Actually, there are better conditions for an important cup game than an acute crisis of results. Alba Berlin has lost seven of the last eight matches, including the first Bundesliga defeat of the season a week ago against BG Göttingen, which is now waiting in the quarter-finals this Sunday (8:30 p.m., Magentasport). However, Marco Baldi sees it very differently. “This is exactly the game we need to knock the buck over,” says Alba’s manager.
The current situation is not easy for Berliners. Some players have just returned from injuries and not only they but the team as a whole still lack the irresistible rhythm that characterizes Alba’s basketball. Nevertheless, Israel Gonzalez’s team was often close in the Euroleague, losing just barely against the star ensemble from Barcelona.
Mentally it’s a challenge, because the longer you wait for a win, the more you long for it. “If we want too much, if we get too tense, then it becomes difficult,” says Baldi. “We also live from a certain lightness.” Finding this balance between tension and relaxation is the great art in professional sports.
The manager sees no reason for gloom, although the team recently left the field as losers unusually often. “My battery, as far as positive charge goes, is so full,” says Baldi. “We’ve won so much over the past three years, we’ve been in every final for five years, we’ve had so many successes – it doesn’t wear out that quickly.”
Above all, the manager has an eye on the big picture, but given the enormous workload, the players inevitably live in the here and now. There they are visibly affected by the recent lack of success. Alba will certainly not be lacking in motivation in Göttingen. “We played them last week and they almost won on the last throw. That hurt,” said Alba guard Jaleen Smith. A week ago, Göttingen, especially in the person of Mark Smith, scored outstandingly from a distance and took advantage of Berlin’s problems from the free-throw line.
Alba cannot afford such weaknesses on Sunday, otherwise the first chance of a title will already be gone. The defending champions had a hard time against Bonn in the first round, but in the end only progress in the cup counts.
A win against Göttingen would see Israel Gonzalez’s side qualify for the finals of the top four teams on 18-19 February.
“Sunday is really about something, everyone knows that,” says Baldi. And Smith is confident that he and his colleagues will be ready. “A cup game is something completely different than a main round game.”
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Source: Tagesspiegel
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
