Alba’s Luke Sikma in action against Valencia’s Louis Labeyrie. That was in 2019. The Berliners narrowly lost the Euro Cup final against the Spaniards 2-1. That should change on Thursday Photo: dpa
From BZ/dpa
The breather is short. Alba continues in the Euroleague on Thursday (8.30 p.m.). Then the Berliners will compete with the Spanish top team Valencia Basket.
“Beating Valencia will be a tough task away from home. We have to take care of ourselves and go into the game with a lot of energy. Even though we’re still missing a few injured players,” said the coach Israel Gonzalez.
Whether the last injured pausing Maodo Lo, Johannes Thiemann or Jaleen Smith is still open. The long-term injured Marcus Eriksson and guard Jonas Mattisseck will definitely be missing after his metacarpal fracture.
Captain Luke Sikma, who got a break on Sunday against Heidelberg, will definitely be there.
The forward had once played at Valencia himself before joining Alba. “So it’s great for me to come back and see some old teammates,” he said.
Alba coach Israel Gonzalez expects a tough task in Spain Photo: City Press
In the last Euroleague season, the Spaniards were not there. In their first four games, the Valencia side have only won once while Alba has won three.
But that doesn’t mean anything for Sikma, as the American warned: “They’ve been playing really well lately. They defeated reigning champion Anadolu Efes and put up a tough fight with Fenerbahce and almost won.”
Coach Gonzalez sees the Spaniards’ good defensive work as the biggest challenge for his team.