If you were to have entered the cook county jail in Chicago in the 70s and told a prisoner(Chicago Cubs fan) who was about to be set free and had been totally shielded from society for the last 30 years that the Chicago Cubs had recently won 4 World Series in a row after not having sipped the champagne since 1908, would have been as cruel as banning sunglasses from society girl Paris Hilton forever, the Boston Celtic organization putting a clause in the contract of Rajon Rondo not allowing him to follow his passion of roller skating, because of the fear of possible injury or Charlie Sheen not coming to the rescue of former Met star Lenny Dykstra´s 22,000$ debt after the former baseball player had tried to get a star lawyer to help negotiate the return of the actor back to Two and a half men, but for faithful Alba Berlin basketball fans the waiting of experiencing titles has not been as cruel in Chicago, but in Berlin winning was a tradition from 1997-2003, but since then the team has only won one league title in 2008 and two cups in 2006 and 2009. After their undesirable and somewhat unexpected and embarrassing departure last season in the quarterfinals against The Deutsche Bank Skyliners, the expectations to win grows as much as the anticipation of the Royal wedding between William and Kate, if Charlie Sheen will make it a habit to lock lips with elderly women at his show and how long the new found love between teen stars Justin Bieber and Selina Gomez. For the EWE Baskets Oldenburg, they are a novice compared to 8 time beko BBL champion Alba Berlin when it comes to kissing hardware and making additional trophy cases for their titles. The Oldenburg club led by coach Predrag Krunic won their first and only title in 2009 beating The Telekom Baskets in game 5 in the last seconds and since then have been unable to recapture the success of the fabulous 2008-2009 season. Both teams have something to prove to their fans and themselves and will be as motivated as German basket ball star Dirk Nowitzki to reach the next round and despite start problems against the Portland Trailblazers, Kevin Love not taking off the summer and continuing to work hard in the gym and on the court to return next season even better than he is now or The Boston Red Sox trying to rebound from their sickening 11-12 start and attempt to continue to give The New York Yankees competition in the dog days of summer.

Alba Berlin did a house cleaning last summer keeping only BEKO BBL stars Julius Jenkins and Immanuel Mcelroy and future star in the making Luka Staiger. The team has got very strong replacements at every position and could form a more than potent second starting five coming from the bench. Which BEKO BBL team wouldn´t like to start a Heiko Schaffarzik, Bryce Taylor, Patrick Femmerling, Yassin Idbhi, or a Sven Schultze? Alba Berlin is one of the strongest teams in the BEKO BBL now despite going through some changes this season. The team started the season well going 8-1 in the first months losing only on the road to Ratiopharm Ulm. However towards the end of 2010, Alba Berlin went through a small drought period losing three games in a row including a 103-52 trouncing in Bamberg, in which the bus ride home might have felt like an eternity for the team. The air seemed thin along the Spree in Alba world as the team failed to reach the Eurocup final 16 and first got rid of point guard Hollis Price who unfairly was made an escape goat. The club that said farewell to Luka Pavicevic who had been at the helm since 2007 winning two titles with Alba Berlin. The team brought in Muli Katzurin from Israel who had won the Czech league titles and cups from 2007-2010.  Since the arrival of Katzurin the team is 9-4 and have won four of their last five games. The team also have brought in guards Heiko Schaffartzik who still hasn´t found his rhythm, 2010 Eurochallenge winner Taylor Rochestie with BG Goettingen and 23 year old 213 cm Serb talent Miroslav Raduljica to help under the hoop. The team recently also released guard Marko Marnovic as well. Despite the many changes and whirlwind happenings, the team should be playing for the title. “Alba is a solid team and have had ups and downs this season but they are still a team that will be around at the end of the season in my opinion. They have had to go through a coaching change but they have the talent to beat any of the top teams. I think that they have the talent and the players for sure to win the title”, warned John Bynum. With the coaching change, how much has the style changed from Pavicevic to Katzurin? “I think they are more up tempo and not as predictable as they once were. They were running a lot more sets with the old coach but now I think they have more freedom and they have players that can excel more in that style of play”, stressed John Bynum. “Alba Berlin has a different kind of rotation now. The biggest quality is that they are a lot more unpredictable than under Luka Pavicevic. They mix it up on defense as teams never really know what will be thrown at them next.
