Alba Berlin is still deep in crisis at the start of the new year. The Berliners lost without a chance against the EuroLeague leaders AS Monaco with 90:105 (35:55).
The Berlin basketball players actually started as weakly in their arena as the balance of power suggested and unfortunately Monaco did not have the motivation that one could assume from comfortably paid basketball players on an away trip to the cold, gray Berlin at the beginning of January in a still very long season – but that from real professionals. It didn’t help that a few sick people were missing.
The guests scored coldly and precisely and could have had 60 points at half time, but then it got a little less – and they sealed the zone at the back. Her concentration didn’t bode well for Alba. Its energetic center David McCormack, who has been doing so well for the team lately, had three fouls and a sore wrist early on. Captain Hermannsson was also missing because he was again suffering from Achilles tendon problems.
Spanoulis replaces the ex-Berlin Obradovic
A few weeks earlier, the ex-Berlin Sasa Obradovic, who now seemed enigmatically calm, had been chased from the (princely) court as coach in Monaco. Obradovic had done a very good job and united a divided team. But the market had a big one to offer, and in the hope that more would be possible with this, Obradovic was handed his papers.
In his place, the Greek former world-class coach Vassilis Spanoulis is now directing the team’s fortunes. Spanoulis has not tarnished his legendary reputation in his first Euroleague season as a coach, on the contrary. Monaco, which has often been somewhat erratically dependent on its star Mike James in recent years, now plays with a clear, straightforward style. That had been going well for a long time since 2021, but then suddenly it failed completely in the next game – apart from the fact that the best scorer in Euroleague history to date (previous record holder: Spanoulis) is no longer quite the same after his injuries.
But now things are going like clockwork and that could also be seen on Thursday evening in the arena at Ostbahnhof, with measured effort – but it was enough. Mike James did Mike James things, he always looks like he’s chewing gum with his eyelids half open – even though he’s not – while dismantling his opponents, but in reality he’s just doing the most natural thing from his point of view of the world. He calls himself “Mr. Natural” on social networks. On Thursday he scored 23 points. Monaco’s signing Nick Calathes was able to play for the first time. He is the best passer in Euroleague history and, as always, he obviously doesn’t give a damn about his own points in the service of his new employer (we’d rather not talk about his throw here) – he managed six assists in just over 15 minutes.
Something wrong
Alba has only won one of the last five games, most recently clearly in the league and deservedly against locations like Weißenfels and Rostock – it is now becoming more and more realistic that this elusive team could actually miss the playoffs in the Bundesliga. It is in third to last place. Alba has never been this bad at this point in a season – in 35 years. The performance was good against Piraeus and Göttingen. But against Weißenfels, a respectable but certainly not a top team, the German runner-up led with 13 points and ultimately lost by 18 points. Alba repeatedly complains about injuries and the stress of all the travel, which hasn’t been much different in recent years, but this year the whole squad seems to be put together somehow wrongly. But that also means that when you no longer trust him with anything, he sometimes shows something outstanding.
The effort brings Alba to six
Because in the third quarter, Alba suddenly did a lot of things right and got closer – before the last section the score was 67:79. Yanni Wetzell showed his strongest Euroleague game to date in Berlin, and premium shooter Matt Thomas, who was injured for a long time, is also getting better and better (both 17 points each). “We didn’t play enough defense,” Mike James told Magentasport afterwards. But then the Monegasques – be careful – turned it up again as much as was necessary. The extremely strong guard Matthew Strazel hit threes or punished them when the Berlin defense had two men on him – he passed the ball exactly where it was best placed. Alba’s homegrown Elias Rapieque (nine points, seven rebounds) fought back as best he could, he grabbed the ball and was fouled – but his colleagues sometimes missed several things in a row in the same attack.
Mattisseck finally hit a three-pointer, and his teammates now worked much more purposefully. At the moment there is hardly anything to be gained apart from commitment. And that brought Alba to 86:92, three minutes before the end. Coach Spanoulis didn’t like that, and as a player under Spanoulis, you don’t want Spanoulis to dislike anything. Then Calathes passed the ball to his colleague James on the baseline during a throw-in. James received the device, turned toward the basket in the same fluid motion and hit the three-pointer. Of course, he left the throwing arm extra long afterwards in case someone missed something. Calathes milked the clock, gave his last assist – and the matter was settled. Alba can still take courage from this game: to come within striking distance of the currently best team in the Euroleague in such a modest phase was absolutely respectable.
Broadcast: rbb24, January 2nd, 2025, 9:45 p.m
