Alba Berlin
So Alba Berlin can fight her way out of the table cellar
After the hard-fought victory against Asvel Villeurbannne, Alba Berlin will now host Zenit St. Petersburg in the next game of the Euroleague.
Development player Peyton Siva was the decisive man of the game for Alba Berlin in the Euroleague game against Asvel Villeurbanne.
Photo: Andreas Gora / picture alliance
Berlin. The game-deciding man was humble. When asked about his three-point throw two and a half seconds before the end of Alba Berlin’s victory in the Euroleague against Asvel Villeurbanne (76:75) on Wednesday evening, basketball professional Peyton Siva only replied: “Other players of ours also had big hits.” And meant captain Niels Giffey, who had already landed a similarly important throw.
Too much self-praise is not appropriate for Alba, despite the hard-fought success against the French, when Zenit St. Petersburg is a guest in the Mercedes-Benz Arena in the next game of the Euroleague on Friday (8 p.m., Magentasport).
For long stretches the team, which was still battered by corona infections and training failures, played weakly, at times the Berliners were behind with 13 points. The 30-year-old point guard Siva, who suffered from Corona like no other of his teammates, messed up five direct throws.
Alba Berlin and St. Petersburg affected by Corona
Nevertheless, the next opponent, Zenit St. Petersburg, could help Alba on his mission to fight his way out of the Euroleague table cellar. So far, the Berliners have only been able to win two games in the current Euroleague season.
Zenit is currently five places ahead of the “Albatrosses”, but the starting positions of the two teams are similar. After a surprisingly good start in the Euroleague with two victories against Barcelona and Istanbul, the Russians were also thrown out of their rhythm by a total of 13 corona cases and the subsequent break in play. A similarly insecure team like Alba, against which Berliners can win. In the preseason they defeated Zenit in both games.
Khimki Moscow is Alba Berlin’s next opponent
Alba can also use the momentum and self-confidence from his narrow success against Villeurbanne. But Siva also warns: “We have to start the game much more focused than against Asvel and improve offensively and defensively in order to beat Zenit.”
On November 26th, the next home game of the Euroleague will be Chimki Moscow against another team from the table cellar. A win against St. Petersburg in the back would give a chance to get some air and to clear yourself.
In any case, despite all the problems, Alba proved one thing on Wednesday: that the team can fight back from backlogs. The game against St. Petersburg must also be approached with this strategy. It doesn’t work any other way in a more than unusual season.
Read more about Alba Berlin here.
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