Maodo Lo: Embracing bigger role in ALBA and ambitions with German NT in EuroBasket / News - Basketnews.com

As more than half of the EuroLeague season is behind, ALBA Berlin are nowhere nearthe Euroleague playoffs. Currently, they are on a five-game losing streak in all competitions.

Free throws this season

79%11,5Points made:11,5Accuracy:79,1%Place in standings:14Record max:19Record min:3Most made FTs:Maodo LoTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

It is not a great surprise because of their developmental approach instead of chasing success at all costs.

Yes, they don't have a huge budget but instead a young core that plays fiercely with a noticeable playing style that prioritizes a fast-paced, attractive brand of basketball. They are in the Top 5 when it comes to tempo.

Because of that, there are still a thousand things to like about ALBA Berlin.

They have Luke Sikma, the proud representative of the "point forward/center" franchise that became our guest earlier, and Markus Eriksson, the three-point guru.

And surely, there is also: Maodo Lo. Their indispensable team leader.

Lo is having his best year of pro-career individually, as the stats indicate: Aside from 13.2 points and 3.5 assists per game, he runs almost 45% of all the pick and rolls in his team, which is a great extent of his ball-heavy playmaking responsibilities.

But also, we should not forget that he had a great foundation of his basketball and educational skills back in the NCAA, where he was a student-athlete of the prestigious Columbia University in Sociology Major in the Ivy League.

So where does 'The Chairman' nickname come from?

"To be honest? I don't really know.You know, the student section back then in college. I guess they just came up with the name and gave me the name.

I assume it has something to do with Mao, one of the Chinese political figures, and because my name is Mado, and I mean he used to enforce the law in China. Columbia's is a very good academic school, and I guess the student section wanted to make some sort of association," Lo explained.

Maodo Lo

MIN:23.61PTS:13.24 (56.69%)REB:2As:3.43ST:0.95BL:0.05TO:2.14GM:21ProfileEuroLeague2021/2022

Maodo Lo has come a long way through the years. All these productive days with ALBA would have been something that belongs to the past because he was out of contract last summer.

The club's front office had difficulty keeping their backbone intact players as the likes of Jayson Granger, Peyton Siva, Simone Fontecchio, Landry Nnoko chose to continue their careers in other places Himar Ojeda mentioned to Basketnews earlier.

But Maodo Lo remained and extended his contract for two more years. Why so?

"I wanted to make sure to give myself the chance to keep on improving within the system and to build continuity with the rest of my teammates.

Yes, like you just mentioned, many guys left, but many of them also stayed as well. This gave me a chance to keep on improving with my team, take steps forward, and improve my game individually.

I wanted to remain with a club with such great culture, with such a great atmosphere with such a young core, and the ambition to take steps to be better than the previous seasons in the EuroLeague as well. I think that was a really good environment for me.

Those were big factors. I had conversations with the management and the coach, and we were on the same page," Lo gave a detailed answer.

However, Lo also faced some horrible experience, losing his brother in an unfortunate accident. As Lo said himself, it definitely influenced his decision to stay with ALBA.

"Of course, it did," he said. "But I will not reduce the reason only to this. It definitely had a contributing factor, but like the main things I just mentioned."

"Also, I am from Berlin. I was born in Berlin. I grew up in Berlin. I have my family in Berlin, it was a big-time factor for me as well. I had certain personal reasons family-wise, which also were extremely important to me.

For all these reasons, I decided to stay, and I'm happy. I really enjoyed the first year with ALBA, and I had the feeling that I can still improve and continue growing with the team and individually," Lo explained.

Maodo Lo has always been deemed a player who can create his shot since his college days, but they also had many different roles throughout the years in EuroLeague.

While playing in Bamberg, he was mostly used in defensive roles, locking down key opponents. During the Bayern days, he focused more on the offense and brought his skills on the surface as a shooting threat from outside.

But this season, he became absolutely lethal beyond the 3-point line. Currently, he is hitting with 41% from deep with his highest shooting volume of 4.4 per game. Sending 6 threes out of 7 against CSKA epitomized this trend.

What is behind this step-up movement of Lo? Is there someone who guided him to do so?

"My ambition is always an improvement," he said. "That's always a big-time goal of mine, from the beginning of my career, Euroleague up to now. And not only to improve what's on the stats sheet but to improve different parts of my game with strengths and to work on my weaknesses."

"There's always one thing that I try to add to my game, and it goes like that every season beginning from Bamberg until now. And I think this year, with more responsibilities and with the young team that I'm playing, now I'm in the position of being one of the older players alongside Luke Sikma and Marcus Ericsson to take on more responsibility.

I guess it's the reason for playing better statistically or having more points, in the sense that you just mentioned. I think that responsibility is probably one of the bigger reasons for that.

