ALBA Berlin has failed to make the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs since returning to the competition in the 2019-20 season, but it will hope to upset the odds in the coming campaign. The 2024 EuroLeague Final Four will take place at ALBA's home, Mercedes-Benz Arena, so there should be added motivation for Israel Gonzalez's side to do the unthinkable and secure a spot in May's Final Four.
Surprising changes to the roster
After a couple of years of sticking with more or less the same group of players, this summer saw plenty of changes at ALBA. Guards Maodo Lo, Jaleen Smith and Tamir Blatt have all moved on, as have forwards Luke Sikma and Yovel Zoosman. In short, we will see some different stars on the court for ALBA in the coming season.
The new recruits include Italian prodigy Matteo Spagnolo, who arrives at ALBA one year after his compatriot, Gabriele Procida, joined the club. Sterling Brown adds high-level talent after coming from the NBA, while Matt Thomas offers scoring and Ziga Samar will be keen to show what he can do after returning from a loan spell with Veolia Towers Hamburg.
Justin Bean has also signed for ALBA, with the hope being that he can emerge as a replacement for Sikma. Some good news for ALBA fans is that small forward Louis Olinde has stayed with the team after getting some interest from NBA teams.
A world champion remains on the books
While Lo departed ALBA for EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, one of his World Cup-winning teammates from the Germany squad has opted to stay in Berlin: Johannes Thiemann. Following a summer in which Thiemann played a crucial role in Germany making it to the World Cup final and then beating Serbia, he enters the 2023-24 EuroLeague season as ALBA's new team captain.
ALBA finished 16th last season with a record of 11-23, so Thiemann will hope to use his winning experience from the World Cup with Germany to guide his club side to an unlikely playoff appearance. From there, the dream of playing the Final Four on its home court can start to appear in the players' minds, but there's a long way to go before that.