Germany Bundesliga 03/24 16:00 25 [1] Chemnitz 99 v Alba Berlin [3] W 79-84
Euroleague 03/21 17:30 31 [13] Anadolu Efes v Alba Berlin [18] L 85-84
Euroleague 03/19 19:00 30 [18] Alba Berlin v Real Madrid [1] L 79-86
Germany Bundesliga 03/16 17:30 24 [3] Alba Berlin v Tubingen [16] W 112-69
Euroleague 03/14 19:00 29 [18] Alba Berlin v Monaco [4] L 82-90
Germany Bundesliga 03/10 17:30 23 [15] Rostock Seawolves v Alba Berlin [3] W 75-76
Euroleague 03/08 19:30 28 [9] Baskonia v Alba Berlin [18] L 88-71
Germany Bundesliga 03/03 16:00 22 [3] Alba Berlin v Oldenburg [11] W 85-67
Euroleague 02/29 19:00 27 [17] Alba Berlin v Maccabi Tel Aviv [10] L 71-106
Germany Cup 02/17 16:30 2 Alba Berlin v Ratiopharm Ulm L 79-87
Germany Bundesliga 02/13 19:00 21 [3] Alba Berlin v BG Gottingen [13] W 108-85
Germany Bundesliga 02/11 16:00 20 [4] Vechta v Alba Berlin [3] W 89-98
Euroleague 02/09 19:30 26 [2] Barcelona v Alba Berlin [17] L 93-77
Germany Bundesliga 02/04 16:00 19 [5] Alba Berlin v Ratiopharm Ulm [3] W 98-88
Euroleague 02/01 19:00 25 [17] Alba Berlin v Valencia [9] L 66-81
Euroleague 01/30 19:15 24 [8] Olympiacos v Alba Berlin [17] L 101-87
Germany Bundesliga 01/28 14:30 18 [5] Baskets Wuerzburg v Alba Berlin [4] L 76-75
Euroleague 01/25 19:00 23 [17] Alba Berlin v Crvena Zvezda [12] W 89-80
Germany Bundesliga 01/21 14:30 17 [9] Telekom Bonn v Alba Berlin [4] W 87-95
Euroleague 01/18 19:00 22 [17] Alba Berlin v Bayern Munich [14] L 65-82
Germany Bundesliga 01/14 14:30 16 [6] Alba Berlin v Baskets Wuerzburg [4] W 90-82
Euroleague 01/12 20:00 21 [17] Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne v Alba Berlin [18] W 63-88
Euroleague 01/09 19:30 20 [12] Milano v Alba Berlin [18] L 82-76
Germany Bundesliga 01/07 14:30 15 [13] Brose Bamberg v Alba Berlin [4] L 97-77
Euroleague 01/05 18:00 19 [17] Alba Berlin v Virtus Bologna [2] L 68-83
Euroleague 01/02 18:00 18 [16] Zalgiris v Alba Berlin [17] L 77-71
Germany Bundesliga 12/31 13:00 14 [4] Alba Berlin v Chemnitz 99 [1] W 101-90
Euroleague 12/29 19:00 17 [17] Alba Berlin v Olympiacos [11] L 67-94
Euroleague 12/22 19:15 16 [17] Alba Berlin v Fenerbahce [9] L 82-91
Germany Bundesliga 12/22 17:30 12 Alba Berlin v Rostock Seawolves - Postponed

Wikipedia - Alba Berlin

Alba Berlin is a German professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Mercedes-Benz Arena Berlin and competes in the German League and the EuroLeague or the EuroCup.

After winning eleven German Championships, eleven German Cups, three German Supercups, and the FIBA Korać Cup in 1995, Alba Berlin is considered to be the most successful German basketball team, both domestically and internationally. With an average attendance of more than 10,000 fans per game in a season, it is also one of the most popular basketball clubs in Europe. In 2013, Alba was portrayed in the ESPN documentary series Basketball Capitals. In 2014, the club was the first German basketball team to beat a reigning NBA champion, the San Antonio Spurs.

History

1991–2000: Foundation and first championships

Alba Berlin traces its history back to the BG Charlottenburg, a basketball club in western Berlin which was founded in 1989. In 1991, when the global recycling company ALBA Europe agreed to a significant basketball sponsorship, BG Charlottenburg changed its name to Alba Berlin.

Shortly thereafter, under the direction of head coach Faruk Kulenović, Alba Berlin became runner-up at the German Championship. In 1993, the Serbian Svetislav Pešić took over as coach, and the club gained successes that no other German basketball team had previously accomplished. Winning the Korać Cup in 1995 marked the first international title of a German club team in basketball.

In 1996, shortly after moving the club from the Sömmeringhalle to the Max-Schmeling-Halle, Alba Berlin finally beat series champion Bayer Leverkusen and won its long-awaited first German Championship. In addition to winning the Korać Cup and other successes at the European level, in his seven-year career as head coach, Pešić won four German championships and one German Cup.

2000–2008: Professionalization and national success

The Max-Schmeling-Halle was the team's home arena from 1996 until 2008

Under head coach Emir Mutapčić, the team recorded three German championships and two German Cup victories, but particularly at the European level no significant progress could be made. As a reaction to the time without titles, the team was largely rebuilt for each new season. In 2004 and 2005, Berlin eventually was kicked out of the national playoffs semi-final series. Organizationally, the club created the new position of team manager, which was occupied by Henning Harnisch. Further, the professional section of the club was transformed into a GmbH on 1 September 2005.

