Alba Berlin

Alba Berlin
Nickname	The albatrosses
Founded	1991
Hall	Mercedes-Benz Arena (14,500 seats)
Homepage	www.albaberlin.de
executive Director	Marco Baldi
Sports director	Himar Ojeda
Trainer	Aíto García Reneses
league	BBL Men 2019/20 : 1st place
	Regional league 2nd men
	NBBL U 19
Colours	Yellow blue
home Away
successes
Korać Cup winner : 1995 German champion : 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2020 German cup winner : 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2020

Alba Berlin ( proper spelling capitalized ) is a German basketball club from Berlin . The club was founded in 1991 as Alba BERLIN Basketballteam e. V. founded and emerged from the BG Charlottenburg . In 2006 the professional department was transformed into a GmbH. Since its inception, the club has played continuously in the basketball league (BBL) and various European league competitions; u. a. in the EuroLeague .

Alba Berlin has the largest number of members in Germany's basketball club, and with nine German championships and ten cup wins, it is also one of the most successful in the country. Having won the Korać Cup in 1995 and numerous top placements in European competitions, Alba Berlin is also considered the most successful German club on an international level.

The basketball professionals play their home games in the Mercedes-Benz Arena . Alba Berlin has an average of 10,000 visitors per home game in the BBL seasons, making it the most visited team in Europe.

history

Korać Cup

1991–2000: Foundation and first championships

The BG Charlottenburg was founded in 1989 when it became clear that the Bundesliga club DTV Charlottenburg was getting into financial difficulties (and later had to file for bankruptcy). It was agreed that the DTV basketball department would transfer to BG, which operated under the name Spielgemeinschaft BG / DTV Charlottenburg for one year and then took part in Bundesliga games as BG Charlottenburg. In 1990 Marco Baldi , who had played in Berlin from 1983 to 1985, came back as manager. The first game year 1990/91 (still as BG Charlottenburg) of his activity as a manager was a "pure suicide mission", so Baldi later looking back. One had lived from hand to mouth, the year was "rock hard" from a financial point of view, he said. The BG Charlottenburg was transferred to Alba Berlin in 1991 after the disposal company Alba AG was won as the main sponsor. On July 4, 1991, the club became a member of the Berlin Basketball Association. Alba Berlin is the successor of DTV Charlottenburg (1990 merger with BG Charlottenburg) in the basketball league. The heraldic animal became the albatross .

In 1991 Dieter Hauert was elected first president. Shortly afterwards, Alba Berlin was immediately German runner-up under the leadership of head coach Faruk Kulenović . When the Serbian Svetislav Pešić took over the coaching position in 1993 , the club achieved successes that no other basketball team in Germany had achieved before. Winning the Korać Cup in 1995 was the first international title win by a German club team in basketball.

In 1996 the club moved from the sports hall in Charlottenburg on Sömmeringstraße (“Sömmeringhalle”) to the Max-Schmeling-Halle . If you had to stay in the “Sömmeringhalle”, Alba Berlin “would never have developed to where we are today”, said Baldi in 2015. The move was a “giant leap”, so Baldi years later. This made you a real Berlin team that was not inferior to the East-West thinking. In 1997, Alba Berlin finally replaced series champion Bayer Leverkusen in their new home and won the long-awaited first German basketball championship. Overall, Pešić was able to record four German championships and one cup victory in his seven-year career as head coach at Alba Berlin, in addition to winning the Korać Cup and other successes at European level.

2000–2008: Professionalisation and other German titles

Logo 1991-2009

Although three other German championships and two other German cup victories were recorded under Emir Mutapčić, no decisive progress has been made since 2001, especially at the European level. As a result of the untitled time, the team was significantly rebuilt for each new season. In 2004 and 2005, finally, they were eliminated at the national level as the first in the main round in the play-off semifinals series. Organizationally, the position of team manager was created, which was filled by Henning Harnisch , and the professional department of the club was spun off into a GmbH on September 1, 2005 , the Alba Berlin Basketballteam GmbH .

Home game Alba against Trier in the 2005/2006 season in the Max-Schmeling-Halle

In the 2005/2006 season , Alba Berlin again won the German Cup under his new coach Henrik Rödl . As the main round first one moved this time up to the final series of the championship, in which one was defeated, however, by RheinEnergie Köln under coach Saša Obradović , who was still Korać Cup winner with Alba 1995 as a player. In the following season 2006/2007 Alba retired as the main round first but already in the playoff quarter-finals against the Artland Dragons , which led to the dismissal of Rödl and the commitment of coach Luka Pavićević and the next major remodeling of the team. After bad luck with injuries in preparation and in the course of the 2007/2008 season , which led to the loss of Goran Jeretin for the entire season and Aleksandar Rašić for the play-offs, Alba signed in January from the Cologne 99ers , who later in the season one Immanuel McElroy and Aleksandar Nađfeji filed for bankruptcy . With the player of the year Julius Jenkins , the team was superior to all other competitors in the play-offs and won the championship again after a five-year break.

In the 2003/2004 season, Alba was the champion who qualified for participation in the top European division ULEB Euroleague . In the seasons 2004/2005 to 2007/2008 the club could only present itself in the ULEB-Cup , the second highest European league. Here you only got beyond the preliminary round in 2006/2007 and were eliminated in the second round.

