Ludwigsburg challenges Bayern in playoff semifinals starting Saturday

The matchup is set: Ludwigburg, who dominated the regular season, will challenge the Bayern basketball team in the playoff semifinals for the German championship starting on Saturday. The Swabians clearly prevailed against Bamberg on Thursday night (95-73) in the deciding Game 5 of the series. The best-of-five series starts on Saturday night (29.5.) with tip-off at 20:30 in Ludwigsburg, as the higher seed gets home court advantage through the playoffs. Game two is on Monday (5/31, 19:00) and will also take place at the MHP Arena. The Munich team will then have home court at the Audi Dome for the first time on Wednesday (June 2, 20:30)

"The story of this series is very simple, because Ludwigsburg is the best team in the BBL and they finished very deservedly in first place after the regular season, with excellent performances throughout," said head coach Andrea Trinchieri. "It will be a very difficult task for us because they play with a lot of energy and intensity. They also have a very good point guard-center connection with Hulls and McLean and a lot of experience and scorers overall."

The first seed is undefeated at home for the last two years
Bayern also faces an interesting task in Ludwigsburg in that the Ludwigsburgers have not lost a home game in a good two years - if the new Cup winners also want to reach the championship final, they will have to end this streak. The EuroLeague quarterfinalist proved early in the season that the FCBB can beat the Giants. A 93-70 win in November was one of only four Ludwigsburg defeats in the regular season. The second matchup at the end of the regular season a few weeks ago, on the other hand, went to the hosts (91-77).

Ludwigsburg played the season without an international engagement and game five against Bamberg was their 42nd competitive game (FCBB: 82). With 89 points per game, Ludwigsburg had the second-best offense in the BBL (FCBB: 86.5). Top scorer was guard Jalen Smith with an average of 15.7 points, in the five-game series against Bamberg he averaged 11.6 per game with a shooting % of 38 percent. Point guard Barry Brown only appeared twice in the playoffs, in the last two games, but he averaged 19 points. Fellow guard Jordan Hulls (12.8 ppg on the season), three-point shooting 45%, follows as another reliable scorer ahead of BBL-experienced center Jamel McLean (10.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg), who was re-signed during the season.

Bayern did not have any easy game in their quarterfinal against Crailsheim (3:1) either, but they shot well in the first knockout round: With 43 percent, they are the best team from beyond the three-point line (Ludwigsburg: 33.3%), as the 51.3% shooting from the floor (43.1) is the strongestheir 19.3 assists per game is the highest number of the four semifinalists, in defense this applies equally to steals (8.5 Stpg) and blocked shots (4.8 bpg).

Lucic: "They have the home advantage, it will be tough".
What the Bavarians have to pay attention to is obvious when looking at the offensive rebounds - Ludwigsburg's 14.6 offensive boards per game are clearly top in the league and document the energetic-aggressive attitude of the opponent.

"They finished first and also beat us in one of the last BBL games," says vice-captain Vladimir Lucic with respect. And further: "They play very physically, but we are familiar with their style, which Ludwigsburg's coach pushes. They had a tough series against Bamberg, but then showed character and their experience in the fifth game to win quite easily. Plus, they have the home court advantage, so it's bound to be tough."

Public viewing at Munich's Olympic Lake.
Bayern's first duel with the MHP Giants will again be shown at the public viewing event at the "Kino am Olympiasee" on Saturday evening. In cooperation with MagentaSport, the open-air event will begin with admission at 19:30. Tickets (10 euros) are available exclusively online at www.kinoamolympiasee.de.

SCHEDULE:

The 2021 BBL Playoffs, Semifinals (best-of-five):
Sat., 5/29, 20:30.: MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg - FCBB (Game 1).
Mon, 5/31, 19:00.: MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg - FCBB (Game 2)
Wed., 6/2, 20:30: FCBB - MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (Game 3)
Fri., 6/4, 20:30.: FCBB - MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (Game 4)*
Sun., 6.6., 15:00: MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg - FCBB (Game 5)* 
 *= if necessary