From BZ/dpa
It was the decisive scene four seconds before the end: Albas Ben Lammers prevented Baskonia’s victory with a monster block.
Alba gained self-confidence in time for the top game in the Bundesliga on Sunday at long-time rival FC Bayern Munich (6 p.m. / Magentasport). With the surprising 85:84 home win over Euroleague leaders Baskonia Vitroria-Gasteiz, the Berliners set an exclamation point.
“We are mega happy and of course that gives an upswing. That’s good and gave us a push,” said the national player Johannes Thiemann. And managers Marco Baldi added: “It will do us a lot of good. It is very important, especially for the soul.”
Alba’s Johannes Thiemann passes Baskonia Vitoria’s Daoulton Hommes Photo: Mathias Renner/City-Press GmbH
“Take tailwind with you”
The newly won good feeling should be further expanded against Bayern.
“Of course we now want to try to take this tailwind with us. And to add a little stone to this stability, which we are currently trying to rebuild,” said Baldi.
Reunion with ex-Alba star Niels Giffey. He’s been playing for Bayern since this season Photo: picture alliance/dpa
The first duel between the two teams this season in the Euroleague was narrowly lost for Alba 77:79 at the beginning of November. But the Berliners don’t need any special motivation anyway. “Munich are opponents, you’re always hot against them. And it’s always a good indicator of how far you’ve come,” said Thiemann.
After tough games recently after a wave of injuries and illnesses, Alba is slowly finding its way back to its old strength. “You can see how difficult it is when you come out of such a downturn, where you had a lot of close games and in the end you couldn’t take anything home, to turn it around again,” said Baldi.
After twelve Euroleague bankruptcies in a row, the last two successes were all the more important – first against Villeurbanne, now against Baskonia. “It’s getting a different twist now and you can feel it,” said the Alba manager.
Especially since the Spaniards had won twelve games in a row. “So exactly the opposite momentum from us. And when you keep a team like that where you can keep them, that gives you a boost,” said Baldi.