© Oktay
The first setback did not come as a surprise – the margin of defeat did. On Tuesday evening, Bayern Basketball were beaten 100–76 (50–31) by Turkish champions Fenerbahçe. The Istanbul title contenders were unstoppable from the field in the first half, knocking down nine of 16 three-pointers, and ruthlessly capitalised on Bayern’s lack of confidence to produce an almost flawless performance.
Despite the scoreline, FCBB battled until the final buzzer in front of 8,100 fans, led by top scorer Washington, who finished with 20 points. On Friday, Anton Gavel’s team will get another chance to bounce back on EuroLeague matchday three, when they host Partizan Belgrade in their SAP Garden home debut (8 p.m.). On Sunday (3 p.m.), current BBL leaders Oldenburg will visit the BMW Park.
Fenerbahce Istanbul - FC Bayern Basketball 100:76 (50:31)
FCBB:
Duane Washington Jr (20 Points), Rokas Jokubaitis (12), Andreas Obst (8), Austin Wiley (8, 5 Rebounds), MarJon Beauchamp (7), Johannes Thiemann (5, 5 Rebounds), Oscar da Silva (4), Justinian Jessup (4), Miles Norris (3), Justus Hollatz (2), Vladimir Lucic (2), Johannes Voigtmann (1, 5 Rebounds)
Topscorer Fenerbahce:
Talen Horton Tucker (19 Points)
Referee
Tomislav Hordov, Saso Petek, Maxime Boubert
Attendance
8.100
Partizan up next on Friday
The hosts immediately imposed their physical style and shot the ball with confidence, taking a 22–10 lead after their fifth three-pointer (7'). The favourites continued to run their offence with ease, prompting Gavel to call his second timeout before the end of the opening quarter at 31–13. A Da Silva dunk brought an ugly ten minutes to a close, with Fenerbahçe having gone 6-for-8 from beyond the arc. A sign of things to come?
Not really. Istanbul gave Bayern no open looks and continued to execute their plays relentlessly (39–18, 14'). The Istanbul express was slowed down somewhat before half-time, but the rebounding numbers – 24–13 – also reflected the balance of power.
Washington heats up
One positive was Jokubaitis once again stabilising his output, finishing with 12 points. Gavel, too, remained composed on the sidelines during the second half. Bayern fought hard, but producing defensive stops against such a confident machine proved a difficult task (70–43, 28').
A second positive: Washington found his rhythm in just his second consecutive appearance, cutting the deficit to 82–67 (35'). However, the huge momentum Fenerbahçe had built in the opening stages could no longer be reversed. Fenerbahçe finished with 15 three-pointers at a 50 per cent clip. Credit where it’s due.
Bayern Basketball came up short against Istanbul’s title contenders. | © Oktay
Quotes:
Anton Gavel, Headcoach FC Bayern Basketball: “Congratulations to Šarūnas and his team. We couldn’t match their physicality. They got into the paint, created open shots and converted at a very high rate. We weren’t able to stop them, and they also dominated the boards. On offense, they forced us into difficult shots, and we were never able to find our rhythm. We played a solid fourth quarter, but the game had already been decided by then. Still, we need to take something from those final ten minutes and carry it into the next game.”
Rokas Jokubaitis: “Our preparation for each of their players wasn’t good enough, and we didn’t approach it as a major challenge. We gave them too much from the start and showed them too much respect. It was only the second game, but every opponent in the EuroLeague has to be taken very seriously. You have to fight, but what we showed in the first half simply wasn’t basketball. They could do whatever they wanted against us. It was better in the second half, and we managed to fight our way back a little. But giving up 100 points is a poor performance. Now we have Partizan at home on Friday – we have to be better in front of our fans.”