Bayern loses EuroLeague opener against Istanbul 90-71

FC Bayern Basketball lost the first game of the EuroLeague against the Turkish cup winner Anadolu Efes Istanbul 90-71. In the first quarter, 4,732 spectators witnessed some good play from the Munich players but from the the second quarter onwards, had too little to oppose the marksmanship of the guests from three and were seriously undermined in the third quarter. Nihad Djedovic was with 17 points the top scorer for Bayern.

Pointer per quarter - Bayern - Anadolu: 19-18, 18-26, 14-28, 20-18.

FCBB Stats: Nihad Djedovic (17 points/4 threes), Stefan Jovic (15), Vladimir Lucic (11), Petteri Koponen (10), Devin Booker (9), Danilo Barthel (6), Braydon Hobbs (3), Nemanja Dangubic, Leon Radosevic, Maodo Lo, Alex King and Robin Amaize (dnp).

Quotes:
Dejan Radonjic, head coach of the FCBB: "Congratulations to Anadolu Efes. They played very well today. After 15 minutes they had control over the game. We had a lot of defensive problems and Anadolu Efes punished every mistake we made. We only played a few minutes well, that's too little for the EuroLeague and to win against teams like Efes. The level in the EuroLeague is very high and we have to play much better on defense and make fewer mistakes to survive there." 

Anadolu head coach, Ergin Ataman: "The key to our victory was that we defended better and more aggressively from the second quarter onwards. We gained control of the game and that helped our self-confidence. In the second half we started with a more defensive line-up and turned the game around, then things went better on offense and we played perfectly. It was our first EuroLeague game this season with a lot of new players. We have shown that we are a good team and therefore the victory was very important".

1st quarter:

The Bavarians started the eagerly awaited first EuroLeague match with Stefan Jovic, Vladimir Lucic, Petteri Koponen, Danilo Barthel and Devin Booker. The German champion served their fans a first delicacy at the highest international level with a remarkable dunk by Devin Booker and an early tie at 4-4.. Braydon Hobbs came onto the court and, three seconds later, he introduced himself wonderfully with a three and Bayern took an early and surprising lead at 17-9. A weaker phase of the Munich team, marked by missed shots and turnovers was used by the visitors for an 8-0 run and that balanced the score out at 17-17. After the first ten minutes, the Germans were barely in the lead at 19-18 over the Turkish Cup winner.

2nd quarter:

Bayern increased the intensity on defense and forced Istanbul turnovers while  Stefan Jovic and Petteri Koponen sank their shots. However, the Turks demonstrated their quality, turned the tables around and took the lead 28-26 - time-out FCBB. When Tibor Pleiß nailed a three and two of his team-mates also hit from distance, FCBB coach Radonjic took another time-out. But even this interruption could not stop the considerable momentum of Anadolus but a three-pointer from Stefan Jovic shortened the lead to 44-36 heading into half.

3rd quarter:

In the first half, the visitors owed their lead mainly to an excellent 58% shooting and their strength from beyond the arc. They hit their first two attempts and forced Dejan Radonjic to time-out after just 70 seconds. The Munich team, on the other hand, had numerous opportunities to convert from a distance for three points, but all attempts missed the target. Anadolu was simply more hardened and continued to distance themselves 62-43. Two minutes before the end of the quarter Istanbul led b 21 points. After the third quarter the Munich team were behind by 21 and looked overmatched. 

4th quarter:

The fans turned up and drove Bayern once more courageously and loudly, but unfortunately the Reds couldn't succeed in the front enough, put up too many bad shots and failed to defend the three-point line. Nihad Djedovic was the only one of the Reds who could hit his shots and sunk three three-pointers in the final quarter. Overall the team's performance was not sufficient to take a victory from the guests who appeared to be the vastly superior team.

Upcoming games for Bayern:
- Sunday, 14.10., 15:00: Braunschweig - FCBB (BBL)

- Tuesday, 16.10., 20:30: FCBB - Athens (EuroLeague)

- Thursday, 18.10., 21:00: Barcelona - FCBB (EuroLeague)