Bayern and Trinchieri bow out

The Bayern basketball team couldn't finish the season as they would have liked: Andrea Trinchieri's team, weakened by injuries, gave Ulm a great fight in Game 3 and led after a crazy comeback a few seconds before the end of the 40 minutes. Despite the great struggle, they lost in front of 6,000 fans in overtime 104-102.

The series thus wraps up in a sweep and Bayern's season is over early after 78 games including the Cup win. Coach Trinchieri officially confirmed his departure after three years as head coach. The team is expected to say goodbye to its loyal fans at noon on Sunday at the Audi Dome, around 400 of whom gave their all once again in Ulm.

Obst misses the final three-pointer of the season

Ulm scored immediately from the outside as they had in the first two games while the Munich team was looking for their touch (17-8/5th). The FCBB then got back into the game, 24-20 but seven turnoversin the first quarter were a lot. Nevertheless, Bayern got to within one points at 34-33 and the duel was on. 

The intense exchange of blows continued, but Ulm remained the better team from beyond the arc, had more rebounds and suddenly led 80-64. However, the guests showed great heart, never gave up and just missed the three-pointer at the end of overtime for the victory by the heartbroken captain Obst (19 points, Winston 22).

FCBB congratulates Ulm for a strong playoffs and for reaching the final.

Score per quarter Bayern - Ulm: 22-29, 21-17, 19-28, 30-18, 10-12.

Stats: Two-point shooting: 62 % (FCBB) // 47 % (Ulm); Three-point shooting: 39 % // 34 %; Free-throw shooting: 68 % // 83 %; Rebounds: 42 // 35; Assists: 19 // 15; Turnovers:  22 // 18.

Quotes:

Andrea Trinchieri: "Ulm deserves to advance in the end, but tonight we would have deserved game four as well. They hit the decisive shots, for example Brandon Paul's. But my team gave everything and showed a great game against a team that is extremely hot. They had already won the game, then we came back, had won the game on our part, but Paul hit a very tough shot over Gillespie. In overtime we had to come back and we had the shot to win by our best shooter, completely open. We did everything possible today to extend the series. My players left everything on the court, physically, mentally and emotionally. It's sad, but when I saw the last shot go up, I knew it wasn't meant to be. (...)

That was my last game in my time as Bayern coach. I joined Bayern in the pandemic and the players and coaches found a way to go through a lot of opposition, to fight to the very last. I think this group deserved one more title. But in the decisive moments, luck turned its back on us. So it's two titles and two EuroLeague playoffs until game five. It can always be better, but we really gave everything we could.

I want to thank all my players who went over their limit in tough moments. I want to thank Mr. Hainer for his tireless support. He gave me the confidence to lead the team into the new arena. I want to thank my partner Marko (Pesic), who at that time didn't want a coach, but a partner. Thank you for this sincere relationship. And I want to thank Daniele Baiesi, who was always by my side, it was a very efficient cooperation with six titles. I also hug all my assistants who really gave me the maximum support. It's over, it was a great ride. I don't regret anything and people can now name the label for those three years. I gave my best every day, also made mistakes and corrected them. That's it, thank you and goodbye.

I'm just mad that the referee gave me a technical in my last game in overtime. That's really unbelievable, because I think that was a very unfair move in a moment like that. Some referees think they are the police: you park your car five inches over the line and they give you a ticket. But we are not cars, this is not about parking, this is about two teams fighting and a great coach on the other side. That's the only regret I have today. Grazie e arrivederci."

Niels Giffey: "That's really tough to lose that game. But we only ever got into the game when we pressed like crazy. We fought, but in some situations in the game we lost control- and that hurts. We didn't take advantage of the home advantage."

Ulm head coach, Anton Gavel: "I would like to start by congratulating Andrea on his time at Bayern. The two participations in the EuroLeague playoffs, where we as German fans were cheering along, were also enormously important for the league and German basketball. It was also important for me as a coach to learn from and watch someone like Andrea.

Of course, we are enormously happy about the victory. We've now knocked off the second EuroLeague contender, even though we once again didn't perform as well in the last quarter, panicked a lot and thus squandered our 16-point lead. In the end, we let probably the best shooter in Europe at the moment go free, then we would have been talking about game four. We've come this far now, of course we want to try to win the title."

Marko Pesic, FCBB General Manager: "There are a million reasons for this exit, but in the end the result is what we didn't expect. Today and in game two we saw a team that fought, you can't blame the guys. Maybe we thought too much about what we don't have, we lacked a certain calmness in the decisive phases. But great respect to Ulm and Anton, they played a fantastic game, even better than against Alba.

