BDon’t let go of the gas is the motto at Alba Berlin, just don’t think about what the Bone Mill Basketball does in the head and body of the best professionals. “Looking at the bench with our injured people could slow the players down,” says manager Marco Baldi. “But we cannot play with caution.”
And so swept on Sunday evening, while team captain Niels Giffey had to watch together with Luke Sikma, Peyton Siva and Magnus Eriksson because of various muscle and joint injuries and while coach Aito Garcia is even in quarantine at home because of a corona infection, the champions decimated to ten players the big rivals Bayern Munich with 85:72 points from the empty hall – “on turbo”, as construction player Maodo Lo described the style of the house. This is no small matter, after all, Bayern had triumphed over FC Barcelona four days earlier and are fourth in the EuroLeague. After this top game in the Bundesliga, the Euroleague game against Baskonia Vitoria awaits Alba this Tuesday evening; the second of four games in seven days, the fourteenth of 24 in December and January; two more were planned, but were canceled due to Corona.
Relentless intensity
Baldi had warned that it was more dangerous than losing a couple of games, be it to gamble away solidarity and ruthless intensity. What sounded like he was preparing the audience for the bitter defeats of his heavenly strikers is still true after the success over Bayern, insists Baldi: “We can’t help it.” While Bayern were literally down their necks, especially in the second half, their insulting and raging coach felt, the young Berliners threw themselves into the fight without fear and relish, disrespectful and clever in defense, lightning-fast and brave in attack.
Led by the 31-year-old American Jayson Granger (11 points / 10 assists) and the three years younger Berliner Lo (8/6), the 22-year-old Louis Olinde, top scorer with 17 points, played as disrespectful as the 19-year-old Malte Delow, who scored 6 points in seven and a half minutes. Success has a price. “You can tell from our squad that many of them don’t survive and get injured,” says Lo. “You have to try to get your energy back on, but with a game plan like that, it’s incredibly difficult. Now and then it works, now and then it doesn’t. ”Baldi also admits:“ Our structure is extremely fragile. ”
As if, apart from the Alba players, Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri could have imagined this unlikely success of the Berliners, he did not want to know anything about Alba’s disadvantage. “They are missing players, we are missing players,” he said before the game. “In January and February, the Euro League teams pay the price for the burden of their games.” So far, Bayern have shouldered this package more easily than Berlin; With eleven wins in 17 games they seem on course for the playoffs of Europe’s first class; Alba is number 14 of the eighteen teams with six wins. It did not seem to be tiredness that paralyzed Bayern on Sunday. In any case, Munich’s Paul Zipser, who contributed ten points to the game, lamented the mentality of his team and the lack of intensity in action against the champions and rivals. “A game like this might happen,” he growled, “but it mustn’t happen here.” Trinchieri railed about the “shameful game”, one of the worst that any of his teams have ever shown.
“Completely different approaches”
Baldi and his players did not want to hide their joy, especially since they did not get to play against Bayern when they won the championship in the Munich quarantine in October, they were eliminated so early. “Bayern and Alba, they are completely different approaches,” said Baldi about the rivalry that has grown between the two largest Bs in the BBL. The Bavarians of this year cannot even be compared with those of last year.
“It’s a completely different team, not just in terms of personnel, but also in terms of mentality,” says the Berlin manager. “Of course Bayern are missing two players. But they have nine foreigners; they cannot use all of them. You have just swapped two players. You get the feeling that for the first time they are really reaching their potential. ”Every word makes the success of his team even better.
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