basketball
Berlin dominance like 2000? Greetings from Alba to Bayern
Third title in a row: Alba’s players celebrate the championship. Photo: Oryk Haist/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Three basketball championship titles in a row: Only Bamberg and Alba have achieved that in the past 25 years. Do the Berliners dominate again? Manager Baldi refers to the rival from Munich.
Refreshed by the masterful beer shower, Marco Baldi was ready to say a few jokes towards the final losers FC Bayern.
“You can see that those who are strongest have not won. Bayern has by far the highest budget and the best players, but you still need more, »said the maker of Alba Berlin after the third championship title in a row, which was made perfect with an impressive 96:81 success in Munich. The dominance of the capitals, who marched through the playoffs with 9-1 victories, is reminiscent of the turn of the millennium.
But this time a lot is different, as Baldi described. “You have to muster a lot more creativity and skill today than you did 20 years ago. Back then, the balance at the top wasn’t that great. That’s a big difference.” Baldi therefore considers the legendary championship series from back then, which lasted seven seasons from 1997 to 2003, to be very difficult. Of course, that didn’t stop the winning squad around national players Maodo Lo and Johannes Thiemann from celebrating their third title in a row as if it were their first.
“It was an incredible season. I’m incredibly happy that we made it,” said Thiemann, who was honored as the most valuable player in the final series. “It was a team effort. This is what has distinguished us for years. There was never one who scored 20 points.”
Party dome, party bus, party train
This was also the case at the celebrations: one cut through the basket net in Munich, the next handed out beer showers, others again heated up the around 150 fans who had traveled with them and thus quickly turned the Munich Audi Dome into a Berlin party dome. What felt like 40 degrees on a midsummer day hardly bothered the old and new masters. The Bayern appendix, including players and coaches, had long since left the hall.
But the spontaneous break in Munich’s Westpark was far from over. The team bus took them to the main train station, from where they took the train to Berlin, where the team received a frenetic welcome on a warm summer night. «I’m not the party beast, I don’t intend to. When you’re fulfilled – I’m totally fulfilled – then you either go to bed or you really step on the gas, »said Baldi. The official initially left open which option he chose, who said he was struggling with minor stomach problems.
Alba dominant at the end of the season – and fitter
In a permanent duel with Bayern, Alba was the better collective with the fitter staff at the end of another XXL season. “It was a fucking difficult situation. We managed to have more fit players – I don’t know if that’s luck or not. Being able to reward yourself is a great thing,” Lo described the circumstances. The final sprint was furious: 20 of the last 21 games were won, in the playoffs the title was never really in danger.
It was also an important win for coach Israel González, who succeeded Aito Garcia in the summer. The Spanish head coach explained that he also thought “a little” of his predecessor Aito. “I’m proud that I was able to continue his work and refine it a bit.” The now 75-year-old Garcia spoke up on Sunday evening via Twitter – in German. “You seem happy. Congratulations, »Wrote Garcia to a picture showing the champion team and Coach Gonzalez.