Status: 1:18 p.m
Painful out: Alba’s Luke Sikma (left) against Joshua Hawley from Ratiopharm Ulm
Quelle: dpa/Andreas Gora
The play-offs in the basketball Bundesliga have their first big surprise. Championship favorite Alba Berlin lost sensationally in the quarter-finals against Ulm. The disappointment of the defending champion is great. A major upheaval is in the offing.
EThe pros and managers at Alba Berlin were exhausted, disappointed and also shocked on Wednesday evening. Nobody had really expected that the defending champion would be eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Basketball Bundesliga. “There were a lot of emotions there. Of course, we are very sad at first, and that is very painful. This is probably one of the most bitter moments since I’ve been at Alba,” said sporting director Himar Ojeda.
With the 81:83 at ratiopharm Ulm, the best-of-five series went 3:1 to the outsider. In the tight game, Ojeda hoped for a win until the end. Especially when national player Maodo Lo started to throw from a distance seconds before the end. “I sat on the other side. It felt like the ball was in the air for three, four seconds. And I thought he’d fall in,” reported the Spaniard. But he didn’t fall and Alba was eliminated.
However, Ojeda did not want to see the elimination too dramatic. “That’s what happens in sports. Just like we’ve won the title for the last three years, although on paper we shouldn’t be able to,” he said. Alba never found his best form in the playoff games. Therefore, “there was nothing that came as such a surprise. We’ve felt it since the first game,” said the 50-year-old. Even if he admitted that Alba should normally be able to “at least get to the semifinals”.
Many contracts are running out at Alba
Above all, the physique after a long exhausting season with 74 games made things difficult for the Berliners. “We had a lot of little problems. We went into the playoffs not in good physical shape. We couldn’t recover,” said coach Israel González. Players were repeatedly plagued by muscular problems, others had to sit out sick. “As a result, they weren’t able to be in good form for the season finale,” said Ojeda.
Big disappointment: the Alba Berlin players after the defeat
Quelle: dpa/Andreas Gora
So there was always a certain unrest in the Berlin game. “Louis Olinde, Tamir Blatt and Yovel Zoosman also just came back from breaks. Lo continued to have physical problems, Luke Sikma not in the best form,” said Ojeda. Opponent Ulm was the complete opposite. “Everyone was healthy, in good shape, they had the energy and they played very well,” said the sporting director.
The next few weeks will show how Alba will continue. Numerous player contracts are expiring. For example, it could have been the last game in the Alba jersey for captain Luke Sikma after six years in Berlin. “We will do what we do after each season. We will do an analysis. With the coaches and the players,” Ojeda announced.
