It was the scene of the weekend. Martin Hermannsson plays a pass towards the basket, the ball seems to be a little too imprecise, but Justin Bean jumps off, stretches his right arm far back and completes a crashing dunk while lying on his side. The teammates look at each other in disbelief, the audience at the duel between Alba Berlin and Bamberg escalates.
A day later, Marco Baldi is still enthusiastic about the athletic masterpiece of the American, who is only 2.01 meters tall – and even sees it as a reflection of the current situation at Alba.
“Justin’s dunk symbolizes the team’s efforts over the last few weeks,” says the Berlin manager. “We do everything we can to somehow get the ball into the basket.”
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On Sunday this worked well against Bamberg for long stretches, Alba won 98:92 and celebrated their twelfth BBL victory in a row. Since Bayern Munich and Chemnitz surprisingly lost, the Berliners could catch up with their big rivals at the top of the table with a win in the catch-up game against the Rostock Seawolves on Wednesday (8 p.m., Arena in Friedrichshain).
“This mental strength is impressive,” says Baldi. Alba has been playing with an absolutely skeleton crew for three weeks. Gabriele Procida (season out after knee surgery) and Matteo Spagnolo (first muscle injury, now irritation in the metatarsal) have been missing for a while, then came a big wave of colds, followed by a few injuries, including captain Johannes Thiemann (back problems) and Louis Olinde (turned ankle). ).
Center Khalifa Koumadje was suspended for five games after the third foul that resulted in a disqualification in just over two months. Alba wants to discuss possible internal consequences for the 2.21 meter giant in the coming days.
Against Bamberg, coach Israel Gonzalez only had nine professionals available; shortly after kick-off, the three young players Amon Dörries, Anton Nufer and Linus Ruf filled the bench. They came to Friedrichshain straight from a play-off game in the NBBL in the Max-Schmeling-Halle. “We have been in a kind of constant improvisation for weeks,” says Baldi.
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Alba professionals were recently missing injured or suspended.
So far the team has compensated for the losses very well. In the last two games, the remaining big men particularly shone. Against Bamberg, Tim Schneider (25 points, 9 rebounds) and Kresimir Nikic (18 points, 7 rebounds) each recorded personal bests in the Bundesliga. “No matter who was missing from Berlin today or not – they are a Euroleague team and they simply have quality. Tim Schneider destroyed us today,” said Bamberg coach Arne Woltmann.
Baldi was also very happy with the duo, but expressed it a little more reservedly. “They fill in the gaps very well. “Tim exudes a lot of confidence and Kreso, who is almost portrayed as unsuitable by some people, understands the game and completes Sterling Brown’s passes very well,” says Baldi.
However, the manager also knows that the current success is very shaky. The remaining players have to bear a greater burden and the automatisms suffer. “There won’t be a regular structure like we wanted before the season,” says Baldi. The shorter rotation simplifies certain processes in the short term, “but this cannot be a permanent situation”.
It is still unclear whether the personnel situation will ease somewhat for the game against Rostock on Wednesday. “I used to get an update on the injured players every day,” says Baldi. “But I got out of the habit.”