I always have been a shooter, and it was always strength in my game. In college, I was considered a 3-point shooter who can create his own shot and to make those 3-pointer shots on a pretty consistent basis. I believe I have the record in threes at Columbia.

Beginning in Bamberg, my role was small, and I think that the 3-point shot was always something I could rely on. It was also a weapon of mine that I could sell. Even coming into Bamberg into a yearly team with such amazing players and especially amazing guards in my position. I'm just playing comfortably and trying to use the strengths that I have to help my team," Lo gave a detailed answer.

Lo also revealed that many coaches contributed to the strengths he has today, but he gave special mention to at least a few specialists.

"It's my sixth year as a professional, and I've had several coaches by now, and every coach is unique and special.

To be very honest, for my development, a coach that was really influential for my career was Chris Fleming, who is a coach now in the NBA. He was Germany's national team coach in 2015. He had a lot of trust in me, and I'm really thankful for the trust that he gave me.

When I was a young player, my first year in Bamberg, coach Andrea Trinchieri was very influential. He was strict and demanding and really taught me a lot about basketball in a detailed way. That helped me to improve my game a lot," said the guard.

"Of course, Aito and coach Gonzalez have a different philosophy that gives a lot of freedom to the player. That is very interesting and refreshing and definitely benefits my game as well," Lo added.

Last season, we started to observe Maodo Lo's clutch skills more extensively, which was crucial for ALBA in victory over Bayern Munich in the final series of the German League.

This season, the extent of the clutch shots is still improving as Lo became the number 1 choice, especially when Marcus Eriksson is absent. In one of them, he made the game-winning shot against Lüdwigsburg, and in another, his turnover against Heidelberg cost ALBA the game.

"Usually, it depends. I would say that I'm more comfortable in those situations, especially if teammates trust me to make a play in the decisive moments or if the coach decides to play me in crunch time. I think that gives me a lot of trust in many good feelings. That definitely helps the player.

Also, last season I would say there were certain situations and games when the team trusted me to play well in the end and to make certain plays, and you know, that trust is definitely helping to have the confidence to make the play.

Even if it doesn't work out, you know that your teammates have your back just as much as if the play works," says Lo.

Maodo Lo's recent adventures went beyond his club career. Last summer, he had a very memorable Olympics campaign with Germany where they rather surprisingly managed to advance out of the group stage and lost to Slovenia in the quarter-final stage.

But Lo's first steps into the national team setup was flourished by an unforgettable experience by the presence of Dirk Nowitzki aside during the EuroBasket in 2015.

"When I met Dirk for the first time, we were at a training camp in Spain, Mallorca. I heard the word that he was going to join us there, and we were having our breakfast at the time.

Then he joined the team there. I just remember I was being extremely nervous at that time. I did not play professional basketball yet, and I was still a junior in college.

Yet, I couldn't even believe I was about to be on the same team as Dirk Nowitzki! I also knew Dennis Schroder at that time as well, but especially with Nowitzki, I was nervous. I didn't know how to act. I didn't know what to say.

The funny thing is that he's very humble. He's so down to earth. He's such a funny guy that he immediately made the whole situation comfortable, you know, like he's the superhead.

He said, 'Hey, what's up?' He had a smile on his face, and all my anxiety and nervousness disappeared. No, he had a really calm and cool type of vibe. He just deleted all of the nervousness. He's a really, really humble guy," Lo shared his fond experience.

Lo's memories are nice, but actually, it was not a good EuroBasket campaign for Germany. Despite playing at home, Nowitzki-led Germany was bowed out of the competition after the group stage.

Yet, a new EuroBasket campaign is coming up next summer, where Germany will be one of the hosts again with one of the strongest rosters they have had in recent years.

What does Maodo Lo think about the possible chances of a title?

"There's a lot of talent," Lo noted. "I mean, look at Wagner brothers, Dennis Schroder. Daniel Theis, Maxi Kleber, Isaac Bonga alongside all the EuroLeague players like Johannes Thiemann, Johannes Voigtmann, Danilo Barthel. It's a big pool of talent there."

"If the chemistry is right, if we will have a good preparation with a coach Gordon Herbert, then we don't have to be scared or hide from anyone in Europe.

For my side, there's definitely contact and communication. I'm close to Dennis because we know each other from youth basketball. We played against each other, and he's a really great guy. Even though he's a year younger than me, he gives me a lot of advice and always supports me.

Also, I played together with Theis and have a good connection with Moritz Wagner from last summer," Lo concluded.

Lo is no longer a EuroLeague rookie by any means but still has a lot to prove. Gradually becoming one of the most cultured guards in the competition, he excelled his leadership skills in ALBA and has a realistic chance to leave a signature in the upcoming EuroBasket with the German national team.

Conversation with Maodo Lo

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