At Alba, when talking about the cohesion of the great team around Luke Sikma, they sometimes mentioned the painful farewell of the Icelander Martin Hermannsson. He actually didn’t want to leave, he said at the time when he tearfully asked for his contract to be terminated, but the offer from Spain was so good that he couldn’t refuse it. Three and a half years later, Hermannsson is back from Valencia and there is no other word for it than happy.
The player beams and reveals that the move back will not mean any financial losses for at least the next two and a half years. The inexperienced team with lots of talent is happy about his leadership and his passes. Coach Israel Gonzalez probably speaks for the coaching staff and management when he praises: “We have the feeling that he never left the team.” He is the piece of the puzzle that the team has been missing since the beginning of the season.
“Voice of the team”
At Alba, the young Hermannsson matured into a European-caliber development player over two seasons. A torn cruciate ligament cost him his third season at Valencia. When another knee injury necessitated another operation in the fourth after just seven games, the club reassigned his position. That’s when Hermannsson knew he had to go. “I hope that I can take on the role that Luke (Sikma) used to have,” he says: “I want to be the voice of the team in training and in games.” Now 29, he exudes the necessary authority.
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In his first outing in Berlin, Bayern Munich suffered a serious beating in the Euroleague, but the convincing 95:87 at Telekom Baskets Bonn on Sunday showed that Hermannsson (9 points/8 assists) is still familiar with the team’s style of play . Coach Aito is one of the greatest basketball coaches in history, he praises the master maker, whose assistant was Gonzalez.
After the 89:80 win over Red Star Belgrade on Thursday evening, Alba center Yanni Wetzel raved about the “great injection” that Hermannsson meant for the team. Like Matt Thomas (19 points) and Gabriele Procida (17), Wetzel benefits from the Icelandic’s razor-sharp passes (5 for 7 points) and his decisive command. His best form is yet to come, he promises. The team and spectators even enjoy the risky game of twenty-year-old Italian Matteo Spagnolo more since he alternates with Hermannsson.
