From BZ/dpa
The last point games are meaningless for Alba in the table. But it is important to get in shape, even if the playoff opponent has not yet been determined.
Alba Berlin hovers a bit in a vacuum between the end of the round of points in the basketball Bundesliga and before the start of the playoffs. “Everyone is hot on it, everyone wants it. And now you have this whole phase that you have to bridge,” said the manager Marco Baldi. The playoffs start for Alba in two weeks.
And no matter what the defending champions do in the last league games, nothing will change in the table situation. “It’s basically over at the top, and at the bottom too. Second place is safe,” said the national player Johannes Thiemann after the 91:79 home win against ratiopharm Ulm on Sunday.
Johannes Thiemann no longer believes in first place Photo: City Press
The last league game on Thursday at medi Bayreuth (7 p.m./Magentasport), which has already been relegated, will only be a kind of test game. “This is another new leaf. But we want to finish the lap as well as possible,” announced Captain Luke Sikma.
Baldi sees a drop in voltage
But it remains a difficult phase. Because Baldi noticed a “drop in tension” in the team. “Everyone makes sure they get in shape and don’t get injured,” he said. The team game against Ulm sometimes suffered as a result. “These are these games that are very dangerous when basically nothing is at stake,” said the Alba manager.
Thiemann still saw progress. “Overall, we did a lot of things right. Internalized the things that we have addressed in the last few days. And of course we wanted to show once again that we wouldn’t let a defeat in Bonn sit on us like that,” said the center.
Ulm would currently also be Alba’s quarter-final opponent in the playoffs. “Of course you can already see who could be a potential opponent,” reported Baldi. However, this is not important for the work of the next few days. Especially since the opponent remains open. “So much can still happen,” said Sikma.
Should Ulm nevertheless become the opponent, Thiemann would also expect a completely different opponent. “Playoffs are different games than now at the end of the season. In the playoffs it’s a whole different story. The people of Ulm have a completely different attitude,” he said.