Basketball Bundesliga
Debacle for Alba Berlin at the start of the playoff against Ulm
Alba coach Israel Gonzalez and his team suffered a clear defeat against Ulm. photo
© Marius Becker/dpa/archive image
The German basketball playoffs begin with an unpleasant surprise for the defending champion. Alba Berlin is already under pressure for the next game in Ulm.
Defending champion Alba Berlin surprisingly started the playoffs for the German basketball championship with a clear home defeat. After a desolate offensive performance, the defending champion lost at home to ratiopharm Ulm 64:88 (44:42).
The second game takes place on Wednesday in Ulm, three wins are necessary to advance. The best Berlin throwers were Johannes Thiemann with eleven and Maodo Lo with ten points in front of 9134 spectators. Yago Mateus dos Santos scored best for Ulm with 24 points, Bruno Caboclo scored 16 points.
The second in the main round initially found it difficult to find the playoff mode. Ulm was more aggressive, more attentive and mentally faster and quickly led 14:7. Alba allowed the guests too many offensive rebounds and thus repeated second chances to throw. In the end, the hosts found it very difficult against tight covering guests.
Alba desolate in the fourth quarter
But that got better in the second quarter – especially under the basket, they were able to assert themselves more often. Alba regained the lead and pulled away to 35:28. But Ulm countered with a 10-0 run. The game stayed even until halftime.
After the break, Alba seemed more focused and took a 50:44 lead. But then hardly anything succeeded, which Ulm punished immediately. In the last quarter, Alba literally fell apart and was really shown off. For almost six minutes not a point was scored and Ulm pulled away to 76:54. The game was decided early on.