2008–2012: New arena and international audience records

With the move to the new 14,500-seat O ₂ World (now the Mercedes-Benz Arena ), the then reigning champion Alba Berlin opened a new chapter in the club's history. After an average attendance of over 7,000 visitors per game was achieved for the first time in the history of the German Basketball Bundesliga, Alba Berlin, headed by Managing Director Marco Baldi and Supervisory Board Chairman Axel Schweitzer , decided to take the next step towards a permanent presence in international competition and appropriate presentation options to create for Alba. The owner of O ₂ World Berlin, the Anschutz-Group , and Alba Berlin agreed on a 15-year contract until 2023 and an option for a further ten years.

As the reigning German champion, Alba took part in the Euroleague again in the 2008/2009 season and reached the TOP 16. Although they could not prevail against the group opponents FC Barcelona , Real Madrid and Maccabi Tel Aviv , Alba was with an average of 11,264 spectators the most visited team in Europe at O ₂ World Berlin. In addition, the club was able to set up a record attendance at a European Cup game in Germany with 14,800 spectators in the main round home game against Olimpija Ljubljana . While at the national level in the cup final , the Telekom Baskets Bonn had clearly defeated, they lost against this team in the play-off semi-final series as main round first just in five games out.

In the following year, the team missed first place in the main round for the first time in seven years and was also eliminated in the play-offs against the seventh-placed Skyliners Frankfurt with just one win in four games. In addition, Alba missed the top 4 of the newly formed BBL Cup due to a defeat in Bamberg. Internationally, however, the club played its best season since winning the Korać Cup in 1995. It was true that at the beginning of the season in the Euroleague qualification as a wild card participant against GS Marousi they had to compete again in the ULEB Eurocup . Julius Jenkins' team crossed the main and intermediate rounds as group winners and was in the final four of this European Cup for the first time after beating former title holder Hapoel Jerusalem in the quarter-finals .

The Mercedes-Benz Arena (formerly O ₂ World) in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg has been the venue for Alba Berlin's home games since 2008.

However, participation in the final round was made difficult by the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 , as air traffic between Germany and Spain was suspended due to the volcanic ash escaping. The team arrived in good time, but the fans weren't. Instead of the originally planned 400, only 43 brave Alba fans traveled the approximately 2000 km long route by bus. This bus trip, however, took place with the special attention of national and international press representatives, some of whom blogged “live” about the journey. In the semifinals, Alba, in which Adam Chubb stood out with 27 points, beat Bizkaia Bilbao Basket with 77:70 , which practically had a home game in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque . For the finale on Sunday, the Alba fans who had arrived were personally welcomed by the organization of the ULEB in the person of Jordi Bertomeu. However, the players could not repeat their performance from the previous day and had to admit defeat to the Valencia Basket Club 44:67 . The team also had to make the return journey by bus and took almost 27 hours.

The 2010/2011 season developed into a rollercoaster ride. With the exception of Julius Jenkins and Immanuel McElroy, the team, which was completely reorganized, suffered the highest defeat in the club's history with 52: 103 and thus also ushered in the end of coach Pavićević, who was replaced by Israeli Muli Katzurin at the end of January . After a few player changes, especially in the position of the development player, where Heiko Schaffartzik , among others , was brought back, Alba still reached the play-offs in third place. With the victories against Oldenburg and Frankfurt, the team was in the finals against last year's champion Bamberg. The series, like the two previous ones, was supposed to go the full distance of five games, but ended with the runner-up championship after Alba was still in the lead with the defending champions almost 90 seconds before the end. After failing again in the Euroleague qualification , this time they moved into the round of the best sixteen teams in the 2010/11 Eurocup .

For the 2011/2012 season, Canadian- born Gordon Herbert, an experienced coach, was hired, who led the Skyliners Frankfurt to their first championship in 2004 and previously worked in Greece and the NBA in addition to his adopted home in Finland. Like the BBL's multiple defense player of the year Immanuel McElroy, Julius Jenkins, who was the best attacking player in the BBL three times in a row and twice (2008 and 2010) season MVP of the BBL, left the club. Coach Herbert, on the other hand, brought the league MVP 2011 DaShaun Wood to Berlin from his former club . However, the team fell short of expectations and was eliminated as third in the main round in the first play-off round against the strong promoted s.Oliver Baskets from Würzburg, after being eliminated in the Euroleague qualification again in the round of the sixteen best teams was the end of the line for Alba in the Eurocup. Then the contract with coach Herbert was terminated at the end of the season and signed as the successor of Alba's former player Saša Obradović, who had previously won the championship in Ukraine with BK Donetsk.

2012–2017: Alba Berlin against NBA teams

As part of the NBA Europe Live Tour , the Albatrosses met the Dallas Mavericks on October 6, 2012 . The venue was the home ground of Alba Berlin with O ₂ World Berlin. The lot was sold out within 50 minutes. In addition to Dirk Nowitzki , Chris Kaman , another German national player and NBA All-Star, played at the Mavericks . The game ended after a balanced course of play with an 89-84 win for the Dallas Mavericks, who had started their pre-season a week earlier. Alba Berlin started the 2012/13 Euroleague season with a wildcard license and reached the top 16 round. With an 82:63 win against Brose Baskets Bamberg on January 24, 2013, Alba was able to achieve the first victory of a German representative in this elimination round of the ULEB Euroleague.

