It’s a blockbuster week for Bayern Basketball: three EuroLeague home games in just seven days await the Munich squad, culminating next Thursday night when Italian champions Virtus Bologna, featuring Karim Jallow and Carsen Edwards, visit the SAP Garden (tip-off 8:30 p.m.). The action kicks off this Friday (8:45 p.m., MagentaSport) against title contenders Olympiacos Piraeus – the Olympiapark Arena is already sold out with 11,500 fans – before the star-studded Real Madrid comes to town on Tuesday (8 p.m.); tickets are still available for both Real and Virtus. And in between, there’s a classic BBL showdown on Sunday (6 p.m.) at Alba Berlin.
MVP Vezenkov, Milutinov, and Dorsey in Top Form
“Olympiacos is a real challenge; they’re among the EuroLeague’s elite every year,” says Bayern head coach Gordon Herbert. “The key will be to match their physicality and control the boards. If we defend well, we can generate easy points from our defense. We already showed strong defense against Milan, and the fans were fantastic as our sixth man.”
Last season, the three-time European champions topped the regular season standings but missed out on the final at the Final Four. Olympiacos, led by coach Georgios Bartzokas, pulled off a remarkable comeback last week, overturning an 81-93 deficit at Maccabi Tel Aviv with a 14-1 run in the closing minutes to snatch victory. Center Nikola Milutinov (13.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and perennial MVP candidate Sasha Vezenkov (19.4, 10.0) each scored 23 points to secure their third win in five games, with Tyler Dorsey (16.8 ppg) adding 18.
Dinwiddie Debut in the Double-Week?
Containing just this trio would be a tall order, but Olympiacos has further strengthened over the summer. Most recently, Frenchman Frank Ntilikina (7.7 ppg) joined from Partizan, following center Donta Hall from Baskonia and forward Tyson Ward (8.4) from Paris. The core also includes Alec Peters, Evan Fournier (12.0), and Shaquielle McKissic (8.4), with the latter two expected to return to the squad in Munich after injury layoffs.
“Olympiacos is a very experienced opponent whose team knows exactly how to play in order to win,” says FCBB EuroBasket champion Justus Hollatz about Piraeus. “Their core has been playing together for a long time, and this year Dorsey is performing exceptionally well. They have plenty of options. We need to be ready to match their physicality on defense and play fast on offense ourselves. If they hit a few tough shots, we can’t let that throw us off. We have to stick to our game.”
For Bayern (2-3 record), the availability of Johannes Voigtmann and Stefan Jovic will be determined after Friday morning’s shootaround, though both returned to team training on Thursday. Still sidelined are Rokas Jokubaitis and Elias Harris. New signing Spencer Dinwiddie must complete his medical checks following his arrival, but could potentially make his debut against Real or Bologna.