Sometimes when a strong team like Alba Berlin has so much strength in their game, opponents might not right away be aware that their could be some weakness, but no matter who the team is there is always some achilles heel in a team and if not that then there are always the chance of injuries occurring.  If Alba Berlin has a weak spot then under the hoop on defense. Good BEKO BBL centers have to take their opportunity and try to do as much damage inside as possible. Allen has never been known as being the best defender inside and Femerling lacks physical toughness and Idbhi the necessary quickness. “I dont really see any weakness besides a shot blocker down low”, said Quentin Pryor. However one should not forget that the team added Miroslav Raduljica who has strong fundamentals on both ends of the court and has that winning mentality and is flourishing under coach Katzurin as is German Yasin Idbihi who has been the big winner since the departure of Pavicevic. “Jenkins, Allen the defense of Mcelroy is the strength of the team. They are a deep team and can score rebound and play with anyone in the league. They defend very well and will be in most games. On offense, they have so many guys that can put the ball in the basket. You can´t focus on stopping only one guy”, I am not to sure about there weaknesses but I would try to attack them inside some kind of way”, warned TBB Trier guard John Bynum. “Berlin has a very balanced team. they have shooters and penetrators to go along with solid low post players”, warned Quentin Pryor.
The EWE Baskets finished the season solid in 6th place with a record of 20-14. The club started the season on fire with a 4 game winning streak beating Frankfurt, Braunschweig and the Artland Dragons and some fans might have had their first little dreams of a 2008-2009 season coming back, but the club then went on a drought going 2-6 as they lost games to Tuebingen, Phoenix Hagen and Bonn, games they usually should of won. Management noticed that something wasn´t totally right with the roster releasing ex NBA player Steven Smith and Serb point guard Nemanja Protic and bringing in ex NBA guard Eddie Gill and Luka Bogdanovic. Since their arrival in mid December, Oldenburg has finished the season with a 14-8 record. In this time, Oldenburg registered to three game winning streaks and never lost more than two games in a row. They had huge wins against The Artland Dragons and BG Goettingen, but remained winless in the season series against Alba Berlin and Bamberg. Despite this record, fans should be pretty pleased with the season so far, becuase the team is pretty new as they did a extensive house cleaning losing Americans Jason Gardner, Je Kel Foster and BEKO BBL rookie Josh Carter. The club also said farewell to the eastern block fraction with players Jasmin Perkovic, Milan Majstorovic and Marko Scekic. Ruben Boumtje Boumtje also departed even if it isn´t so far away to the Artland Dragons. Eddie Gill is a 32 year old 183cm guard who is named the thrill. He has had a solid NBA career having played 200 NBA games for teams like the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies and Seattle Supersonics, but also played two full seasons for the Indiana Pacers from 2004-2006. He also has had European experience having played in Greece and Italy and last season in Belgium for Base Oostende (Belgium-D1, starting five): 26 games: 7.0ppg, 3.8rpg, Assists-2(4.3apg), Steals-2(2.2spg), FGP: 28.0%, 3PT: 27.8%, FT: 78.0%. So far this season for Oldenburg, he has played five BEKO BBL games averaging 6,2ppg, 2,0rpg and 3,6apg in 18 minutes per game. Luka Bogdanovic is a 25 year old 210cm forward from Serbia.  He has a great shooting touch and can hit the three pointer and mid range jumper and is effective on the defensive glass. However he has mediocre athletic ability, but has played very solid wherever he has played. He started his career at Crvena Zvezda Beograd and in the last years has played for Partizan Belgrad, Le Mans, and DKV Joventut Badalona . In his career, he has played 92 games in team international play including 51 Euroleague games. From 2007-2010, he was able to score in double figures each season twice in Euroleague play and once in Eurocup play. The experience that the only 25 year old has is unmatched on the Oldenburg roster. Last season, he played for  DKV Joventut Badalona (Spain-ACB): EuroCup: 12 games: 10.3ppg, 4.3rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 47.1%, 3PT: 40.3%, FT: 80.0%; Spanish League: 34 games: 9.3ppg, 3.3rpg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 40.3%, FT: 80.0%. This season, Bogdanovic is averaging 10,0ppg and 3,0rpg in 19 minutes per game.“Gill gives them flexibility at the guard position and Bogdanovic gives them size and depth under the basket”, said John Bynum. “Gill and Bogdanovic make Oldenburg stronger especially with the Serb under the basket”, added Walter Tiger Tuebingen forward Ruben Spoden. A surprising disappointment has been Lou Campbell that was one of the reasons that The Eisaberen Bremerhaven almost reached the beko BBL final in 2010. However, with Oldenburg, he has not found that seemingly consistent unstoppable form that he had last season 70 kilometers north in Bremerhaven. He is averaging only 10,3ppg, 3,7apg and 2,6rpg. A positive thing is that Campbell can break out at anytime and Oldenburg will need the friendly American to show strong games against Alba Berlin in order for the team to have a chance.
