Road Game in Berlin

Today we had an away game agains ALBA Berlin, a team which has a lot of financial backing and is now the leader in our division with a 7-0 record. Berlin is about 3.5 hours north of Goettingen where i'm at. ALBA is a very young team , their oldest player was 24, but they are a very diciplined team. Their coach played at North Carolina and was a great player here in Germany a while back.

When the game started we tried to get the ball inside to our new center, former 1st league player Rober Dill, and use his experience and size against the younger ALBA team. However, the refs called Robert for two early fouls, one offensive and one defensive, within the first 3-4 minutes and it forced him to the bench for the rest of the first quarter. We played well with ALBA trading baskets but by the end of the 1st quarter we were down 1opts 21-31. I had 9 first quarter points. The second quarter ALBA really pressured us and we lost our heads, taking bad shots and not running our offense. By halftime the score was 34-51 ALBA, and the game looked as though it might get ugly from there.

The second half we came out with a little press back to a zone and it really bothered and frustrated the ALBA players, which helped us creep back into the game. However, the refs again called fouls on Robert and our second leading scorer Max Rosenburg. Forcing them to the bench (Robert 4 fouls, Max 3 fouls). The ALBA guards were not very quick on defense and they had trouble staying in front of me so I continued to penetrate and either shoot or pass to a teammate for open shots. By the end of the third quarter we had cut the lead to 10 points, 50-60.

In the fourth quarter we continued out press and ALBA continued to struggle. Halfway through the fourth quarter we had cut the lead to 8pts, 61-69. We had everything going our way. Our shots were falling and we were stopping them on defense by holding them to one shot. However, just like earlier in the game, the refs decided that they wanted to control the outcome and called Robert for his 5th foul on a "bogus" offensive foul. Robert finished the game with 9pts 5fouls in 14min. After Robert fouled out Max picked up his fourth foul and Hans subed Max and I out for a quick breather. ALBA took full advantage. By the time Max and I came back in ALBA had built their lead to 18 with just under 4miutes to play. ALBA eventually won the game by 19points 66-85. I lead us in Points (20), rebounds (6), Assists (4), while shooting 7-9 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. ALBA really pressured me and it was hard for me to get the ball back once I passed it to set up our offense.

Our next game is at home against Wolfenbuttel. They are next to last in the league right above us.