Dallas Mavericks versus Alba Berlin (2012)

In the BBL Cup Alba Berlin celebrated his first title in four years on March 24, 2013. At the final four in the local O ₂ World Berlin , the albatrosses met FC Bayern Munich in the semi-finals . The game decided Alba with 92:83 for themselves and moved into the final. The final opponent was last year's runner-up, Ratiopharm Ulm . The game ended in front of 13,854 spectators with an 85:67 victory for Berlin. Alba Berlin was able to secure the BBL-Pokal for the 7th time. Alba finished the main round of the 2012/2013 Bundesliga season in fifth place on the table and met FC Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals . Against the Munich team, the albatrosses were eliminated 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the play-offs without a win of their own. In the 2013/14 season, Berlin met Bayern again in the playoffs. But this time in the final. Alba lost the series 1: 3.

On October 8, 2014, Alba Berlin met the reigning title holder of the NBA , the San Antonio Spurs . The Texans, under the successful coach Gregg Popovich , traveled with the superstars Tim Duncan , Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili . In a high-class game, the Berlin team surprisingly won 94:93 (47:54) thanks to a buzzer beater from Jamel McLean.

In the Euroleague season 2014/15 , Alba reached the second group stage, in which the team kept the chance of the quarter-finals open until the last matchday, which no German team has yet managed. Ultimately, however, they narrowly missed out on making it into the top eight teams in Europe. In the BBL they lost to Bayern Munich in the semifinals.

Since 2016: Spanish wave on the Spree

In February 2016, the Spaniard Himar Ojeda became the sports director of Berlin after he had previously headed the international talent screening of the NBA club Atlanta Hawks .

In April 2017, Alba parted ways with the Turkish head coach Ahmet Çakı, who took office in the summer of 2016 and replaced Saša Obradović . At the time of Çakı's dismissal, the Berliners had guaranteed participation in the Bundesliga championship round and were in sixth place in the table. Assistant coach Thomas Päch looked after the team for the rest of the season, they were eliminated in the first playoff round against Munich. In the summer of 2016, Alba had brought Çakı, another representative of the young generation of coaches, to Berlin, but an old master was brought in for the 2017/18 season: The Spaniard Aíto García Reneses - 70 years old at the time of the engagement - came with the recommendation, among other things, as a coach To have won nine Spanish championship titles and Olympic silver. In addition to the Berlin assistant coach Thomas Päch, other Spaniards were part of the 2017 coaching staff: García Reneses was also assistant coach Israel Gonzalez , who had worked with him in the past, as well as individual coach Carlos Frade and athletic coach Pepe Silva Moreno. As in the previous course of his coaching work, García Reneses built more players from his own offspring into the professional team in Berlin, including Franz Wagner , Jonas Mattisseck and Tim Schneider .

In the 2018/19 season, Alba reached the final series of the European club competition Eurocup , but lost to the Spanish representative Valencia Basket with 1: 2 wins. In mid-February 2020, García Reneses won his first title when Oldenburg was defeated 89:67 in the German cup final. When the Bundesliga main round of the 2019/20 season was canceled at the beginning of March 2020 due to the spread of Covid-19 , the team finished fourth in the Bundesliga table with 14 wins and five defeats. At the end of the season in June 2020, the team won all of their games and secured the German championship title by beating Ludwigsburg in both finals (88:65 and 75:74).

GmbH and association

Alba Berlin Basketball Team e. V. has been listed as the basketball club in Germany with the largest number of members since December 31, 2012. In 2016, a total of 998 members were registered with player passports (previous year 947). The Alba Berlin Basketballteam e.V. holds a stake in the outsourced professional department, Alba Berlin Basketballteam GmbH . V. 25% and PA-FI Panda Finance with the two shareholders and managing directors of the Alba Group , Eric Schweitzer and Axel Schweitzer , 75% of the shares.

Awards

In 2009 Alba Berlin was awarded the Devotion Marketing Award 2009 in gold by the ULEB for its activities in the fields of marketing, sponsoring and communication.

The fact that Alba managed to use the hall to capacity in the ULEB Euroleague season 2008/09 and, with over 10,000 spectators per game, achieved the highest average attendance of all teams, rewarded the organization of the ULEB with the award of the best club official of the 2009 for Marco Baldi .

Sponsors

Alba Berlin fan shop in Charlottenburg

The total budget of Alba Berlin Basketballteam GmbH is estimated at around 11 million euros (as of 2019). Around half of the budget is spent on the squad for each season. About 10% of the budget is invested in youth programs and youth work. According to estimates, the total budget of Alba Berlin is one of the two largest among the clubs of the BBL.

The title sponsor of the GmbH is the namesake Alba Group . The current shirt sponsor is the Chinese group Techcent (as of 2020/21). Premium partners include a. the outfitter Adidas, DKB AG, Lotto Berlin, comline AG, EDEKA, and Volkswagen AG (as of 2020). There are also a number of so-called official partners.

Youth work

Since 1992 there has been an intensive cooperation between Alba Berlin and TuS Lichterfelde to promote young talent . Numerous later national players (including Ademola Okulaja , Mithat Demirel , Stefano Garris , Marko Pesic , Jörg Lütcke ) were trained during the partnership.

In addition, Alba Berlin was able to win the Erdgas Ehingen / Urspring School team as a further cooperation association. From the 2008/2009 season onwards, Alba Berlin was also the name and shirt sponsor of the NBBL team Team Alba Urspring, the basketball department of the Urspring School in the NBBL . The partnership with the NBBL team ended when the sponsor changed to CYBEX in 2012.

