A highly focused title favorite did not allow itself to be surprised this time: Bayern Basketball lost 71–96 (29–47) at home to Olympiacos Piraeus on the sixth EuroLeague matchday, leaving Gordon Herbert’s team with just two wins so far. The Bavarians lost their chances from the end of the first to the middle of the second quarter, when they conceded a 6–22 run starting from 13–16. Overall, they weren’t aggressive enough and lacked the necessary shooting accuracy, so despite Munich’s good fighting spirit and the tremendous support of 11,500 fans until the end, the favorite was never really in trouble.
Tuesday vs. Real, Thursday Edwards visits
On Saturday, the German champions travel to Berlin for their BBL clash (Sunday, 6 p.m.). Then, on Tuesday (8 p.m.), the fourth EuroLeague double week begins against Real Madrid, followed by a home game against Virtus Bologna on Thursday (8:30 p.m., both at the SAP Garden).
FC Bayern Basketball - Olympiacos Piraeus 71:96 (29:47)
- Top scorer FCBB:Andreas Obst (15 points), Oscar da Silva (12, 7 rebounds), Isiaha Mike (10), Niels Giffey (8), Vladimir Lucic (7, 6 rebounds), Stefan Jovic (5), Wenyen Gabriel (5, 6 rebounds), Justinian Jessup (3), Leon Kratzer, Kamar Baldwin, Justus Hollatz.
- Top scorer Olympiakos:Tyler Dorsey (19 points)
- RefereeMehdi Difallah, Emilio Perez, Thomas Bissuel
- Attendance11.500 (sold-out)
Playmaker Jović returned against Piraeus after two weeks out, and Voigtmann is expected to rejoin the squad soon; McCormack sat out. Seven quick points from Obst to make it 7–4 immediately ignited the arena — but the Piraeus stars around Dorsey (13) and Vezenkov (12) answered cold-bloodedly (19–38/16th minute).
Only one of the first ten threes finds the net
Munich’s scoring stalled — both inside and from distance: just 1 of 10 from three-point range. The bench wasn’t able to provide much spark either, while the visitors found their rhythm. Halftime.
The Bayern team did put up a fight in the second half (60–73/33rd minute), but Olympiacos almost mechanically exploited the enormous depth of their well-drilled, high-quality roster. The visitors dictated the pace, forcing Munich into half-court offense where they struggled. The favorite remained fully in control.
Bayern’s top scorers were Obst (15), da Silva (12), and Mike (10).
Quotes:
Gordon Herbert, Head Coach of FC Bayern Basketball: “Congratulations to Olympiacos. That was a basketball clinic — the way they moved the ball, the way they ran their fast breaks. We had some good moments. But you can’t afford four or five bad stretches against a team like that — which is exactly what we had in the last three or four minutes of the first quarter and then a few more times during the game. (…) We have to come back together as a team. (…) We’ve been working in practice on pushing the ball, on running after fast breaks and turnovers. You have to score against such a good team — and we didn’t do that. (…) Last year we were very successful playing with three guards on the floor. Now everyone’s talking about Dinwiddie coming in, but what’s more important is that Jo Voigtmann is coming back. He’s practiced twice and will be back next week.”
Next games:
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SUN, 26. October, 6 pm: 5th gameday BBL, Alba Berlin – FCBB
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TUE, 28. October, 8 pm: 7th gameday EL, FCBB – Real Madrid (SAP Garden)
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THU, 30. Oktober, 8:30 pm: 8th gameday EL, FCBB – Virtus Bologna (SAP Garden)
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WED, 3. November, 8 pm: 6th gameday BBL, FCBB – MLP Academics Heidelberg (BMW Park)
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THU, 6. November, 9 pm: 9th gameday BBL, Paris Basketball – FCBB