After three consecutive home wins, Bayern's basketball players have to digest the disappointment of their performance on Tuesday evening against Partizan Belgrade (63:67). Coach Svetislav Pesic felt that the team lacked freshness and aggression, and it will now be exciting to see whether Munich can put in a more effective performance in their third game since Sunday evening. Especially since Thursday's task is even more challenging: the surprise team of the EuroLeague season so far is visiting the SAP Garden at 8:30 p.m. – third-placed Valencia from Spain.
On course for the playoffs with lots of three-pointers
The visitors, who returned to the top flight this season with a wild card, continue to amaze with their unique style of play and already have 15 wins and only eight losses. This puts them on course for the playoffs and, with the same number of points, currently ahead of big names Real and Barça as the best Spanish team. They have also broken into the ACB as second behind Madrid.
“Valencia may not be in first place at the moment, but for me they are the best team in Europe, and have been since the start of the season,” says coach Svetislav Pesic (who successfully coached Valencia to a good first half of the season in 2010/2011). "They are well-rehearsed and have developed great self-confidence. Valencia shows what can be achieved in basketball with continuity, both in terms of the coach and the team. It will be a very difficult, interesting game, for which we hope to be able to recover well in the short time available."
Spain's runners-up, who have won the EuroCup four times, are experiencing a similar phase of euphoria to that enjoyed by Bayern Munich a year ago after the opening of the SAP Garden. Since October, Valencia has had the support of the 16.000-capacity Roig Arena and training center, and on Tuesday, coach Pedro Martinez's team improved its home record to 10:2 with a commanding 98:84 win over Paris.
Waiting for Obst and Jovic
Impulsive ball movement, fast ball movement, and the quick three-pointer as the first option—Valencia already demonstrated this impressively in the first leg (64:90). Just under 33 three-point attempts per game is the highest in the EuroLeague (FCBB: 27.5), against Paris it was 31 with a still moderate rate of 32.3 percent; in return, 15 offensive rebounds were collected.
Martinez was able to distribute the minutes after the third quarter (70:53). The top scorer this time was Kameron Taylor (28/12.3 ppg), with Jean Montero (12.2 ppg), Brancou Badio (11.0), Darius Thompson (10.2), Omari Moore (10.0), and Nathan Reuvers (9.6) all in double figures.
In recent weeks, Bayern have proven that they can effectively slow down teams with strong transitions when they play as a unit. However, it is uncertain whether Andi Obst (stomach infection) and playmaker Stefan Jovic (concussion) will be able to return from the long list of injured players, and a decision will be made on Thursday.