It's going to be a great evening, and ideally a winning one as well: At the sixth edition of "Music meets Basketball" top act Clueso, will perform while Bayern will take on reigning EuroCup champions Virtus Bologna. The Audi Dome, which has long been sold out, as head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team comes back to its own living room with the euphoria of the 89-81 victory over defending champion Efes Istanbul.
On Sunday BBL Fourth-place Goettingen will visit the Audi Dome
Clueso ("Cello," "Dancing," "Flight Mode") will perform at halftime and will also have concert after the game. The BBL continues on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 29, 15:00.) against fourth-place BG Goettingen (10-5).
Bayern (8-12) could draw level with the Italians coached by Spain's European champion coach Sergio Scariolo after with a win. In any case a balanced duel is to be expected as in the first matchup in Emilia Romagna Bayern lost by three (66-63). At that time, the Munich team played with Vladimir Lucic and Andreas Obst, who have now been missing for many weeks due to injury. Virtus was without Tornike Shengelia, who showed up big last week at Panathinaikos Athens (74-64). The Georgian (10.1 ppg) was top scorer with 16 points ahead of Milos Teodosic (10.2, 5.4 apg).
Veteran Milos controls the court
"We are a completely different team now, we play completely different, with a different lineup. Back then, Lucic and Obst were our central players, currently they can't be," says coach Trinchieri with reference to the first duel in October "So the first matchup feels like seven years ago where we played solidly there and in the end we only lacked one play to win. However, Bologna is a very good team, very deep and with a lot of quality at guard. So it's going to be a difficult game, as it is every week in the EuroLeague."
Serbian veteran, Teodosic, 35, teams with Italian Daniel Hackett to form Bologna's highly experienced backcourt, which will can also floor Dane Iffe Lundberg (9.2 ppg). On the boards, Freddie Gillespie - currently the fourth-best offensive rebounder in the competition (2.6 Orpg) - Othello Hunter (5.4 rpg) and top scorer Augustine Rubit (11.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg) expect to be countered primarily by center Mam Jaiteh (8.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg).
A focus on rebounding
Rebounds are likely to play a key role, with Bayern (34.6) having been more effective than the visitors (31.4) so far. "I think we've clearly improved as a team compared to the first matchup, which we could have won," said FCBB veteran Hunter. "And that's despite the fact that we were missing and still missing some very important guys. At this high level it comes down to confidence, that's very important, and you have to understand what to do. That worked last time out and we should keep it that way against Bologna."