By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
ALBA Berlin decided to move on from Israel Gonzalez and name former assistant Pedro Calles as the new head coach.
The decisions were announced on Wednesday.
“I am very grateful for the great years I was able to spend in Berlin and ALBA. I love this club, the fans, the people at the club, the team, and the staff, with whom I spent a great deal of time,” the 50-year-old Spaniard closed the chapter with the team based in the capital of Germany, “Unfortunately, the season hasn’t gone as planned.”
Gonzalez joined ALBA in 2017 as an assistant coach to Aito Garcia Reneses and took over as head coach in 2021. He was crowned easyCredit BBL champion at the end of the 2021-22 edition of Germany’s top-flight division.
An assistant coach under Gonzalez since January, Calles already guided the Albatrosse through practice on Wednesday, preparing for Round 29 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season and a matchup with Baskonia in Berlin’s Uber Arena on Thursday.
“ALBA Berlin is a big club with a great tradition. Leading this club in the EuroLeague and the BBL as head coach is a new challenge that I am very much looking forward to,” the 41-year-old Spanish tactician described his new assignment, “We now have to improve quickly as a team, gain confidence and stability, play more successful basketball, and win as many games as possible.”
At 4-24, ALBA ranks last in the EuroLeague. With six games left in the Regular Season, the team is already out of contention for a spot in the 2025 Playoffs.
Focusing on the domestic campaign, a 10-11 W-L tally in the BBL shapes a battle for a playoff berth down the stretch of the Regular Season.