Big 93-64 win over Crailsheim

The Bayern Basketball team is back: On their comeback in the Audi Dome, Andrea Trinchieri's men gave the 2,900 fans a committed performance on the atmospheric family game day against Crailsheim and won safely 93-64. Top scorers: Deshaun Thomas and Nihad Djedovic with 16 points each.

Before the EuroLeague highlights in Milan (Tuesday, 20:30) and on Friday against Red Star Belgrade (20:30/Audi Dome). Miunich improved their BBL record to 38-12 points.

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While Bayern played their first Bundesliga game in almost three weeks because of the Corona break, the Merlins, who were also handicapped by quarantine cases, had only eight players. For the FCBB, Hunter, Obst, Ogunsipe, Walden and Weiler-Babb, who had been injured recently, took a break.

Crailsheim trailed 29-14 after the first quarter, Trinchieri rotated a lot early on. After the closer score at 37-30 (13th), two big Zipser threes quickly showed the opponent and their zone defense.

Points per quarter Bayern - Crailsheim: 29-14, 19-18, 29-17, 16-15.

Stats:  Two-point shooting: 70% (FCBB) // 53% (Crailsheim); Three-point shooting: 43% // 16%; Free-throw shooting: 80% // 79%; Rebounds: 43 // 24; Assists: 28 // 6; Turnovers:  14 // 9.

Quotes:       

Andrea Trinchieri, Headcoach FC Bayern Basketball: "I'm happy that no players got injured. That's the big concern after a Covid period. And I'm happy that we were able to spread the minutes, no one played more than 21 minutes. For Crailsheim, I feel sorry that they have to play in this condition. We are trying to get back into shape and rhythm, we needed the win. (...) Normally, in April, you know what kind of team you have. Right now the goal is just to get through the day. I think we took a step forward. Tomorrow the goal will be to find a team for Milan. (...) I have to build the house from scratch now.  We have to get through the next 25 days, we'll have a game every two or three days. With my former self, I would be overwhelmed. For example, Obst was back from Covid, now he's out again. You have a concussion on top of that, you have Long-Covid again, then the injuries from the last four minutes at Panathinaikos because you couldn't train normally. (...) There's an old Italian saying: don't move, wait for the storm to pass. If you do too much, it won't work. So we have to focus on two or three simple things. The good thing is that this is not the end of the season. There are still games and opportunities to get better. (...) We have to be a team, play the best defense possible and share the ball on offense. It's about the A now, not even the ABC - just the A from the book of basketball. (...) I'm not worried, just a little upset. Because we had three covid outbursts, plus the injuries, that's probably a world record. We just have to do our best now."     

Nihad Djedovic: "To be able to contribute something in a game like this today did us good. Of course, it was not an easy game for Crailsheim. Respect for Crailsheim that they competed today. They gave everything. For us, it was a game to get some game practice back after the Corona break before the next exhausting two, three weeks. Especially after this period, where we had a lot of infected, and with this program in the coming period, it's hard to get back into rhythm. After all, it's about the season in the fight for the playoffs. It's not easy, but we have to improvise, we have to find solutions. Today it worked. We'll see how we manage during the coming weeks, when the other guys are still coming back. Hopefully everything will be fine. Keep going. When you do something with love, it always goes on."

Joshua Obiesie: "In this phase, the players from the bench have to step up. We have to play better in the BBL, that we can give our top players like Luca or D-Hill breaks and they are fresh in the EuroLeague. I think today we all did a good job, defended and then ran. Crailsheim is also from Corona, they are not fit, but they played very well for that."

Sebastian Gleim, Headcoach Crailsheim: "We have already guessed that Bayern Munich will play against us with the possible best lineup, despite all the circumstances, because of the first matchup, which we won. We had a game of five-on-five yesterday, for about five minutes, after about eight, new days off. Normally, you have difficulty playing five-on-five when you haven't done it for a day. So we are relatively happy with the result, especially how we played. I think we got 90, 95 percent out of the situation today and most importantly stayed healthy. Hope now that we get some players back - step by step. But I think the whole process will take another week. Congratulations on the win, it was of course absolutely deserved."

Game recap:

Against the Merlins, who were also severely weakened due to injury and pandemic and started with only eight players, FCBB head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team started with Darrun Hilliard, Ognjen Jaramaz, Jason George, Deshaun Thomas and Leon Radosevic. Rhythm is the buzzword most often used after Munich's long Covid break. This gradually set in only after a few minutes, when Bayern forced the opponent to turn the ball over and jumped quickly in front (10-3/4th minute of the game). Lucic stepped onto the brand-new floor in the Audi Dome and immediately sank his first three-pointer to make it 13-8 (6th). A Crailsheim timeout failed to stop the FCBB's run, and the favorites pulled away to 22-10 (8th). The guests sought their salvation in a zone defense, fast passing and successful threes are a proven means against it - Hilliard took a 27-11 lead (9.). After the first quarter the Munich team was 29-14 in the lead.

The Merlins played boldly, in view of the 31-19 after less than two minutes in the second quarter Trinchieri recognized the time for a timeout. Munich took it a little easier but a three-pointer by Sisko and a three-point play by Thomas did the lead some good (37-32/14th). Overall, however, the error rate of the hosts, which was due to the lack of playing practice, was too high, and after a 7-0 run of the guests, Coach Trinchieri asked for a timeout again (37-30/16th). This time the timeout had its intended effect, Zipser's triple and a goal by Rubit pushed the lead back up to 45-30 (19th). After 20 minutes, a 48-32 score on the scoreboard testified to Bayern's regained control. Coach Trinchieri had used all twelve players by then and ten had scored.

All Bayern players contribute points

The defensive performance of both teams was lame after the change of sides, for the spectators this meant many buckets in a short time. At least the lead remained clear (60-40/24th). The Munich team developed playfulness on the family game day in the Audi Dome as Sisko setup Radosevic who finished with an alley-oop dunk (66-45/26th). One was still missing on the scoreboard of Bayern, but Joshua Obiesie knew how to correct that impressively: He completed a fastbreak himself with a determined and powerful dunk (72-45/27th). The decimated Merlins showed an exemplary attitude and continued to fight - 77-49 after quarter three.

Smart load control through evenly distributed playing time

The Munich team impressed with clever passes against the Crailsheim defense. When that didn't work, Sisko was on the spot with a three-pointer (82-51/32nd). It was no wonder that the guests were running out of steam. All the more amazing was the performance of the guests' top scorer Jon Axel Gudmundsson, who was still able to setup with great assists even with around 30 minutes of playing time in his bones (83-53/33rd). A dunk by Zipser put the fans in a particularly good mood, their hearts still jumping for joy in view of his comeback to the home court (88-55/35th). The game had long since been decided, the evenly distributed playing time wisely kept Bayern's strain in check and prepared them for the upcoming strenuous tasks in EuroLeague and BBL.

SCHEDULE

(C) Stickel, Pahnke, FCBB