Basketball – signs of life in the crisis: Alba Berlin wins against Bayern

How great the pressure had become for Alba in the past few weeks became apparent after the final siren on Sunday. The Berlin actors were full of joy. After the 88:81 victory over Bayern, Alba development player Will McDowell-White believed in the possible turning point for the so far messed up season. Sports director Himar Ojeda felt “good and relieved”. And national player Jonas Mattisseck just wanted to be happy after the success over the German champions and league leaders, at least for one evening.

Only Alba head coach Israel González seemed even more relaxed, saying after the game: “For me, it was one of the most emotional games of my career.” What sounded a bit exaggerated after a simple Bundesliga victory in the middle of the season is, on closer inspection, definitely true understandable. The Spanish coach, who has come under criticism, has had little reason to be happy recently. Before the duel with Bayern, Alba was only able to win eight of 33 competitive games this season. A victory alone does little to change this horror story. But the success against the long-term rivals from the south, who seem overwhelming this year, signals hope – light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Only eight wins from 33 competitive games

Because the story of this Alba season was actually almost completely told. Due to a never-ending misery of injuries, the team never found its rhythm. The departures of world champion Johannes Thiemann and top scorer Sterling Brown were not compensated. On the contrary, Trevion Williams, the key new signing of the summer, fled to Maccabi Tel Aviv shortly before Christmas.

In addition, the talent in the team did not make the leap in development that had been hoped for. Offensively, there is a lack of a reliable points collector – especially when things get tight – and defensively, Alba currently has the fourth-worst defense in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and the worst in the Euroleague. Last week, three-man specialist Matt Thomas warned after the home defeat against Euroleague leaders AS Monaco: “We are at a very difficult point in the season. It’s important that we don’t just accept all these defeats.«

In the premier basketball league, the Berliners once again have no chance of making the playoffs early on. Instead, the heavy load of 19 games in the Euroleague (compared to 13 in the BBL) led to the weakened Albatrosses slipping into the bottom of the table in the Bundesliga. Even after the success against Bayern, Alba is only in 14th place in the BBL. They have already been eliminated from the cup anyway.

Physical problems become mental problems

And yet on Sunday there was a spirit of optimism in the arena at Ostbahnhof, which was finally full again with 12,377 fans. This was also due to the dramatic course of the game. Alba fell behind again early on. The Munich team was already leading by 19 points in the middle of the second quarter. But by the break the Berliners, who had to be without captain Martin Hermannsson for a short time due to a gastrointestinal virus, fought their way back to 37:47. “We were a bit lucky that we were only ten behind in the first half,” admitted co-captain Jonas Mattisseck after the game.

In the second half, the Albatrosses held on, actually took the lead in the fourth quarter and were finally able to reward themselves for their fighting spirit after several late comeback attempts had failed in recent weeks. Israel González admitted after the game that this also had an impact on the players’ psyche: »Our physical problems have now also become mental problems. We lack self-confidence. But we’re trying to get the bad results out of the players’ minds.”

On Sunday it worked – against Bayern of all people, who, with their significantly larger budget and world champion coach Gordon Herbert, actually go into every BBL game as heavy favorites. The fact that Alba only allowed 34 points in the second half was also due to the fact that the Berliners, for once, faced an opponent who had even more tired legs after a Euroleague away game at Real Madrid two days earlier. Nevertheless, the capital city team showed a courageous performance, remained strong nerves even in the tight final phase and let the deafening atmosphere in the arena carry them through the last few minutes.

New confidence and a new player

“I hope that after such an important win against the best team in Germany we believe in ourselves more,” said head coach González after the game. In any case, his players wanted more immediately after the final siren: “We can’t be satisfied under any circumstances,” announced Jonas Mattisseck. And Will McDowell-White, who secured the decisive lead against Bayern with two late three-point throws, explained: “This victory means nothing if we can’t confirm it in the next games.”

In fact, there is still a lot of time left in the Bundesliga to turn things around. Alba still has 19 games left in the BBL. After the weekend’s success, they are only three wins behind the first play-in place, through which the teams in seventh to tenth place can qualify for the playoffs. The final round remains the goal, explained sports director Ojeda. The Alba manager also wants to get a replacement for the departed Trevion Williams. So that the win against Bayern can really be the turning point of this season.