Three weeks is a small eternity in basketball, but the Bayern Basketball players will soon have overcome this phase as well: This Sunday, the first-place team int he BBL finally return to the court and in front of their fans in their home Audi Dome - starting at 15:00, the Merlins from Crailsheim are the guests in Munich on family game day. As the eighth-place team with a current 12-9 record, the opponents are once again a promising playoff candidate after last year's postseason premiere.
Friday against Belgrade
There are two highlights for the FCBB in the EuroLeague next week: On Tuesday, the tough road game in Milan and on Friday, the all-important, last round home game against direct rivals Red Star Belgrade (20:30./Audi Dome).
The duel with the Merlins, however, is initially one of two stricken teams, because while the men around coach Andrea Trinchieri have two weeks of forced break with four postponed games behind them after the now third Corona outbreak in their own ranks, the Merlins also had to cancel two games recently due to a good half dozen quarantine cases in and around the team. On Thursday, however, the green light was given.
Get well soon TJ Shorts
The Hakro Merlins were able to surprise Bayern in the first matchup after a EuroLeague outing (77-68), but a lot has happened since the end of December. Trinchieri has to balance on the one hand with the physical conditions of his team and the Covid phase simply does not allow a nonchalant load of the players at the touch of a button, as was seen on Tuesday in Athens.
On the other hand, Crailsheim is also handicapped: From their recent knockout game in the Europe Cup they returned not only with Covid cases, but also with the sad news of the premature end of the season for top scorer DJ Shorts (20.6 ppg/chest muscle surgery). The FCBB wishes the US guard a good recovery!
Whether the Merlins can present a replacement already on Sunday is unknown. Nick Weiler-Babb is still missing for the FCBB, Vladimir Lucic's use is also more than uncertain after his injury in the Panathinaikos game.