Alba Berlin
Alba Berlin starts its Russian week
Luke Sikma (r.) Also matters in St. Petersburg and Kazan. The Alba captain is the most effective Berlin player this season.
Photo: Andreas Gora / dpa
Alba Berlin qualified for the cup semi-final against Chemnitz. But now two serious Russian opponents are waiting.
Berlin. For a few weeks Alba Berlin had a top spot in the “Injury List”, which is published by the basketball Euroleague before each match day. This lists the injured or sick that a team has to cope with. Alba had a lot of them. This week, the Berliners no longer appear in the list. You are enjoying the best of health, so to speak. Fortunately, what is missing would be a few more wins. So far there are three out of nine games.
Russians defeated Munich – unlike Alba Berlin
It seems rather questionable whether more will be added on the exhausting trip to Russia, of all places. This Wednesday in St. Petersburg and on Friday in distant Kazan (both 5 p.m., Magentasport) it will be difficult to win. Both clubs have recently won three out of four games, and both have defeated Bayern Munich. With Alba it was exactly the other way around.
But part of it is that the young Berlin team needs patience. There is no lack of energy and team spirit, it is only when working together that it does not work as desired. This is also due to the fact that the convalescents now have to be reintegrated into the structure. The result sometimes looks bad like last Thursday against Anadolu Istanbul (63:90) and then again splendid like just two days later in the cup quarter-finals in Bayreuth (84:57).
Cup Final Four is still 31 games away for Alba Berlin
The latter success meant that coach Israel Gonzalez’s team took part in the semi-finals for the German Cup for the tenth time in a row (February 19-20) – an astonishing achievement. In the semifinals, however, the 99ers Chemnitz is waiting for the team that defending champion Bayern Munich has just thrown out of the competition. The Saxons are even trying to host the tournament.
It’s been a while, before the Berliners have to play 31 games. And travel like now. “Playing against Zenit is not an easy task,” says Alba guard Jaleen Smith, “they have a very balanced team. We want to build on our good performance on Saturday. ”A performance like the one in Bayreuth will also be necessary in order to possibly surprise St. Petersburg. The Russians are – unlike their guests on Wednesday – a clear contender for a play-off spot in the Euroleague.
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