Defending champion Alba Berlin with his back to the wall
Status: 5:15 p.m
Albas Johannes Thiemann demands: “We have to be even more aggressive”
Quelle: dpa/Andreas Gora
An unusual situation for Alba Berlin: The team is challenged early in the play-offs and must win against Ulm. Otherwise the season is over. The team needs new ideas.
“Do or die” is the motto for Alba Berlin on Wednesday in the fourth playoff game at ratiopharm Ulm (8.30 p.m. / Magentasport). “If we don’t want our season to end, then we have to win. And that’s not good pressure,” said sporting director Himar Ojeda.
Alba, second in the preliminary round, is 2-1 behind in the best-of-five series. With a win, the team would force a decider on Friday in Berlin, with a defeat, the defending champions, who only suffered three defeats in the entire preliminary round, would end up in the quarter-finals. “We definitely have to deliver now – there are no more excuses,” said national player Johannes Thiemann.
The Berliners have their backs to the wall – Thiemann still tries to see it positively, “In principle we have nothing more to lose now. So maybe we can play a little more freely,” he says. Most recently, Alba lacked energy. Whether the four days helped “to get energy back,” as Ojeda hopes, remains to be seen. Because even the ten-day break before the start of the playoffs hadn’t really brought anything.
Alba hopes for Zoosman’s return
Thiemann still demands full commitment. “We have to find a way to fight all together now. We have to do that even more, be even more aggressive. We have to stand on the enemy’s feet. In recent years, we’ve never been challenged so hard so early in the playoffs,” said the 29-year-old. Alba needs new ideas. “Ulm is very well adjusted to us and tactically takes a lot from us,” Thiemann continued.
But there was little time for major changes. Ojeda therefore focuses on the details of his team’s game. “You can’t completely eliminate Ulm. But sometimes the little things help in a game if they work out,” said the Spaniard. There is hope for the return of Yovel Zoosman, who has been absent from the playoffs so far.
The Israeli was injured recently, but his skills could give more stability to the weakening defence. “We have to see if he can train again,” said the Alba sports director, “but he would be a great help for us.”
