Basketball Bundesliga: Five lessons that Alba takes from the main round into the playoffs | rbb24rbb24
05/14/24 | 13:00 ‘O clock
The playoffs begin on Friday for Alba Berlin and with them the hot battle for the championship. The Berliners have a Bundesliga main round behind them from which they can draw some lessons for the title race. By Lukas Witte and Jakob Lobach
1. Load control is extremely important
One of Alba Berlin’s biggest problems this season was probably injuries. Players kept falling out – sometimes for a longer period of time, sometimes for a shorter period of time. Recently, the Berliners were even missing half the squad for a few games. And for the talents Ziga Samar, Matteo Spagnolo and Gabriele Procida, the season is already over. They won’t recover in time to return to the floor in the playoffs.
The constant number of injuries has meant that some of the healthy players have had to go beyond their limits for weeks. A dangerous game, after all, the Berliners cannot afford for the list of failures to get longer during the playoffs. Johannes Thiemann shows how quickly this can happen. The captain had only just recovered from an injury, but had to really get going again in the final spurt of the season. In the last game against Crailsheim he suffered from back problems again and had to take a break.
For coach Israel Gonzalez, the main thing will be to use his players carefully. Top performers like Thiemann, Matt Thomas, or Sterling Brown should under no circumstances have to go beyond their limits in the quarterfinals. And with Louis Olinde, at least one important rotation player will probably make it back from the injured list to the floor in the playoffs.
2. Thiemann and Hermannsson are Alba’s mainstays
The fact that Johannes Thiemann is Alba’s key player should be known to anyone who has even remotely followed the Berliners this season. The power forward followed up his World Cup title from the previous summer with a fantastic season and was, with great consistency, Alba’s life insurance at times in difficult phases of the season.
Thiemann does a lot of things very well both offensively and defensively, but above all he hardly makes any mistakes. Thiemann’s sovereignty – coupled with his physicality and his qualities on the ring – is a valuable asset that will only become more valuable in the even more intense, even more combative playoffs.
Martin Hermannsson should also become even more valuable for Alba. The Icelander, who was brought back during the season, is responsible for ensuring that Alba is at least partially compensated for the absences of the development players Spagnolo and Zamar. Hermannsson gives Alba’s game structure and a certain security solidified by experience. The 29-year-old is not afraid of taking important throws in important moments and always gives his teammates good finishes.
Around five assists per game symbolize his great understanding of the game. An understanding of the game that will be crucial in a playoff series in which the teams can coordinate perfectly with each other over up to five games.
A man for important throws: Martin Hermannsson in the game against FC Bayern. | Image: IMAGO/camera4+
3. In an emergency, the bank will help
Despite all the failures, the season has also shown that Alba’s second guard is very capable of filling the gaps, at least in the short term. For players like Tim Schneider and Kresimir Nikic, this even gave them a great opportunity to prove themselves and grow beyond themselves.
Neither of them had actually played a big role for the Berliners before, but the absences suddenly gave them playing time and they knew how to use it. Both made big steps and at times developed into leading players with top ratings. Other rotation players like Jonas Mattisseck were also there when they were needed.
In the intense playoff series, the bench players can once again become immensely important. All the better that they were already so challenged during the main round and are in rhythm.
4. Khalifa Koumadje must maintain composure
The 2.21 meter man Khalifa Koumadje not only stood out in the main round because of his size, but also set a bizarre negative record. The center was suspended by the league three times within eight weeks. Always because he didn’t have his emotions under control during the physical game under the basket and allowed himself to be carried away by unnecessary violence.
Coach Gonzalez was particularly annoyed by this because he lacked depth in the squad, especially in the center position. Even with Koumadje this occasionally became a problem. Because the 27-year-old keeps collecting too many fouls and has to sit on the bench. He is also limited in attack and has weaknesses with his back to the basket and from the free throw line. An alternative type of player would certainly have been desirable every now and then throughout the season.
A giant among giants: Alba’s center Khalifa Koumadje. | Image: IMAGO/camera4+
And at the same time, Berliners have a lot of hopes for Koumadje. Because he seems to have learned from his last five-game suspension. Since his return, he has seemed more relaxed and is no longer easily provoked by his opponents’ physical play. And so he can then show his real strengths: When in top form, he is one of the best rebounders in the league and is a rock on defense. Few can match him physically, which can be a real game changer, especially against top teams.
So the question will be which Khalifa Koumadje will be seen in the playoffs: the hot-tempered center with foul problems, or the strong defender who grabs every rebound.
5. Alba is not a favorite – and can still beat anyone
In the past, title-filled years, Alba has always gone into the playoffs as part of a big duo of favorites for the championship. This year things are different. After all, FC Bayern has one of the best squads in Bundesliga history, while Alba’s team has been thinned out by departures and failures. And yet: Even in a season with only five wins and a lot of frustration in the Euroleague, the Berliners finished the BBL main round in second place.
Alba’s bright spots in the Bundesliga have sometimes been lost in the international shadows. The Berliners have won 19 of their 23 BBL games since the turn of the year and have even remained unbeaten in 13 league games in a row. And by BBL standards, Alba’s squad is the best behind Bayern’s. Alba won at least one, and often both, games of the season against each of the six playoff teams that had already been determined and also the four contenders from the play-ins. Alba even recently successfully defeated FC Bayern in a game characterized by a passionate fight.
In the playoff quarter-finals, the Telekom Baskets Bonn or their play-in opponents from Ludwigsburg are now waiting for Alba. There would only be a reunion with FC Bayern in the final. Achieving this will be less “obvious” than in previous years, but it must still be Alba’s goal. And if the worst comes to the worst, how about a successful series against the rivals from the south? It currently seems much more unlikely than it did recently, but at the same time it is definitely not ruled out.
Broadcast: The Day, May 14, 2024, 6 p.m
Contribution by Lukas Witte and Jakob Lobach
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2024-05-14 11:00:00
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