At 1:30 in the morning the team bus made it home and the next practice was scheduled for early Monday evening. After the successful trip to Chemnitz (79-58), the Bayern basketball team is preparing with their usual crazy schedule for the dress rehearsal of the first highlight of the season, the TOP4 for the German Cup next weekend in Oldenburg. Before the semifinal showdown on Saturday (19:30) against Alba Berlin, head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team will face the Hamburg Towers at the Audi Dome on Tuesday evening.
Tip-off is at 19:00. During halftime, the Munich Varieté Theater will put on a show, and mascot Ben will hand out red roses on Valentine's Day.
Hopes for Walden, Lucic, Winston and Hunter.
After the solid performance in the sold-out Messehalle in Chemnitz, the FCBB want to approach the BBL duel with Hamburg in the same way. Due to the unfortunate loss of the first matchup (81-78 in overtime) in October, they are well aware of the dangers of the game even though the guests have recently suffered six losses in a row and, despite a change of coach, have slipped into the relegation zone.
The duel on Saturday against last-place Bayreuth (86-74) stopped the trend towards leaving the BBL. With seven wins out of 20 games, the team around top scorer Kendale McCullum (16.2 ppg), Anthony Polite (13.4), who was signed up from Villeurbanne, and national player Lukas Meisner (12.4) is now two games ahead of the relegation spots.
For Bayern (14-5), it will be a matter of building on what they started in Chemnitz. Nick Weiler-Babb (23 points, 8 of 10 from the court) had his best offensive game of the season, Andreas Obst (11 points) sank three threes for the first time after his two-month injury layoff and the team defense kept the Niners in check for 40 minutes.
In terms of personnel, the return of the missing quintet Walden, Winston, Lucic and Hunter is the goal (Elias Harris will be out til March). To what extent there will be changes in the squad for Hamburg will only be seen shortly before the game.
German Cup Public Viewing at the Audi Dome
The FCBB is organizing a public viewing for the TOP4 of the MagentaSport BBL Cup: All fans who do not have the opportunity to support the team on Saturday in Oldenburg against Berlin can watch the semifinal in the Audi Dome including a supporting program and a limited amount of free beer from partner Paulaner (until about 19:00).
To get in the mood for the Cup semifinals, the ProB home game of the second team against Team Ehingen Urspring (Saturday, 16:00) will also take place in the Audi Dome. Tickets for the public viewing (5 euros, available in the FCBB ticket store) are also valid for this game.
The Audi Dome will open at 3 p.m. on Saturday and also on Sunday (then from 13:30) in the event of a participation in the final.