In December 2005, Alba Berlin decided to expand its own youth work. Under the direction of Henning Harnisch , the team manager at the time and later vice president (as of 2013) of the association, a wide variety of initiatives to promote young talent were implemented. In 2010 Alba Berlin employed a total of 51 trainers. 24 youth teams were registered for the Berlin basketball club. According to its own mission statement, Alba Berlin is committed to promoting basketball players "from daycare to graduation and beyond". This happens in clubs, in school sports and in cooperation with other clubs, educational institutions and social agencies.

successes

Seasonal benefits

Match Alba Berlin against BBC Bayreuth on February 19, 2011 in the Berlin Mercedes-Benz-Arena.

season	league	Main round	Play-off	BBL Cup	Europe competitions
1990/91	Bundesliga	3.	Runner-up	-	Korać Cup round of 16
1991/92	Bundesliga	3.	Runner-up	-	Europa Cup participants
1992/93	Bundesliga	2.	Quarter finalist	-	Korać Cup participant
1993/94	Bundesliga	3.	Semi-finalist	-	Korać Cup main round participants
1994/95	Bundesliga	2.	Runner-up	-	Korać-Cup winner *
1995/96	Bundesliga	2.	Runner-up	-	Korać Cup quarter-finalist
1996/97	Bundesliga	1.	master	winner	Europaliga participant
1997/98	Bundesliga	1.	master	-	Europaliga quarter-finalist *
1998/99	Bundesliga	1.	master	winner	Europaliga participant
1999/2000	Bundesliga	1.	master	finalist	Europaliga participant
2000/01	Bundesliga	1.	master	-	SuproLeague quarter-finalist
2001/02	Bundesliga	5.	master	winner	Euroleague participant
2002/03	Bundesliga	2.	master	winner	Euroleague participant
2003/04	Bundesliga	1.	Semi-finalist	-	Euroleague participant
2004/05	Bundesliga	1.	Semi-finalist	-	ULEB Cup participant
2005/06	Bundesliga	1.	Runner-up	winner	ULEB Cup participant
2006/07	Bundesliga	1.	Quarter finalist	-	ULEB Cup round of 16
2007/08	Bundesliga	1.	master	Fourth	ULEB Cup participant
2008/09	Bundesliga	1.	Semi-finalist	winner	Euroleague Top 16
2009/10	Bundesliga	2.	Quarter finalist	-	Eurocup finalist *
2010/11	Bundesliga	3.	Runner-up	-	Eurocup Top 16
2011/12	Bundesliga	3.	Quarter finalist	-	Eurocup Top 16
2012/13	Bundesliga	5.	Quarter finalist	winner	Euroleague Top 16
2013/14	Bundesliga	3.	Runner-up	winner	Eurocup Top 8
2014/15	Bundesliga	2.	Semi-finalist	Third	Euroleague Top 16
2015/16	Bundesliga	6th	Quarter finalist	winner	Eurocup Top 16
2016/17	Bundesliga	6th	Quarter finalist	Third	Eurocup Top 16
2017/18	Bundesliga	2.	Runner-up	finalist	Eurocup Top 16
2018/19	Bundesliga	3.	Runner-up	finalist	Eurocup finalist
2019/20	Bundesliga	4th	Master**	winner	Due to the coronavirus pandemic , the EuroLeague and EuroCup seasons were canceled or ended without a winner

(*) Success achieved as the first German team

(**) Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the champions were played in a three-week tournament.

Records

Jovo Stanojevic

season Most Valuable Players 1993/94 Teoman Alibegović 1995/96 Henrik Rödl 1997/98 Wendell Alexis 1999/00 Wendell Alexis 2001/02 Wendell Alexis 2002/03 Jovo Stanojevic 2005/06 Jovo Stanojevic 2007/08 Julius Jenkins 2009/10 Julius Jenkins 2014/15 Jamel McLean 2017/18 Luke Sikma

rank Best thrower Points Games 1. Wendell Alexis 5922 341 2. Henrik Rödl 5226 512 3. Julius Jenkins 4154 272 4th Marko Pešić 3623 382 5. Jovo Stanojevic 3305 216 6th Teoman Alibegović 3253 159 7th Teoman Öztürk 2691 489 8th. Saša Obradović 2627 157 9. Stephan Baeck 2505 218 10. Immanuel McElroy 2103 212

rank Most missions Games Years 1. Henrik Rödl 512 11 2. Teoman Öztürk 489 10 3. Marko Pešić 382 8th 4th Wendell Alexis 341 6th 5. Jörg Lütcke 324 8th 6th Julius Jenkins 272 5 7th Stefano Garris 238 7th 8th. Patrick Femerling 220 5 9. Stephan Baeck 218 5 10. Jovo Stanojevic 216 5

Honors

Alba Berlin has so far honored two outstanding players in the club's history by no longer giving away shirt numbers that they wore when playing as a player. The former national player Henrik Rödl was the first to receive the award in 2010. Rödl's jersey number 4 has not been awarded since then. Wendell Alexis was honored within the club for his services in 2012. The jersey number 12, which Alexis wore during his active time at Alba Berlin, has also not been given to new players in the club since then.

