Marco Baldi was a bit surprised. “I thought we were all still in the euphoria of the European Championships,” said the manager of Alba Berlin and laughed after he was asked questions about challenges and problems at the traditional press conference before the start of the season. Rising energy costs, still unclear hall situation for the women’s team, expiring contract with the MB Arena, a new main sponsor who is already withdrawing from the European market – there are actually some question marks surrounding Germany’s largest basketball club.
Baldi didn’t seem particularly worried. However, his confidence is based less on the exciting European Championships in Berlin, which crowned the German team around Maodo Lo, Johannes Thiemann, Niels Giffey and Franz Wagner on Sunday with their first medal in 17 years. But much more on his experience from more than 30 very successful years at Alba. “The real continuity with us was always the pioneering spirit,” said Baldi. “We go into it with a lot of confidence in ourselves.”
The manager then speaks more of challenges than problems. The budget is almost unchanged compared to the previous season. The club has of course noticed that the new main sponsor Cazoo, an online car dealer, is surprisingly withdrawing from the German market to Great Britain and talks are being held. But the situation is clear: “We have signed a three-year contract and as of today, Cazoo will fulfill its part according to the contract,” said Baldi.
The aim is to extend the contract with the owners of the MB Arena beyond this season, because in the medium term there will be no other hall in Berlin that meets the highest standards. “At the same time, we are also working in conjunction with the Senate on ways in which we can design alternatives,” said Baldi. For the women’s team, which will start its first Bundesliga season in mid-October, there is hope for a venue “that meets certain requirements”. But there is also a plan B.
Alba seems to be prepared for all eventualities and so there is confidence in the club with regard to the new season, which begins for the men on Wednesday (7 p.m., Magentasport) with a BBL home game in the MB Arena against the Hamburg Towers. “We saw at the European Championships that there is a great deal of enthusiasm for basketball in Germany, and we’re looking forward to what’s to come,” said Axel Schweitzer, club president and chairman of the Alba board.
The fact that many people associated Alba’s success at the European Championship with Alba’s good work in the youth field and in developing players “makes me very proud,” said Schweitzer. In particular, it is a confirmation for the many coaches in the club who do important work at the grassroots level. Baldi sees positive effects from the EM for the whole league. “I don’t believe in a boom, but in a clear step forward. Everything has already become deeper, everything has become broader and the impulse from the European Championship can help further,” said the manager.
The Berliners are starting the new season as ambitious as ever. But great challenges also await Alba in sporting terms. After three championship titles in a row this summer with only one departure (Oscar da Silva) and two arrivals (Gabriele Procida and Yanni Wetzell), there has been less movement in the squad than ever in the past few years, but the preparation was good anything but easy.
Without five national players and the injured Marcus Eriksson and Malte Delow, the team could hardly warm up. In the last friendly before the start of the Bundesliga on Sunday (3 p.m.) against newly promoted Rostock in the MBS Arena in Oranienburg, all the participants in the European Championship will be back on the field for the first time.
For the women, the focus is on establishing themselves in the Bundesliga after they have been promoted for the first time. Alba has strengthened the very young team with some experience. “The jump from the second to the first division is very big,” said sporting director Himar Ojeda. The goal is very clear to stay in the league, “but in the Alba style, with our basketball”. This Friday (from 3 p.m.) the newly promoted women and the men’s team will present themselves to the fans for the first time. A public season opener will be held in the Jahnsportpark.
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Source: Tagesspiegel
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