By Oliver Knaack
It could have been worse. Much worse. And it didn’t look like an easy cup draw for Alba Berlin for a long time.
Lady Luck Lisa Buckwitz (28) had already drawn two pairs. Chemnitz against Ulm and Rasta Vechta against Bamberg. With Bonn, Bavaria, the MBC and Alba only four balls left in the raffle. A difficult quarter-final against Bayern – it would have been a catastrophe for all Berlin fans.
The almost 2,000 fans who were still waiting in anticipation in Berlin’s Schmeling Hall were trembling.
Fifth ball: Telekom Baskets Bonn, the runner-up. Not a dream opponent either, but feasible, thought many Alba fans. But when Buckwitz then drew Bayern to Bonn, relieved cheers erupted in the Schmeling Hall. Not against Bayern, thank God… And with the MBC, the quarter-final opponent was also certain. The game will be played on the 9th/10th. December.
Top scorer in the cup round of 16 against Braunschweig: Johannes Thiemann had 20 points Photo: citypress
The fact that it was an away game against the still winless Bundesliga team from Weißenfels – the Berliners can live with that. The 200 kilometer distance can be covered without much travel effort.
Nevertheless, Alba’s managing director spoke Marco Baldi (61) said the opponent was strong in the Dyn interview: “You started the season with a lot of praise, so strong in terms of personnel. I can’t remember when MBNC had a staff like that on board.”
So far, the MBC has suffered three defeats in the Bundesliga, most recently a clear defeat (73:100) at runner-up Bonn. Baldi doesn’t care: “Anything can happen in a game. We will have to be fully there. But there could have been worse draws. We will approach it with maximum intensity.”
The quarter-final matches
Syntainics MBC – Alba Berlin, Telekom Baskets Bonn – Bayern Munich, Chemnitz 99ers – Ratiopharm Ulm, Rasta Vechta – Baskets Bamberg.