team

Squad 2020/21

Niels Giffey

Squad of Alba Berlin in the 2020/2021 season

player No. Nat. Surname birth size info Last club Guards ( PG , SG ) Maodo Lô 2021 December 31, 1992 1.91 m A-Nat. Bayern Munich (DEU) 3 Peyton Siva 2021 October 24, 1990 1.82 m Juventus Caserta (ITA) 8th Marcus Eriksson 2023 5th December 1993 2.01 m A Nat. Gran Canaria (ESP) 9 Jonas Mattisseck 2023 January 16, 2000 1.94 m A Nat. youth 44 / Stefan Peno 2020 August 3, 1997 1.93 m A Nat. FC Barcelona (ESP) Malte Delow April 22, 2001 1.94 m Perspective player youth Forwards ( SF , PF ) 5 Niels Giffey 2021 June 8, 1991 2.00 m A-Nat. Connecticut Huskies (USA) 10 Tim Schneider 2022 September 1, 1997 2.08 m A-Nat. youth Simone Fontechio 2023 December 09, 1995 2.03 m A-Nat. Reggio Emillia (ITA) 11 Lorenz Brenneke January 2, 2000 2.04 m Perspective player youth 43 Luke Sikma 2023 July 30, 1989 2.03 m Valencia Basket Club (ESP) Louis Olinde 2023 March 18, 1998 2.05 m A Nat. Brose Bamberg (DEU) Center ( C ) 15th Johannes Thiemann 2021 February 9, 1994 2.05 m A-Nat. MHP giant Ludwigsburg 16 Kresimir Nikic 2022 April 16, 1999 2.13 m Perspective player Cibona Zagreb Benjamin Lammers 2023 November 12, 1995 2.08 m Retobet Bilbao (ESP)

Trainer Nat. Surname position Aíto García Reneses 2021 Head coach Israel Gonzalez 2021 Assistant coach Sebastian Trzciona 2021 Assistant coach Pepe Silva Moreno 2021 Athletic trainer Carlos Frade Individual trainer Legend Abbr. meaning Team captain Long term injury A-Nat. National player (first country) NBBL NBBL squad Year behind player names Known contract length swell Team homepage League homepage As of August 5, 2019

Change 2019/20

Additions: Makai Mason ( Baylor University / USA), Marcus Eriksson ( Gran Canaria / ESP), Tyler Cavanaugh ( Salt Lake City / USA)

Departures: Joshiko Saibou ( Telekom Baskets Bonn ), Franz Wagner ( University of Michigan / USA), Bennet Hundt ( BG Göttingen ), Derrick Walton Jr., Dennis Clifford

Venue

In the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Alba recorded the highest average attendance during the 2011/12 season in Europe

Alba Berlin played from 1991 to 1997 in the Sömmeringhalle (2350 seats) in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The building complex was opened in 1964 as the largest, pure sports hall in West Berlin at the time, and over the decades has developed into the home of many sports clubs and the like. a. the BG Charlottenburg, from which Alba Berlin emerged.

The Deutschlandhalle , at that time the largest event location in the metropolis, became the unique venue for Alba Berlin in 1995. Under the then coach Svetislav Pešić, the Berlin team won the title as the first German team in front of 10,000 spectators with an 85-79 second leg win against Stefanel Milan in the final of the Korać Cup.

In 1996 they moved into the Max-Schmeling-Halle (8,500 seats) in the Prenzlauer Berg district , which was originally built for the application for the 2000 Olympic Games and stayed until the 2007/08 season. In the last season when the Max-Schmeling-Halle was used as a venue for the BBL home games, Alba Berlin recorded an average of 6,908 spectators in the main round of the BBL.

Mercedes-Benz Arena

→ Main article : Mercedes-Benz Arena (Berlin)

From the 2008/09 season, the O ₂ World (today Mercedes-Benz Arena ) in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district became the venue for all home games. The multifunctional arena, which was built for 165 million euros, offers 59 spectator suites and 14,500 seats for basketball games. The Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin is the largest event hall in Berlin and the second largest in Germany.

Training center

Since 2010 the training center of the professional Alba Berlin team has been located at Schützenstraße 51 in the Mitte district. The hall, which is primarily available to Alba Berlin, is also used by youth teams and those involved in popular sports. During the preparation for the season, test matches are occasionally held in closed circuit in the training hall.

spectator

BBL season	arena	average
2012/2013	O2 World Berlin	10,031
2013/2014	O2 World Berlin	10,641
2014/2015	O2 World Berlin	9,912
2015/2016	Mercedes-Benz Arena	10.094
2016/2017	Mercedes-Benz Arena	9,837
2017/2018	Mercedes-Benz Arena	9,631
2018/2019	Mercedes-Benz Arena	9,343

On April 7, 2000, Alba Berlin participated in what was then the most popular indoor basketball game in Europe. In a game between the BBL and Telekom Baskets Bonn , 18,506 spectators came to the Lanxess Arena (then Cologne Arena). To this day, the encounter is considered to be the most crowded in the history of the BBL.

Alba Berlin was able to set a new attendance record for the fourth time in a row in the Beko BBL main round 2011/2012. A total of 186,504 spectators came to the 17 BBL home games in the hall, which corresponded to an average attendance of 10,971 per game (BBL average attendance: 4322 visitors). This made the team the most visited basketball team in Germany and Europe this season.

In the Bundesliga season 2012/13, the average attendance at the 17 games of the BBL main round fell from 10,971 to 10,031 compared to the previous year. In the international matches during the season in the ULEB Euroleague there was a significant increase in the average (9033 compared to 7655). In absolute numbers, 340,727 fans attended a total of 34 home games. A new visitor record was thus achieved within one season.

Former

Squad

Trainer

Faruk Kulenović (1991-1993) (96-0-59) Svetislav Pešić (1993-2000) (284-2-111) Emir Mutapčić (2000-2005) (158-0-88)

Henrik Rödl (2005-2007) (90-0-44) Luka Pavićević (2007-2011) (141-2-71) Muli Katzurin (2011-2011) (20-0-16)

Gordon Herbert (2011-2012) (34-0-19) Saša Obradović (2012-2016) (164-1-96) Ahmet Caki (2016-2017) (22-0-22)

Thomas Päch (04/05 2017) (2-0-4) Aíto García Reneses (since 2017)

• Coach (seasons) (wins-draws-defeats)

player

Matthias Strauss (1990-1993) Teo Öztürk (1991–1997, 2000–2004) Uwe Blab (1991–1993) Stephan Baeck (1992–1996) Hansi Gnad (1993-1994) Henrik Rödl (1993-2004) Ademola Okulaja (1994–1996, 1999–00) Gunther Behnke (1994–1996) Jörg Lütcke (1995-2003)

Henning Harnisch (1996–1998) Marko Pešić (1997–1999, 2000–2004) Mithat Demirel (1998–1999, 2001–2005) Nino Garris (1999-2005) Demond Greene (2005-2007) Zoran Radović (1990-1993) Teoman Alibegović (1993–1996) Saša Obradović (1994–1997) Vasily Karassjow (1997-1998)

Dejan Koturović (2000-2002) Matej Mamić (2004-2006) Jovo Stanojević (2002-2007) Wendell Alexis (1996-2002) Hollis Price (2005-2006, 2010-2011) Immanuel McElroy (2008-2011) Julius Jenkins (2005-2011)

Club culture

Fans

Friends and fans of the Berlin basketball club

Alba Berlin has a strong fan scene and is one of the biggest crowd pullers in Germany and internationally. With an average of more than 10,000 visitors per home game, the games of the Berlin club are one of the most popular basketball events in Europe.

The fan club Alba-Tross , which was founded in Berlin in the 1992/93 season, has over 300 members and organizes u. a. Trips to away games from Alba Berlin. The Block 212 fan club was established in 2011 and is particularly active during home games with its loud chants, battle cries and choreographies. The intense atmosphere in the arena is supported by a large number of spectators in addition to the fan blocks. The audience is known for cheering during tight scores before the end of a quarter or in the final stages of the game.

The friends of the capital city club are often dressed in the club's colors or with the Alba jerseys of the season. Golden yellow glasses, caps, wigs, basketball shirts, Berlin state flags or T-shirts with Berlin symbols are typical accessories for fans of Alba Berlin. Some fans re-create their fan clothing for each game.

cheerleader

Alba Dancers 2013

The home games of Alba Berlin were up 2,019 cheerleaders of Alba Dancers accompanied. The group of female dancers consists of around 20 members and has been trained by Valesca Stix since 2011. Before each season there are talent competitions to determine the participants in the future dance formation. On September 26, 2019, the board announced that the performances of the Alba Dancers will be removed from the program in the future. According to Baldi, one came to the conclusion that “the appearance of young women as attractive break fillers at sporting events no longer fits our times”.

The club's dance formation was founded in 1996 as the Alba Berlin Danceteam and has already won numerous prizes at national cheerleading competitions. In 2013 the Berlin dancers took second place at the EFES Dance Square Off Final of the Euroleague in Moscow. The Alba Dancers took part in world championships in cheerleading several times.

The dancers also perform outside of sporting events and run a blog and a Facebook page.

mascot

Since the 1994/1995 season, the "Albatros" has been supporting the Alba BERLIN team as a mascot. Before the start of the game, while the basketball players are running into the arena, the albatross claps each player. During the game, he ensures a good mood in the arena, makes jokes, walks through the rows and lets himself be photographed.

Filmography

Leading actor in the film Where's Fred? :
Til Schweiger & Alexandra Maria Lara

In the German comedy film Wo ist Fred? from 2006, a basketball game by Alba Berlin in the Max-Schmeling-Halle plays a prominent role. In the main roles of the film were u. a. Til Schweiger , Jürgen Vogel , Alexandra Maria Lara and Anja Kling can be seen.

On December 3, 2011, Alba player Heiko Schaffartzik joined the ZDF entertainment program Wetten, dass ..? on. The captain of the Berlin basketball team competed against a candidate, the German national golf player Ann-Kathrin Lindner.

In 2013, the basketball team Alba Berlin and the metropolis of Berlin became the setting for a documentary by the American sports channel ESPN . Under the title Basketball Capitals , the club's fan scene and the club's history were presented in the 30-minute film. In addition to Berlin as a major European basketball metropolis, Madrid, Istanbul and Athens were also portrayed in other parts of the documentary series.

In the basketball video game NBA 2K14 from the software producer 2K Games , published in November 2013, the Alba Berlin team is available as a game option alongside 30 NBA teams. The Berlin team is the only club from Germany present in the game. Other European teams such as Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, FC Barcelona or CSKA Moscow are also playable.

Media presence

News about the Alba Berlin basketball club is distributed in various local, national and international media. As the official media partner of easy credit BBL, the Internet platform Telekom Basketball reports regularly on the results of the basketball league. Game broadcasts with the participation of Alba Berlin can be followed there via live stream (as of 2017). Games from the ULEB Euroleague and the Eurocup are also broadcast by Telekom Basketball. Sport1 occasionally shows Alba encounters on television. The rbb reported in its news broadcasts of updates to pro team Alba Berlin. Occasionally, live streams of international matches are offered via the rbb Internet portal. As part of the ZDF sports report, game summaries from the matches of the BBL are also shown. Video content on the keywords Alba Berlin, BBL and basketball is available via the ZDF and ARD Internet media library .

Graffiti on the East Side Gallery

The internet portals of most of Berlin's daily newspapers such as the Tagesspiegel , the Berliner Morgenpost , the Berliner Zeitung , the Berliner Kurier or the BZ have their own section with news about Alba Berlin in their sports section. In addition, national newspapers and their Internet branches such as kicker and Bild provide information about the events in the capital city club. Since the 2012/13 season, the Berlin broadcaster Radio Eins has been an official partner for Alba Berlin's games in the basketball Bundesliga and at international competitions.

Statistics on players and clubs as well as summaries and video material from the games of the BBL are available on the Bundesliga internet portal. On the official website of Alba Berlin, current information about the activities of the association is distributed. Extensive data material, interviews, event previews, game calendars and video material can be accessed there. Alba Berlin also operates a Facebook page that reports on news about the club. The site offers contact to all Facebook members and creates interactive opportunities to comment on the messages created by Alba Berlin. There is also an official YouTube , Twitter , and SoundCloud channel. Some players on the professional team occasionally use their personal Instagram, Facebook or Twitter accounts to report updates on the basketball club. The German-language forum Schoenen-Dunk.de and the English-language forum on interbasket.net are among others. a. social media that can be used to discuss the events at Alba Berlin.

See also

• List of German basketball teams
• German national basketball team

literature

• Christian Blees: The Alba phenomenon. The Alba Berlin basketball book . Bebra Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-930863-34-0 .
• Thomas Pletzinger: Gentlemen, we live on the edge: A season in German professional basketball . Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2011, ISBN 3-462-04369-2 .

Web links

Commons : ALBA Berlin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Alba Berlin - Official club website
• Alba Berlin - eurobasket.com
• BBL statistics

Individual evidence

1. ^ Association president Dieter Hauert confirmed in office
2. ↑ ^{a b} The 100 largest basketball clubs of the DBB (ID cards, as of December 31, 2016). (PDF; 445 kB) German Basketball Association V., accessed on August 12, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Dietmar Wenck: Why Alba Berlin is Germany's top club. In: Berliner Morgenpost , March 15, 2010, accessed on July 4, 2017.
4. ↑ Jan Buchholz: New visitor record & king of the audience in Europe. On: Alba website, Berlin, May 1, 2012. Accessed December 2, 2018.
5. ↑ ALBA BERLIN: The ALBA locations - At the table by Siegfried Dupuis. Retrieved January 12, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Prehistory . In: Alba Berlin Basketballteam GmbH (Ed.): 25 years of Alba Berlin Basketball. A chronicle . ISBN 978-3-9816338-2-5 , pp. 28, 29 .
7. ↑ ^{a b} ALBA BERLIN: The ALBA locations: Marco Baldi and the “Sömmeringhalle”. Retrieved January 12, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Berliner Basketball-Verband (Ed.): Berliner Basketball-Verband 1949–1999 . S. 14 .
9. ↑ The history of ALBA BERLIN On: Alba website; Retrieved July 4, 2017
10. ↑ About us ( Memento from December 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ The albatrosses move into the O2 World . On: Nice Dunk website. July 7, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
12. ↑ NN: Alba ends the Euroleague season as the front runner in the audience statistics. On: Alba website; Berlin, March 9, 2009. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
13. ↑ LIVE Blogging from Vitoria . From: Union des Ligues Européennes de Basketball website, April 18, 2010, accessed October 8, 2012 . 
14. ↑ Then just take the bus to Spain . On: The Tagesspiegel website, April 18, 2010, accessed March 26, 2013 . 
15. ^ "Weg nach Vitoria" Steffen Hamann's blog about the Eurocup Final Four ( Memento from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ Nowitzki appearance against Alba: Hard future for the blue blood In: Der Spiegel; Retrieved February 14, 2013.
17. ↑ Alba receives Euroleague Wildcard, Göttingen license . On: Spiegel Online Website; Retrieved February 27, 2013.
18. ↑ Alba Berlin beats Master Bamberg . On: World Online Website; Retrieved February 27, 2013.
19. ↑ Alba Berlin triumphs in the cup final . On: Spiegel Online Website; Retrieved May 13, 2013.
20. ↑ Alba Berlin beats San Antonia Spurs . On: Spiegel Online Website; Retrieved October 9, 2014.
21. ↑ ALBA BERLIN Basketballteam GmbH: Himar Ojeda is the new sports director of ALBA BERLIN. Retrieved April 19, 2019 . 
22. ↑ Jan Buchholz: Ahmet Caki is the new head coach of Alba Berlin. On: Alba website; Berlin, June 21, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
23. ↑ Alba Berlin separates from trainer Caki (aev / sid) On: Spiegel-Online-Website, Hamburg April 26, 2017; accessed on July 14, 2017
24. ↑ Jan Buchholz, Justus Strauven: Alejandro "Aito" Garcia Reneses is the new Alba head coach. On: Alba website; Berlin, June 14, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
25. ↑ ALBA BERLIN Basketballteam GmbH: Complete new ALBA trainer team. Retrieved April 19, 2019 . 
26. ↑ How Alba became Germany's largest basketball club. In: Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved April 19, 2019 . 
27. ↑ Basketball Eurocup: Valencia too strong - Alba Berlin clearly missed historic victory . In: Spiegel Online . April 15, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed April 19, 2019]).
28. ↑ ALBA BERLIN Basketballteam GmbH: Cup winners 2020! Albatrosses win their first title under coach Aito. Retrieved June 28, 2020 . 
29. ↑ Overall table. In: Basketball Bundesliga. Retrieved June 28, 2020 . 
30. ↑ https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.basketball-meisterschaft-ludwigsburg-auch-im-zweiten-bbl-finale-ohne-anfuehrer-knight.1ad7de30-c827-415d-8ffc-18440395fb39.html
31. ↑ Here you will find all information about all easyCredit BBL live games, archives up to 1999, reports, box scores, play-by-plays, live streams, photos and throw analyzes. Retrieved June 28, 2020 . 
32. ↑ The 100 largest basketball clubs of the DBB (ID cards as of December 31, 2012). (PDF; 53 kB) German Basketball Association V., accessed on February 14, 2015 . 
33. ^ Structures of the clubs from the Beko Basketball Bundesliga (2013/14 season) . In: Manfred Schlösser, Marco Klewenhagen (Ed.): Sponsors . March 2014, ISSN  1432-8925 , DNB  018278000 , p. 36 (Sources: research sponsors, commercial register and information from the clubs).
34. ↑ Alba managing director Marco Baldi named Manager of the Year On: Horizont website; Retrieved May 14, 2013.
35. ^ Club Executive of the Year: Marco Baldi, Alba Berlin
36. ↑ https://www.morgenpost.de/sport/alba/article215175271/Ein-Leben-fuer-den-Korb-Albas-grosse-Vorarbeiterin-tritt-ab.html
37. ↑ Dominik Bardow: The basketball talent school of yesterday. On: Tagesspiegel website; Berlin, January 23, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
38. ↑ NN: ALBA joins Germany's top youth program Urspringschule.
39. ↑ (SUB): Urspring draws a new sponsor with Cybex. On: website of the Südwest Presse; Ulm, October 10, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
40. ↑ Lomax: Alba intensifies youth work. On: Nice Dunk website; Berlin, March 28, 2006. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
41. ↑ Michael Reinsch: "Flying Harnisch" drives young people to go basketball. On: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung website; Frankfurt am Main, November 24, 2009. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
42. ↑ https://www.albaberlin.de/jugend/alba-jugend/leitbild/
43. ↑ EuroLeague and EuroCup season ended , message on basketball.de from May 25, 2020
44. ↑ Sebastian Arlt: Alba wins and celebrates the model professional. From: Berliner Morgenpost; Berlin, September 8, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
45. ↑ Alba honors Alexis: Number 12 no longer taken
46. ↑ Sömmeringhalle ( Memento from October 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
47. ↑ The traditional Deutschlandhalle in Berlin is being demolished On: DOSB website; accessed on February 23, 2013.
48. ^ Theo Breiding: Alba is renovating - new hall, new European team In: Berliner Morgenpost, August 26, 2010; Retrieved September 24, 2013.
49. ↑ Bonn attracts 18,605 spectators to the duel against Alba in the Kölnarena . In: Berliner Zeitung, April 7, 2000; Retrieved July 4, 2017.
50. ↑ BBL posts record attendance . On: Sport1 website; accessed on February 23, 2013.
51. ↑ Sebastian Arlt: Compared to the previous year, more fans came to the Berlin basketball team in the O2 World In: Berliner Morgenpost, April 30, 2013; Retrieved July 4, 2017.
52. ↑ NN: Eternal player and coach list. On: Alba Berlin website, Berlin, 2018. Accessed December 2, 2018.
53. ^ NN: Information on the fan club. On: 9 × 13 blog; Berlin 2013–2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
54. ↑ About us
55. ↑ The fans at Alba-Desired Unrest In: Der Tagesspiegel; Retrieved February 25, 2013.
56. ↑ NN: More show, tighter outfits. The Alba cheerleaders are so sexy In: Berliner Kurier, October 6, 2011; Retrieved July 4, 2017.
57. ↑ Alba abolishes cheerleaders: Pathetic decision In: Morgenpost, September 28, 2019; accessed on September 29, 2019.
58. ↑ ALBA Dancers take second place in Moscow (April 7, 2013) ( Memento from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
59. ↑ ICU WM 2009 ( Memento from June 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
60. ↑ Alba Dancers On: Facebook website; Retrieved September 19, 2013.
61. ↑ NN: ... as a mascot. ( Memento of September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Archived from Pico website. First accessed on February 25, 2013.
62. ^ NN: Til Schweiger tricks with Alba. In: Berliner Kurier , November 16, 2006; Retrieved February 13, 2013.
63. ↑ Heiko Schaffartzik. Alba-Star throws baskets (diw) in “Wetten, dass ..?” In: Berliner Morgenpost, December 2, 2011; Retrieved July 4, 2017.
64. ↑ Basketball Capitals On: ESPN website; Retrieved May 13, 2013.
65. ↑ Basketball Capitals @ Final Four ( Memento from May 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
66. ↑ NBA 2k14: With the best basketball teams in the Euroleague On: Playm website; Retrieved September 23, 2013.
67. ↑ Alba Berlin on: Tagesspiegel website; Retrieved July 4, 2017.
68. ↑ Alba Berlin On: BZ website; Retrieved July 4, 2017.
69. ↑ Alba Berlin on: image website; Retrieved July 4, 2017.
70. ↑ Alba Berlin Official Channel On: Facebook website; Retrieved June 14, 2013.
71. ↑ Alba Berlin basketball team Youtube channel On: Youtube website; Retrieved June 15, 2013.
72. ↑ Alba Berlin on Twitter On: Twitter website; Retrieved June 17, 2013.
73. ↑ Alba Berlin Soundcloud On: Soundcloud website; Retrieved July 4, 2017.
74. ↑ Beko BBL On: Schönen Dunk-Website; Retrieved June 15, 2013.
75. ↑ Forum: Europe On: Interbasket website; Retrieved June 15, 2013.