Berlin, Germany (Weltexpress). With 69:96 (29:44) the basketball players of Alba Berlin took a dire dinging dip to remember against the FC Bayern München in their arena next to the Spree. Thus, the defeat in the first game against Alba out of the three-to-win series was compensated with a victory by the guest team Bayern, trained by Dejan Radonjic, in Berlin.
And at what pace! From the very first to the last minute the team from Munich dominated. They played well in the attack and they worked very well in the defence. Masterly one would like to think and Radonjic knew it, praising the defensive work of his players. And also Alba coach Aito Garcia Reneses saw it, and said that his players were not good enough on this summer evening in Berlin. Only the number of supporters, 13,251 spectators, satisfied him. They and the dancing girls – pity they were way down below from us media – cheered the team on relentlessly even though there was little hope throughout the match that Alba would win. How on earth did they beat Bayern in Munich, we kept wondering.
Hopeless, yes! Sorry to say, we must write it that way, because with momentum the basketball players of Bayern moved forward in the first quarter to an unbelievable 26: 9. At the beginning of the second quarter still nothing came from Alba, but a lot from Bayern. Enough time left then for Danilo Barthel to play around with some little feats and pranks (13).
Apart from the mishaps on the floor (pass errors and missing the ball without end, not to write about lots of bad throws) and the impending wipe out to come, in a break even the fan-bird of the albatrosses disfigured to a clown – because he lost his flag while panning and only held the pole in his hands, which he turned into an old gents walking stick when he noticed his faux-pax. This he should have copied and handed to some Alba players. And more bad luck was on its way.
For in a renewed time-out at 52:78 from the point of view of the albatrosses even some talks among the team and with the trainer showed no effect at the host. The FCB moved to 82:52 (34). Wow, 30 points ahead with only just half an hour having been played!
“This is where the FCB reigns” chanted a few dozen Bayern fans in the upper ring. Probably true. The albatrosses were wetted from the beginning – and ran in phases like puddles over the parquet. Point.
Because Bayern let it calm down in the end and Radonjic did not hold up the tension with his players, the disaster was not three-digit high. Only with 96 to 69 points did the guests from the Isar win although, with Braydon Hobbs missing, their playmaker was not on the field.
The next game of these finals series will take place this Sunday in Munich. Another day of dingy dips would be too much to take for the staunchest of Alba fans. Bayern, you can bet on that!
Remark:
Christopher Prescott – text based on an article by Ralf-Rüdiger Okudera.