In the season 2005–06, under new coach Henrik Rödl, Alba Berlin won another German Cup. As winner of the regular season, the team advanced to the finals series of the championship, in which they lost to RheinEnergie Köln. Köln was coached by Saša Obradović, who had helped Berlin win the FIBA Korać Cup in 1995. The following season, 2006–07, however, Berlin was once again winner of the regular season but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by the Artland Dragons. This event triggered the dismissal of Rödl and the signing of a new head coach Luka Pavićević, followed by another major remodeling of the team. After injury problems in the preparation and the course of the 2007–08 season, including the loss of Goran Jeretin for the entire season and Aleksandar Rašić for the play-offs, Berlin took advantage of the insolvency of the Cologne 99ers and signed their major players Immanuel McElroy and Aleksandar Nađfeji in January 2008. Led by the league MVP Julius Jenkins, the team was superior to all other competitors in the play-offs and won the championship again after a five-year hiatus.

In the 2003–04 season, Berlin achieved its last master qualification to participate in the highest European League, the EuroLeague. Between the 2004–05 and 2007–08 seasons, the team was only able to qualify for the ULEB Cup, the second-highest European league. There, the team only made it beyond the first round in the 2006–07 season, when they were eliminated in the second round.

2008–present: Current era

With the move into the new 14,500-seat O2 World Berlin, the then-reigning champion Alba Berlin opened a new chapter in the club's history. Berlin was the first team in German history to ever average more than 7,000 fans in attendance per game. Thus, Alba's manager 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. The Anschutz Group, owner of the O2 World Berlin, and Alba Berlin agreed to a 15-year contract until 2023, with an option for another ten years.

As the reigning German champion, Alba participated in the 2008–09 Euroleague. There, the team reached the Top 16, where it could not hold its ground against European elite clubs like FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Yet, Alba had Europe's highest attendance at 11,264 spectators in the O2 World Berlin. In addition, the club gathered 14,800 spectators in the main round home game against Union Olimpija, a record crowd at a European Cup game in Germany. While at the national level in the cup final, Alba defeated Baskets Bonn. Later, Alba was beaten by the same team in the play-off semi-final series in five games.

In 2009 and 2015, the manager of Alba Berlin, Marco Baldi, was honored by Euroleague Basketball Company executives with the EuroLeague Executive of the Year Award.

On 8 October 2014 Alba Berlin defeated the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, 94–93, on a buzzer beater by Jamel McLean.

Mercedes-Benz Arena before an Alba Berlin game in 2019

In the 2014–15 season, Alba returned to the EuroLeague and reached the Top 16. In the Bundesliga, the team had another disappointing season: it finished in second place, but was eliminated in the semifinals. In the 2015–16 season, Alba had one of its worst seasons in history as the team managed to finish only in 7th place in the regular season, though Alba won the German Cup. In the playoffs, the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals. In the 2016–17 season, the same thing repeated – a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Bundesliga.

The 2017–2018 season, though Alba returned to the finals, losing only to Bayern Munich. Alba also had one of the better Eurocup campaigns of the past years, being closest to the playoffs in years. Alba had brought an awarded veteran for the 2017/18: The Spaniard Aíto García Reneses, 70 years old at the time of signing up his first contract abroad. He had won nine Spanish championship titles (Spanish Basketball Liga) as well as Olympic silver as a coach (2008). With him a successful Spanish Army took over: The 2017 new coaching staff also included other Spaniards: such as co-coach Israel González who had worked with Aito in the past, individual coach Carlos Frade and athletics coach Pepe Silva Moreno. As in the previous course of his coaching work, García Reneses has increasingly brought players from the younger teams into the professional team in Berlin, like Franz Wagner and Tim Schneider [26] .

In the 2018–2019 season, Alba had some of its greatest success in more than a decade, as they not only played in the Bundesliga finals for the second year in a row, but also managed to reach the 2019 EuroCup Finals, where they ultimately lost the series 1–2 to Valencia Basket. Two of Alba's players, Rokas Giedraitis, and Luke Sikma (who was also named the league's MVP), were selected to the All-EuroCup First Team, while the team's coach, Aíto García Reneses, was named the Eurocup Coach of the Year. The club also set the season's record for highest attendance, with 12,945 spectators in a finals game against Valencia Basket, which Alba won 95–92.

Alba fans in June 2022

The 2019–20 season was altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a final tournament behind closed doors in Munich, Alba went on an undefeated 10–0 streak to win its 9th German title, its first in 12 years. In the 2021–22 season, Alba won the BBL again.

Alba Berlin is a professional basketball team based in Berlin, Germany. The team was founded in 1991 and has since become one of the most successful basketball teams in Germany. Alba Berlin competes in the German Basketball Bundesliga and the EuroLeague, which is the top-tier European basketball competition.

The team's home arena is the Mercedes-Benz Arena, which has a seating capacity of over 14,000 spectators. Alba Berlin's team colors are white and blue, and their logo features a stylized eagle with the team name written in bold letters.

Alba Berlin has won the German Basketball Bundesliga championship a record 9 times, most recently in the 2020-2021 season. The team has also won the German Cup 9 times and the EuroCup twice. Alba Berlin has a strong reputation for developing young talent, with many of their players going on to play in top European leagues and the NBA.

The team is known for its fast-paced, high-scoring style of play, with an emphasis on three-point shooting and aggressive defense. Alba Berlin has a passionate fan base and is widely regarded as one of the top basketball teams in Europe.