By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
No matter the outcome of the 2019-2020 EuroLeague season for Alba Berlin, the mostly young players of the German side can surely take pride in accomplishing something that no other team has done this campaign so far and few are able to achieve in general: Beating both Panathinaikos Athens and Olympiacos Piraeus on the road.
Alba had defeated Panathinaikos at OAKA arena in an overtime thriller in the first leg of the regular season, despite being shorthanded and stripped of a couple of key players due to injuries. On Tuesday (14/1), the Albatrosses made the two-out-of-two in Greece by edging Olympiacos in Piraeus.
“It’s very difficult to win at both Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. And we’re really happy with the wins,” Alba swingman Marcus Eriksson told Eurohoops, not long after massacring the defense of Olympiacos with 6/9 triples and a season-high 22 points in 27:58. The Swedish sharpshooter was among the player that Alba missed vs. Panathinaikos. “It’s just how the two games went basically. They went to our favor. They were really close games.”
Five teams have faced Panathinaikos and Olympiacos on the road by Round 19: Anadolu Efes, Fenerbahce Beko, Olimpia Milano, Valencia and Alba. Valencia went 0/2 and while the two Turkish powerhouses escaped Olympiacos‘ arena with a win, they were beaten by Panathinaikos. On the other hand, Milano defeated the Greens in OAKA but lost in Piraeus.
Alba became the first squad to finish its 2019-2020 EuroLeague regular-season games in Greece with a sweep. These results are the only road victories of the team this season.
“We are very happy to accomplish this win today. And the one vs. Panathinaikos too,” Eriksson’s teammate, forward Rokas Giedraitis said to Eurohoops. His own contribution to the victory over Olympiacos counted 15 points on fine shooting (2/4 2-pointers, 3/6 3-pointers) plus five rebounds. He also hit a key pair of free throws when Olympiacos captain Vassilis Spanoulis committed an unsportsmanlike foul on him with the score 86 – 87 and 11 seconds left to play.
“Both games were close,” Giedraitis added. “And in the last minutes, well, it can go to one side or the other side. Maybe luck was on our side [tonight]. That’s it. I’m glad we got the win.” Unlike Eriksson, Giedraitis had played vs. Panathinaikos, finishing the game with 15 points and four rebounds.
Giedraitis, 27, a EuroLeague rookie after spending the last years in EuroCup and being named to the competition’s First Team in 2018-2029, is facing some unprecedented competition this season. And that was the case also vs. Olympiacos. “EuroLeague is the best. Just look at each player individually. Take Vassilis Spanoulis and Giorgos Printezis, for example. On 1 on 1, they look they can beat anyone. EuroLeague is the best league,” the Lithuanian player said.
Alba had taken an 11-point lead in the first half before a third-quarter reaction by Olympiacos brought them down 71 – 68. Eriksson fired the 3-pointer that put Alba up again 71 – 73 and then Giedraitis drained the bucket from afar to put his mark in an outstanding 2-14 entrance that handed his team a 73 – 82 lead in less than four minutes into the final period.
Overall, Alba torched Olympiacos with 13/23 3-pointers. Eriksson, who did most of the damage, credited his team’s system and the effort of his teammates for providing him with the opportunities to unleash heat from beyond the arc.
“I managed to get some good looks,” Eriksson said to Eurhoops. “My teammates found me and set strong screens for me to shoot. It was a strong team performance in general. We scored a lot and we played solid in the end. That’s the key to win close games.”
“Yeah, shooting! That’s what he (Eriksson) does,” Alba center Landry Nnoko, who was sitting next to Eriksson, shouted in the background, causing his teammate to smile.
The “shoot first, ask questions later” brand of basketball that Alba implements benefits players like Eriksson. “We like to play a high-paced game and, yeah, we shoot a lot of 3-pointers,” Eriksson said. Alba is ranked fifth among EuroLeague teams in 3-point attempts and made shots with averages of 26.6 and 10.21 respectively.
Coach Aito Reneses has also infused his players with a team spirit that is also pictured in numbers: Alba averages more assists than any other team in EuroLeague, counting 19.79 dimes per game. “I think we trust each other,” Giedraitis said. “We play with confidence in each other every time. We know that nobody from outside is going to help us. We need to do this. We try and we make our effort to the best of our abilities all the time. That’s it: Trust and confidence.”
“The coach helps us have confidence in ourselves,” commented Eriksson.
Alba’s next EuroLeague challenge takes place also away from home and against another team that has been traditionally notoriously difficult to beat at their home: Crvena Zvezda. Eriksson hopes he and his teammates can build on the win of Olympiacos to get more wins on the road.
“Everyone knows that we aren’t probably the favorite in most of the games. And these are the only two away games we’ve won. It’s very important for us to get better in playing away for home,” Eriksson said.
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball