93-76 Bayern entertains and wins big

After the Quarterfinal Game 2 against the Niners of Chemnitz, the Bayern basketball team leads 2:0, as hoped for. Andrea Trinchieri's team won the second home game in front of a good 3,300 spectators in the Audi Dome, who were in the a great mood after such a victory, 93-76. Thomas (22), Lucic (17) and Weiler-Babb (13) scored in double figures.

The Bavarians have the opportunity to end the best-of-five series next Friday (20:30, MagentaSport) at Chemnitz, which is very strong at home. A fourth game would also take place at the Niners.

The start for the FCBB was promising (27-13/10th), the defense stood strong - and after 12 minutes the score was 37-17. Weiler-Babb's great energy in diving for the ball showed that Bayern wanted to win (46-26/20th). The second half also offered entertainment, especially since the guest fought hard (74-63/33rd) and there was still some tension. But the FCBB pulled it off at home. 

Points per quarter Bayern - Chemnitz: 27-13, 23-13, 23-25, 21-25

Stats: Two-point shooting: 64% (FCBB) // 67% (Chemnitz); Three-point shooting: 35% // 24%; Free-throw shooting: 91% // 70%; Rebounds: 33//30; Assists: 22//15; Turnovers: 10//17

Quotes:

FCBB head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "It's not just about criticizing; this is one of my jobs, to make things better. But the game showed us one thing: When we are focused offensively and defensively, we have a good team that plays together. If we're not mentally present, we have a team that concedes an 11-0 run with stupid turnovers. Then we have a team without enough effort to control the game. We were good today. But I know that's not going to be enough Friday. We have to raise the level. Because we are still making some small mistakes, although less. (...) In the second half we were not committed enough, we conceded 50 points, five-worthless points. If we play like that on Friday, we will have a lot of problems. We did a good job on our defense to go up 2-0. But the third quarter today was bad, offensively and defensively. If we want to win in Chemnitz, we have to do better. (...) The game on Friday will be very, very difficult. Chemnitz will play aggressively. Because they have a good team with good players and a great coach who play good basketball. (...) Hunter we could have again. He suffered muscular problems in the last game in Barcelona, and since then he has been recovering and receiving therapy. He hasn't practiced yet, but it's getting better and hopefully we'll have a chance to have him in the squad on Friday."  

Rodrigo Pastore, Coach Chemnitz: "Bayern is a good team. We tried everything in our playbook. We were aggressive, we switched and tried zone defense. But they just play very well and we didn't play at the level to counter that. But we will keep fighting. The first sign of life came in the second half. There we gave everything we had. I hope that with our fans behind us we can deliver a real contest on Friday, so far that hasn't been the case in this series. We will keep trying. We can't wait for them to stop hitting their spots. They won't. They keep getting to the free throw line. So we have to find a way to put pressure ourselves. I understand that for a lot of people it's their first time in the playoffs. But that's where we have to go through. "

Deshaun Thomas: "I am happy with my performance and that of my team. We fought hard today and played good defense. We grabbed rebounds when we needed them. We also had a lot of people making good decisions and taking good shots. But it's still a series. We can't be too happy. In the playoffs, it's about learning from the mistakes, not getting carried away and being ready for the third game now. The 50-50 balls will be crucial against a team like Chemnitz. I'm sure they'll try to take the things they did when they had their run. We have to be ready for that."

Game recap:

Head coach Trinchieri probably thought "Never change a running system" and put Nick Weiler-Babb, Andreas Obst, Nihad Djedovic, Deshaun Thomas and Leon Radosevic in the startig five, as he had done in the first game of the series. They paid back the confidence directly and opened with a 10-2 run (4th minute). Thomas in particular was often sought out and converted reliably. Chemnitz, on the other hand, allowed itself isolated lapses in concentration and therefore needed a long time to find its way into the game. Vladimir Lucic, coming off the bench, took advantage of the gaps in the defense, quickly put up ten points and crowned a dominant first quarter for the Munich team with a buzzer beater (27-13).

In the second quarter, it took only 92 seconds until Chemnitz coach Rodrigo Pastore was forced to call a timeout after another 5-0 run. With a zone defense, the guests tried to inhibit Bayern's fluid game rhythm. However, this did not detract from the good shooting (18 of 33 from the field in the first half). With calm, Sisko and Jaramaz directed the offense and found the right solutions (44-22/16th). At the same time, as in game one, the defense took hold and took away the Niners' usually so consistent drives to the basket. A jump shot by Weiler-Babb, which resulted in two easy points for Radosevic, was emblematic of the attitude. The first half thus went clearly to the home side 49-26.

Bayern remains focused

Trinchieri's team remained focused in the second half as well. Djedovic was annoyed about a missed three-point play despite the 20-point lead and Thomas continued to mercilessly use his physical advantages (56-36/24th). But the Saxons also showed a better approach now. Center Johannes Richter worked his way under the basket and was the first Chemnitz to score in double figures. With a little bit of decreasing intensity on Munich's side, an even third quarter ended (72-51).

In the final quarter Trinchieri expanded his rotation and brought in Gavin Schilling, who directly converted a dream pass across the court from Sisko. Nevertheless, the head coach warned in a timeout after a good minute not to become careless. The Niners put up some quick poitns with Isiaha Mike and Nelson Weidemann and came within eleven points (74-63/33rd). But Lucic made it a matter of priority to stop the phase. With two steals and five quick points, he restored the old lead - 83-66 (35th). With this, the last attempts of the guests to keep the game close faded away. Led by top scorer Deshaun Thomas (22 points), the Munich team left no doubt about their second victory in the quarterfinal series (93-76).

SCHEDULE

(c) Eirich, Pahnke, Stickel