The Bayern basketball team was unable to stop the hottest team of the first month of the EuroLeague: The German champions lost decisively to Lithuania's record champions Zalgiris Kaunas on the third match day, 70:98 (33:45), and this time found no solutions on either side of the court in the sold-out SAP Garden. The still undefeated visitors shone for three quarters with an extremely high three-point percentage (58.3 percent in the end), while Munich's offense (without Gabriel, Voigtmann, Harris) struggled throughout.
Bamberg on Sunday, Milan on Tuesday
It won't get any easier: On the fourth match day, next Tuesday evening (October 14, 8:30 p.m.), Olimpia Milan with Devin Booker will be guests at the SAP Garden. Before that, the BBL derby against Bamberg will take place on Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. at BMW Park.
In the reunion of six European champions and European Championship coach Ibrahimagic, the Bayern defense didn't allow anything in the first four minutes, but only managed to make it 4:0. Old acquaintances Francisco and Lo hit their first three-pointers, while Kaunas attacked the basket more aggressively (14:21/8.).
FC Bayern Basketball - Zalgiris Kaunas 70:98 (33:45)
- FCBB:Andreas Obst (15 points), Xavier Rathan-Mayes (13), Niels Giffey (9), David McCormack (8), Oscar da Silva (6), Isiaha Mike (6), Justus Hollatz (5), Kamar Baldwin (3), Vladimir Lucic (2), Leon Kratzer (2), Stefan Jovic (1), Justinian Jessup
- Topscorer Kaunas:Sylvain Francisco (19 points)
- RefereeCarlos Peruga, Jordi Aliaga, Josip Radojkovic
- Attendance11.500 (sold out)
Only a good quarter
Zalgiris' defense in 1-on-1 situations was far too weak, and the versatile visitors pulled away with speed to 39:24 and 43:26 (18th minute). Without any orientation at the back, the game continued after the restart, resulting in two completely open three-pointers – Kaunas led 40:59 with an impressive 9/12 three-pointers (24th minute). When another long-range shot made it 43:64 (27th minute), the gap was already very wide.
The support of the 11,500 fans remained outstanding and the team stepped up its commitment once again. That had an effect, with the score only 53:64 towards the end of the third quarter, which Bayern won 24:23. However, Kaunas took full advantage of two turnovers at the start of the final ten minutes (57:76/32nd minute), ending the comeback attempt early. What's more, Munich hardly managed to do anything in the final quarter (13:30).
Quotes:
Gordon Herbert, Headcoach FC Bayern Basketball: “First of all, I would like to congratulate Zalgiris. It's quite simple today: one team played as a team, the other did not. The good thing about this game is the realization that if we continue to play like this, we won't win a single EuroLeague game all season. If we don't play as a team, if we play as individuals, we have zero chance. We lost the duels on both sides of the court and threw away fast break opportunities in the first quarter. We were simply careless with the ball. I was embarrassed and ashamed of how we played basketball. So far, we have played well together as a team. Today was the opposite. (...) Everyone wanted to solve it on their own. (...) We have four games in seven days. Tomorrow we'll watch the video of today's game and draw our conclusions."