Alba Berlin have the edge over Oldenburg with the guard play. Alba Berlin has the deepest guard personal in the beko BBL. After having start problems at the point, the club released veteran Hollis Price and Serb Marko Marinovic. The club brought in Heiko Schaffartzik(2,3ppg, 1,2apg in 9,58 min per game) who has had problems finding his rhythm, but has averaged 19 minutes in the last four games and contributed 8 points in three games in a row. What the German can do on offense is unlimited as he shoots first and penetrates second. He is a great one on one player. His biggest weapon is his shooting as he loves the catch and pop and off the dribble shooting. The team also has solved their starting point guard problem bringing in Taylor Rochestie(10,2ppg, 4,7apg, 2,5rpg) from Turkey. Ever since Rochestie dropped 26 points for BG Goettingen last season in a road win against Alba Berlin, the club seemed fascinated by his killer instinct in stress situations. Since his arrival, he has shined with his scoring and playmaking scoring in double figures in 8 of his 12 games with Alba Berlin. At the shooting guard position, the team has unending talent with Julius Jenkins(14,0ppg, 2,9apg, 2,0rpg, Immanuel Mcelroy(10,7ppg, 3,7apg and 4,1rpg), Bryce Taylor(7,2ppg, 3,0rpg, 2,1apg and Luka Staiger(4,0ppg, 1,2rpg, 1,0apg). Both Jenkins and Mcelroy can help out at the point as well. Jenkins is one of the deadliest shooters in the league and even though it seems like he is having an average season due to the deep team, he is right at the top in stats and can still decide a game in crunch time. Mcelroy won his 5th best defender of the year award and his overall quickness, combined with his mental toughness, makes him well-suited as a defender in the attacking defense under Katzurin. He is very athletic, a 40-inch vertical jump and a bench press approaching 300 pounds, ability to break defenders down with his dribble and his explosiveness to the basket makes him an effective scorer. On offense, he always has the ability to get triple doubles. Taylor is the big winner of the season. He came to Alba Berlin on a short term contract and probably never expected to still be with the team, but is development continued to soar and under new coach Katzurin has really flourished not only with his scoring, hustle and energy on defense, but also helping under the boards where he got two double doubles this season. With Staiger, the club has a young German who is known as a prolific scorer and has done a fine job coming from the bench and doing his job. Oldenburg has a guard rotation of Lou Campbell, Eddie Gill(6,1ppg, 3,3apg, 2,0rpg) and Daniel Hain(1,2ppg, 1,0rpg). Campbell can guide an offense, but also score when needed especially in crunch time and has the experience to help take Oldenburg over the top. He has been inconsistent this season and if Alba Berlin can control him, it could be a very short series. If anyone actually dreamed that ex NBA player Gill would be sort of a player that would be a second Campbell was mistaking. It is never easy coming in the middle of the season and getting adjusted to a new league and style. Gill has averaged 22 minutes and has shown flashes of hís playmaking and scoring, but he is also a player than can still pick up his game and will need to for Oldenburg to have any chance. Hain is a solid guard that comes from the bench and will bring energy on defense as he did years back against Pascal Roller.
Despite Alba Berlin having Mr ballerina Derrick Allen(14,9ppg, 4,4rpg, 1,2apg) and Tadija Dragcevic(8,4ppg, 4,1rpg, 2,2apg) at the forward position and a very experienced Sven Schultze(3,8ppg, 1,6rpg), the very slight edge goes to EWE Baskets who are deeper, more balanced and more versatile with players like Rickey Paulding(12,6ppg, 4,1rpg, 2,3apg, Minduagas Lukauskis(12,3ppg, 3,7rpg, 3,2apg, Oliver Stevic(11,4ppg, 6,9rpg, 1,2apg) and Luka Bogdanovic(12,4ppg, 4,0rpg). Paulding also can help out at the shooting guard position and is playing his fourth season in Oldenburg. Paulding is the leader of the team who excels on the fast break and his off balance mid distance shot and after a up and down first half picked up his game in the second half scoring in double figurers in 13 of the last 15 games. Lukauskis has had a superb season and been one of the most consistent players having scored in double figurers in 25 games. He can hurt you with his shot, has an explosive first step from the wing and will bang and dish out assists. He is simply a player any team would love to have. Stevic has been the banger and heart and soul under the boards this season. he had big games against Artland, Bremerhaven and Bamberg where he was a force under the hoop. Bogdanovic came in the middle of the season and had little problems getting used to the beko BBL. His court vision, shooting and rebounding are outstanding, but he is very slow and should never be matched up against Derrick Allen. Derrick Allen belongs to the top forwards in the beko BBL and he withstood all odds with possibly not getting as much playing time in Berlin as he did in Frankfurt, by working hard in practice and becoming one of their most consistent scorers this season. He scored in double figurers in 26 of the first 30 games including explosions of 37 points against Phoenix Hagen and 28 points against Oldenburg and MBC. His playing time was reduced a bit in the last 4 games playing only 63 minutes and producing 27 points in the last 4 games, but he should be an important factor in this series. Oldenburg can only hope that Allen won´t be dancing around them on a constant rate. Tadija Dragicevic who comes from Serbia is a power forward with great talent, who can score, pass and rebound. Some say he is undersized for the four position, and that he will make a successful transition to the three position, thanks to his great court vision and athletic skills. He started the season well scoring in double figurers in 11 of 16 games, but since Katzurin came on board has gotten less playing time and scored only in double figurers in 3 of 14 games. Schultze might be 32, but he is still a very strong player with a deadly shot. With his size, he will post up the opponents small forwards and outrun the opponents power forwards. He is able to defend bigger players, but also agile enough to defend smaller ones. He can drop the three pointer in a variety of ways which gave Luka Pavicevic so many more ways of using him. He also is very dangerous on the fast break as he can with the speed of a point guard and then dunk. He also adds a lot of experience to the team with his international games with Germany.
