Defending champion ALBA Berlin failed almost sensationally in the playoff quarterfinals of the Basketball Bundesliga. The second in the main round lost the fourth game at outsider ratiopharm Ulm with 81:83 (51:50) and conceded the decisive third defeat in the best-of-five series.
Berlin, which had always been in the final for the last five years and had recently won the championship three times in a row, missed the semi-finals for the first time since 2017.
“We had too many small physical problems,” said ALBA head coach Israel Gonzalez, referring to his team’s more than 70 competitive games in the season. When asked about his future, the Spaniard was evasive.
“For us it’s now: Do or die! We have to go into the game with a lot of energy and be there from the start,” ALBA winger Louis Olinde said in advance. The start was also successful, in the middle of the first quarter the Berliners were leading 15:8. But as in the entire series, Ulm held back aggressively, forced many ball losses – and designed the game openly in front of his euphoric fans.
Lo misses the decisive three
The hectic shooting phase became a matter of nerves, not least from the free-throw line. Berlin’s national player Maodo Lo failed seconds before the end of the game with a three-point attempt, the game and the series were over for ALBA.
Ulm was there in breadth. Four Swabian players scored at least 14 points. Your most successful pitcher was Yago dos Santos (16). The top scorer of the game was Berlin’s Jaleen Smith (18).
Previously, the main round and Champions League winners Telekom Baskets Bonn, the cup winners Bayern Munich and the MHP giants Ludwigsburg had each played their way into the semi-finals without defeat. In this Bonn gets to do with Ludwigsburg, Ulm is again in the outsider role against FC Bayern.