With a home defeat, the Bayern basketball team enters the Christmas break, which, however, will be concluded on the second holiday (in Tübingen): Against AS Monaco, Pablo Laso's team had to accept an 80:91 (31:46) defeat at the once again sold-out BMW Park. Despite a strong comeback effort and a significant improvement after the break, the team fell short.
After a weak start, FC Bayern Basketball managed to equalize with Monaco at the beginning of the second quarter (17:17). However, the guests then took a commanding lead, pulling ahead to 37:22 by the 16th minute. Besides missed shots, the foul situation proved challenging for the German Cup winner – Monaco only had six team fouls in the first half, while FC Bayern Basketball had zero free throws; in the end, it was 9:31. This significantly impacted the game
FC Bayern Basketball - AS Monaco 80:91 (31:46)
- FCBB:Sylvain Francisco (21 Points, 4 Assists), Carsen Edwards (16 Points), Nick Weiler-Babb (9, 4 Assists), Isaac Bonga (7), Leandro Bolmaro (7), Andreas Obst (6), Serge Ibaka (6, 7 Rebounds), Danko Brankovic (2), Devin Booker (2, 6 Rebounds), Vladimir Lucic (2), Niels Giffey (2), Niklas Wimberg
- Topscorer Monaco:Mike James (28 Points)
- RefereeSasa Pukl, Arturas Sukys, Aare Halliko
- Attendance6.500 (Sold out)
Francisco narrows the gap to 60:65
At 36:56 (24th minute), the game seemed to be decided, but FC Bayern Basketball's top scorer, Francisco (21), suddenly came alive: Three long-range shots from the Frenchman within 48 seconds, followed by an assist for a Brankovic dunk, and another for a three-pointer by Obst – at 60:65 (30th minute), Bayern was back in the game.
The BMW Park was now boiling over; the boos continued to be passionately expressed, even by the audience. The star-studded lineup featuring James (28) and Okobo (19), however, remained cool in crucial moments and frequently attacked the basket. Despite all the effort, a close crunch time did not materialize.
Now, there are three days of rest, and on the second holiday, the BBL game in Tübingen awaits. Two days later, they face Valencia, and on December 30th, it's a closing game against Heidelberg in the BMW Park to conclude the year.
FC Bayern Basketball wishes everyone peaceful holidays!
The quotes:
Pablo Laso, Headcoach FC Bayern Basketball: „Firstly, congratulations to Monaco. I think the difference after the first half was too much for us, 15 points are too many. We were chasing the deficit throughout the entire game. Our start was not good, and then they made important shots in the second half. They scored almost consistently, either through free throws or with good shots. In the second half, we were able to change the rhythm of the game. They have good players at all positions, and Mike James is always tough to stop. We need to learn from this and recover until our BBL game on Tuesday.
(...) There are many differences from Wednesday. A different team, different referees, we didn't move the ball well, we missed open jump shots – that's why our deficit after the first half was too high; otherwise, we might have turned the game around in the second half. (...) It hurt us that they could stop the game like that. We need our rhythm, which we didn't have; we had to play five against five all the time."
Isaac Bonga: „The referees are also only human. Basketball is a game with many emotions, and sometimes, even I react one way initially, but after reviewing the video, I might have a different opinion. We can't say it was the referees' fault; we had too many turnovers, made mistakes in details that we need to improve on next time."
