Basketball Alba Berlin has its sights set on second place
Basketball: BBL Cup, Alba Berlin – ratiopharm Ulm, Final Four, semi-finals, BMW Park. Berlin’s Martin Hermannsson (l) bites his jersey after the defeat against ratiopharm Ulm. photo
© Daniel Löb/dpa
Alba needs one more win to secure second place in the Bundesliga. But the last two games are tough.
Alba Berlin is in the final spurt of the season in the points round Basketball Bundesliga on target. Two of the last three league games should be won in order to securely go into the playoffs as second in the table. The Berliners got their first win on Tuesday evening in a 90:69 home win against Telekom Baskets Bonn. “It was a first step. We knew we had to start with it today,” said playmaker Martin Hermannsson.
Two games remain. On Friday at home against league leaders FC Bayern Munich (8 p.m.) and on Sunday at the Crailsheim Merlins (3:30 p.m./both Dyn), who are still very much in the relegation battle. “We still need a win. But both games are difficult. Crailsheim too, they are still fighting for survival. We can only look from game to game,” said sports director Himar Ojeda.
That’s why the focus is on the Bayern game. This game was canceled in December and will now be rescheduled. The second leg only took place on Sunday, in which the Berliners lost 53:77. “We can’t take anything positive out of the game,” said Hermannsson. There should therefore be great motivation to do better this time. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be about revenge, but we want to keep up better,” demanded Ojeda.
Hermannsson at least sees better conditions this time than before Sunday’s debacle. “It was the worst preparation we could have had. Players came out with injuries, others were missing, some couldn’t train for the week. There were a lot of things that weren’t helpful for us,” said the Icelander. With the confident win against Bonn, the team is now “back in rhythm”.
In addition, center Khalifa Koumadje made his comeback against Bonn after serving a suspension and gives his team new opportunities under basket against Bayern. “With him we have another option to minimize their attack power under the basket,” said the sports director. The team can also rotate more in the larger positions, which gives other players more breaks.
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2024-05-09 08:20:27
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