The center position clearly goes to Alba Berlin. With Miroslav Raduljica(11,4ppg, 3,3rpg), Yassin Idbihi(6,3ppg, 3,1rpg) and Patrick Femmerling(4,8ppg, 2,7rpg), they have a very solid rotation. Oldenburg counters with Australian Aron Baynes(6,5ppg, 3,7rpg), Chris Mcnaughton(5,2ppg, 2,0rpg) and Dutch man Robin Schmeulders(2,5ppg, 1,5rpg). Oliver Stevic also can help out at center which they will need at times. Serb Raduljica has been up and down in his first 10 games, but he is only 23 years old and still getting used to the beko BBL. He had big games against Artland which have good big man play. He is developing well and will be a factor down low. Idbihi is the big winner under new coach Katzurin. In his first 18 games, he scored only three times in double figurers, but since the new coach is on board, he started getting more minutes and scored in double figurers in five of the last seven games which has helped his self confidence. Katzurin has solved the center problem in Berlin as the duo of Raduljica/Idbihi are more than solid. Femmerling is the most experienced player on the roster having won everything there is to win except the NBA title and the NCAA title, but winning 13 titles in his basketball career including  the Euroleague in 2003 with FC Barcelona and winning a Bronze at the World Championships in 2002 and a Silver at the 2005 European championships. He has won 3 BEKO BBL titles and two cups. Oldenburg has had a center problem all season long and that is why the team has been led and carried by the forwards this season. The team never really established a real number one as Krunic let Baynes and Mcnaughton split the duties at center. They brought in Aron Baynes who played at the 2010 European championships in Turkey and it seemed like a lot was expected of him, but he was very inconsistent scoring in double figurers in only 8 games. After reaching the roster of the German national team and having a solid season with BG Goettingen last season where he had some strong games in the Eurochallenge, it seemed like the 28 year old German might make his full break through with Oldenburg, but that wasn´t the case. Mcnaughton(10 min) and Baynes(15 min) might not be a factor in the series so any added contribution by the big men will be more than appreciated. Schmeulders is a long center that most likely will see very little time.
Alba Berlin won the season series against the EWE Baskets Oldenburg winning a 77-75 nail bitter at home and winning on the road 93-81. Alba Berlin isn´t as predictable anymore with the usual boring set play offense that was run under ex coach Luka Pavicevic as they mix it up on offense and defense and like to play transition basketball. Oldenburg will need a complete effort on defense controlling their still present pick and roll, transition game and dangerous outside shooting from guys like Jenkins, Rochestie, Dragcevic and Staiger. Alba Berlin isn´t the best rebounding team and Oldenburg has to take advantage of this. Worries arise in that Oldenburg controlled the boards in the first game hauling down 14 offensive rebounds, but in the second meeting where Alba Berlin was still without a Raduljica, Alba Berlin controlled the boards 40-32 getting 14 offensive rebounds. Alba Berlin needs to control the tempo and play an increased amount of transition as Oldenburg is a team you can catch napping. If Alba Berlin can control Campbell(7tos in second meeting) is what you would of suspected as their big concern, but ex NBA player Eddie Gill(187 NBA games) has started the last four games for Campbell and seems like ít will continue in the playoffs against the quick Taylor Rochestie and attack as much as possible and play their new aggressive defense mixing styles up, then they should be able to get through this series unscathed.