Giffey talks about key questions to himself, post-Aito era in ALBA, and Doncic joke / News - Basketnews.com

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With seven years of experience in ALBA as a junior and pro, Niels Giffey reached that point, where he felt he had achieved most of his goals in Berlin. A 30-year-old German asked himself: "Should I try something new? What are the options? What makes sense? What interests me?" That was a good time for raising such questions.

Niels Giffey

Team:Zalgiris KaunasPosition:SFAge:30Height:201 cmWeight:93 kgBirth place:Berlin, GermanyProfileNewsStatistics

Giffey won the second straight German championship, and the idea of changing things was already brewing in his head. At the same time, Zalgiris Kaunas coach Martin Schiller approached Niels by offering him to try something different in Lithuania.

"We talked about it, and I started thinking, ok, this would be interesting. That it would be a great opportunity to try something new and take on a new challenge," Giffey told BasketNews. "I already had an idea in the back of my mind that yes, if something comes, maybe I should try something new. And then something concrete came. The coach called me."

Coach Schiller didn't need to introduce himself. They have already worked together in the German National Team since 2015, where Schiller served as an assistant coach. And Giffey enjoyed that experience.

"We already had a relationship that was based on trust and good work before. He told me, hey, if you want a change, this would be an interesting situation. This is a good team, good culture. The situation where you can come and help the team, but also improve," Giffey told. "He certainly shows that he is unique in the sense that he can do multiple styles. He succeeded in the US, which is clearly a different type of basketball. We saw successful coaches coming from the US and struggling to adjust. As far as last year, Schiller did a really good job putting this team together and putting the identity to this team.

I think in that way, he has a very straightforward way of dealing with things. This is the thing I really enjoy. When you're on the court, you have clear tasks. He's very organized."

Post-Aito era hopes

Last four years, Giffey played for the legendary coach Aito Garcia Reneses. Symbolically, both the captain of ALBA and the head coach who set the tone for the whole organization left Berlin this summer.

Aito's successor Israel Gonzalez is set to take the helm of ALBA with a new roster and new leadership in the locker room.

"I think he's definitely ready," Giffey spoke of Gonzalez. "It's hard to step into that legacy, but he's ready to keep on going the same way. You don't know how long it's going to take to step into Aito's shoes. Because Aito has so much experience and knowledge. He's been longer in basketball than most of the players today in this world... So he has this enormous amount of knowledge, and you can't copy that.

Israel is a great guy. He connects well with the players. He has the same mentality and the same style of coaching and treating people or players. And he wants to improve players. I think the line will be the same. But yes, Aito was important in breaking some stereotypes we might have had and German basketball."

"We didn't do a bad job on Luka"

That wasn't the last coaching change he'll have. A few days ago, German NT parted ways with the head coach Henrik Rod, who took over the position from Chris Fleming in 2017.

This summer, Germany qualified for the Olympic Games for the first time in 13 years, but Luka Doncic and Slovenia eliminated them in the quarterfinals.

"I've got a great relationship with coach Rodl. I really enjoyed my time with him. I think he had a very successful time with German basketball. I think we took the next step with our generation. It's going to be interesting to see who's going to fill up the position," Giffey said.

The last official game Giffey played was against Slovenia in Tokyo. He was one of those brave men who tried to stop Luka Doncic. Doncic finished with 20 points (8/18 FGs), 8 rebounds, 11 assists, and 5 turnovers, leading Slovenia to a victory 94-70.

"We didn't do a bad job on him, I would say. It's funny that someone ended up texting me saying, hey, you guys did a good job, he only got 20," Giffey smiles. "That says something about him.

He does such multi damage that you got to try and take away 2-3-4 things at the time, and it's a pretty hard thing to do throughout the whole game. He was so poised, and he was so in his own rhythm... There's something good to take away from these match-ups. It's hard to take away that stepback, the strength of him. Also, the post-up, the crossover... You really have to prepare for him."

Different than being the home guy

Now Niels Giffey is preparing for his first pro experience abroad. This summer, he signed with Zalgiris Kaunas for one season, with an option for another.

The first thing his ex-ALBA teammates Marius Grigonis and Rokas Giedraitis told regarding his upcoming new experience, was the fans.

"A lot of was about the fans. A lot was about the culture of the team. Organization and how professionally run it is. It's a good place to be, to improve, to play in a team that's truly a team," Giffey told.

When the first news about Zalgiris signing Giffey broke up, many ALBA fans were left heartbroken. They were in love with a long-time ALBA captain, who cemented that great chemistry of ALBA Berlin both on and off the court.

Now he finds Zalgiris veterans Paulius Jankunas, Arturas Milaknis, or Mantas Kalnietis, who wear green-and-white longer than Niels plays professional basketball. These guys build a unique locker room culture, which boosts the team to the playoff race against all odds.

He loved what he saw on the basketball island of Kaunas, and he can't wait for what this first foreign experience will bring.

"I'm definitely excited to have fans back here. Not having fans... For how long? 1.5 years? That's one thing I'm really excited about," Giffey told BasketNews. "This arena is one of the greatest in Europe to play in. That's one thing that I will definitely enjoy.

And also putting myself in a different position, stepping out of a comfort zone at home, challenging myself as a foreigner, and being a person brought in to help the team. It's a little different than being the home guy sometimes. But I'm really excited to get's started for sure."

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