Andrea (Trinchieri) gave us his heart, he was always 100 percent there for us to play successfully. But you also have to say that he has had a lot of bad luck with injuries in the last two years. He never had his full squad available, as he had planned before the season. I feel sorry for him most of all. He is a professional who sees basketball as a vocation and not a profession. I can only say positive things about him."

Game recap:

Isaac Bonga, Ognjen Jaramaz, Andreas Obst, Niels Giffey and Freddie Gillespie made up FCBB coach Andrea Trinchieri's starting lineup in the 79th competitive game of the season - a do-or-die affair at its best. With the frenetic crowd and the two wins behind them, the Ulm team was completely in the flow and hit almost every shot, so that Trinchieri had to call a timeout early on (11-2/3rd minute of play). The FCBB calmed down and regained their composure and Jaramaz and Giffey hit their threes (-14-8/4.). Ulm was on fire and the FCBB struggled to find rhythm as they fell behind by nine (22-13/7th). Winston and Walden drove their team forward and cut the deficit to 22-18 (8th). Suddenly Munich was struggling with turnovers and allowed themselves a whole seven in the opening quarter, Ulm stole another one and was leading 29-22 after ten minutes.

Bayern fights its way into the game

Bayern started the second quarter with much more focus and fought their way back through strong defense, and the Cup winners were right back in it (32-31/13th). The change in the lead was in the air but Bayern could not quite manage it. A spectacular block by Nick Weiler-Babb and Bayern managed to pull back to one behind (37-36/17th). In contrast to Game 2, Obst's threes did not fall (yet) and Ulm gained a little breathing room (41-36/18th). Trinchieri again asked for a timeout to set things straight. Ulm's Yago drew foul after foul and converted the free throws but a three-pointer by Bonga and free throws by Obst prevented a worse deficit - 46-43 after the first half.

The game hung in the balance

Jaramaz was fouled in the first attack after the change of ends and sank all three free throws (46-46/21st). But again the fans hoped in vain for a change of the lead as open shots did not drop. Ex-Bayern youngster, Karim Jallow, however, thrilled his fans with a dunk over Freddie Gillespie (55-49/23rd). Cassius Winston delivered important points and kept his team within striking distance (55-53/24th). Munich was again fighting for momentum but the shots did not fall. Finally Ulm started to pull away (66-60/28th). The momentum shifted towards Ulm and pushed by the packed arena, the hosts went on an 8-0 for a 74-62 lead.

Obst and Winston turn things around

Ulm extended the quarter-long run to 10-0 and Coach Trinchieri immediately ordered his team to the next timeout, but even the free throws now refused to find their way through the Ulm basket. A whole two and a half minutes ticked off the clock before Weiler-Babb hit Bayern's first bask in the final quarter (76-64/33rd). The FCBB was obviously unsettled while on the other hand Ulm played like a big-time favorite, 80-64 (34th). After another timeout, Munich finally got going and a sweet 8-2 run forced Anton Gavel to call timeout (82-72/35th). The next three-pointer by Obst and a jumper by Gillespie reduced the lead to 84-77 (36th), but Ulm did not falter and hit back again (87-77/37th). Bayern was feeling it now and went on an 110 run with enormous will and forced the lead change (88-87/ 116 seconds left). Now Ulm was playing out of control and turned the ball over. Winston was fouled and sank both free throws (90--87/88 seconds left). After two fruitless attacks, Ulm's Nunez scored to make it 90-89, 18 seconds left on the clock. Winston was fouled and nervously converted both free throws (92-89/ 15 seconds left). Bayern failed to foul after the in-bounds pass and Brandon Paul sank the three-pointer to tie it at 92-92 (8 seconds left). Winston lost the ball on the way to the basket, but Ulm couldn't hit before the buzzer. Overtime!

Obst's three doesn't drop

In the five extra minutes, Ulm went ahead thanks to Bayern turnovers. Like two heavyweight boxers in the last round, the opponents were swaying but Ulm's Bruno Caboclo shocked Munich with six points in a row, by which time half of overtime had already elapsed (98-92). Walden contributed two free throws and  Obst's three-pointer missed the target. Ulm pulled away to seven points up (101-94/69 seconds left), but comeback machine Andreas Obst brought the game back to two points at 101-99 with five points (38 seconds left). Hawley scored for Ulm and took a four-point lead (103-99/ 13 seconds left). Weiler-Babb was fouled the next trip down and hit both free throws (103-101/ 9 seconds left). The FCBB fouled Christen, who hit only one free throw but had the presence of mind to immediately foul Weiler-Babb, who sank only the first with 2.4 seconds on the clock and intentionally misses the second to still have a chance to win at 104-102. That chance actually came when Weiler-Babb grabbed the rebound and somehow saw Obst lurking at the three-point line. Andreas Obst got up an open shot and sadly the season was over.