Fireworks, blue and yellow Bengalos, Berlin battle chants and a break in the swimming pool at a late hour: after winning the title, the Alba basketball players enjoyed the masterful fan reception on their return to the capital.
At the end of an incredibly exhausting XXL season, the happy ending gave the team around coach Aito Garcia Reneses and the likely moving away captain Niels Giffey the very last energy. And this should be used for the party! Thoughts of the future were pushed aside by the two formative players, for whom the hard-won 86:79 on Sunday at FC Bayern could have been the last Alba game.
Beer shower for Coach Aito
When all the tension that had built up for months fell away, neither Berlin nor Munich wanted to think about the next season, about transfers, about expectations, or about basketball in general. “Now is the right moment to celebrate,” said former coach Aito and let the small beer and water shower in the cabin go through with a grin.
Almost a year after winning the quarantine tournament, the Berliners left the Munich Audi Dome again as champions and initially couldn’t really grasp the success. National player Maodo Lo, who became the third Bundesliga player with three different teams, spoke of an “insane performance” at Magentasport. Giffey thought it was “unbelievable that we made it here again. It’s great for the troupe, great for the whole club.”
Change at Alba?
The 30-year-old did not reveal whether the tenth Alba championship title was his personal farewell gift to Berlin. According to various media reports, Giffey, an important identification player at Alba, has already agreed on a contract with the Lithuanian Euroleague top club Zalgiris Kaunas until 2024. He didn’t comment, but said: “First, let me enjoy the moment.”
The 74-year-old coach Aito also had no answer to the question of whether he would stay with the capital city for another year. Lo and the Italian Simone Fontecchio could also leave Alba.
But Berliners know such situations – they counter this trend with trust in their own offspring. While the weakened Bavarians gave their remaining – but partly also ailing – stars hardly any breather in the final, Alba was able to bring young German players like Malte Delow. “They give identity,” said Alba managing director Marco Baldi proudly.
Alba is “like a family, everyone fights for everyone, everyone cares for everyone,” said Jayson Granger, who was Sunday’s top scorer with 29 points and was voted MVP of the final series.
Even if Bayern missed the hoped-for double after winning the Cup, coach Andrea Trinchieri found no word of criticism of his team. After the defeat, he felt “not an overwhelming disappointment, but rather a rational sadness,” said the Italian.
Bayern coach Trinchieri proud
Trinchieri was especially proud of his protégés, who had played a record 90 games in just one season, were therefore knocked out in the end and also had to deal with a dramatic incident: All four finals were played by the Munich team under the impression that teammate Paul Zipser had to undergo emergency surgery on the morning of the first final because of a brain hemorrhage. The national player survived the operation well, as it was said.
“It’s hard for me to talk about it,” said Trinchieri. “It’s unbelievable how we handled the situation. I don’t even know how we did it.” At such moments, almost all normally important topics become irrelevant: For example, when the coach will extend his contract, as announced; whether top performers like Wade Baldwin can be retained in the summer; or what the team looks like for the new season in Euroleague and Bundesliga.
When Trinchieri spoke at the press conference in a Paul Zipser jersey with the number 16, his voice trembled at the words: “Nothing is more important now than that Pauli gets well again and can return to his normal life.”
dpa
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Stand: 14.06.2021, 12:19
