “Today is a celebration,” said the 73-year-old. “We will make a decision.”
Those: sportschau.de
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