Only two more: FC Bayern Basketball opened the playoff semifinal against surprise team Würzburg with a convincing home win to take a 1-0 lead. After a strong first half with consistent defense, the game ended 91:76 (49:27) in front of 6,200 fans. The top scorers were Ibaka (18), Edwards (15), and Giffey (12), who played despite a broken nose.
Game 2 follows in just 45 hours at the BMW Park on Friday evening at 8:30 PM. The away game continues on Sunday at 3 PM.
Ibaka Dominates the Zone
Personnel-wise, Coach Laso relied on the quarterfinal roster that had been successful three times recently, continuing to rest Francisco and Weiler-Babb. Initially, some things were missed, but rebounds were attentively collected by Ibaka and Lucic—17:5 after the first tempo increase (8th minute).
FC Bayern Basketball - Würzburg Baskets 91:76 (49:27)
FCBB:
Serge Ibaka (18 points), Carsen Edwards (15, 5 assists), Niels Giffey (12), Leandro Bolmaro (11), Vladimir Lucic (10, 5 rebounds), Elias Harris (6), Devin Booker (6), Isaac Bonga (5, 5 rebounds), Nelson Weidemann (3), Ivan Kharchenkov (2), Niklas Wimberg.
Topscorer Würzburg:
Max Ugrai (18 points)
Referee
Anne Panther, Carsten Straube, Steve Bittner
Attendance
6.198
Points and Steal by Kharchenkov
Youngster Kharchenkov, 17, contributed to the push to 35:19 in the second quarter (15th minute). Munich played at a high tempo, and the atmosphere was great. Giffey's masked three-pointer rolled in, and Ibaka dunked, making it 47:24. Fourteen assists by halftime (25 in total) reflected Munich’s joy in playing.
Würzburg Fight Back
Three lax minutes after the restart allowed the Franconians to prove their character (53:37). However, Edwards was in playoff mode and shot from outside the zone. After the third quarter (74:50), the victory was secure. Yet, the understaffed guests managed to close the gap to 79:68 and will likely use the second-half win as motivation for Friday.
Quotes:
Pablo Laso, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: "
Our first half was very solid, we were able to slow them down with our defense. We know they are dangerous. Our defense allowed us to control the game's rhythm. We moved the ball well against their different types of defense. In the second half, we struggled at times; they tried to slow the tempo with a zone defense and started making shots. (...) I think in the players' minds, the game was decided at halftime, but certainly not for Sasa and me. We had a bad experience against Ludwigsburg when we had a very poor final quarter. We must know that we have to play at this level for 40 minutes. We didn't always find the right solutions against their zone, and we need to improve that. (...) Whether Brankovic will be used soon, I don't know yet. It depends on the physical situation. Danko is okay, but I think we need Ivan and Nelson more if Babb and Francisco are out. Both give us rotation on the outside; with Danko, we might have too many bigs in this setup. I hope Nick and Sylvain can play on Friday, but we have to see that in the middle of the playoffs."
Sasa Filipovski, Head Coach Würzburg Baskets: "We started well on offense but didn’t make any shots. This experience will help us be more relaxed in the second game and score more points. Otherwise, Bayern was stronger in rebounding today and made the shots we didn’t make. They were clearly the better team today, congratulations."
Serge Ibaka: "Overall, we did a good job. We were aggressive on both ends of the court, and that's why we were successful. (...) I try to do my best to help my team. If they need me on offense, I’m there. But it’s even more important to me to show presence on the defensive end."