The basketball players of FC Bayern Munich suffered their first defeat of the BBL season on the 15th gameday: Some 42 hours after their EuroLeague loss in Piraeus (89-72), they lost 81-74 despite a combative finish against second place Ludwigsburg. The FCBB's lead in the standings is still comfortable with a four-point lead.
BBL Standings
In their third road game in just under five days, coach Oliver Kostic's team obviously suffered from scheduling and staffing problems. In front of 4,100 spectators, Bayern lagged behind for almost the entire game. In the middle of the last quarter, they came to within six points, but open shots did not find their way through the basket and several important rebounds went to the hosts. 16 turnovers in the first 30 minutes also showed a lack of concentration and freshness from the German champions, who had to play without the ailing Vladimir Lucic and Nihad Djedovic.
Next Thursday (23.01, 20:30) is another tough Euroleague matchup against the third-placed Maccabi Tel Aviv and their star Scottie Wilbekin.
TO THE TICKET-SHOP
Points per quarter Bayern - Ludwigsburg: 10-15, 21-22, 20-24, 23-20.
Facts & Figures - Two-point shooting: 59% (FCBB) // 52% (Ludwigsburg); Three-point shooting: 27% // 31%; rebounds: 32 // 37; assists: 20 // 12; turnovers: 16 // 10 - Injured: Nihad Djedovic (back), Vladimir Lucic (foot), Mathias Lessort (cd).
FCBB stats: Greg Monroe (18 points), Paul Zipser (13 points, 7 rebounds), Josh Huestis (12, 3/5 threes), Maodo Lo (9), Leon Radosevic (6), TJ Bray (5), Danilo Barthel (5), Petteri Koponen (4), Zan Mark Sisko (2, 6 assists), Diego Flaccadori and Alex King.
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Oliver Kostic: "Congratulations to Ludwigsburg on a good game over 40 minutes. Unfortunately, the things we mentioned after the last game (in Piraeus) happened again today. We wanted to limit the transition points for the opponent and their offensive rebounds as well as our turnovers. But all these things were why Ludwigsburg won. However, there is not the huge disappointment now, because we had to expect that at this stage and in the process we are in now.
It's been a long week with three tough road games and we've never had such a schedule in recent years. It was difficult to handle mentally and physically. So it was clear that such a series could happen. But we don't need excuses now, Ludwigsburg played very well today. We'll continue to work on the things I mentioned, then the victories will come back in the future."
Paul Zipser: "It is always very hard to play here. Ludwigsburg is a good team, that's why they are so far up the standings. We brought the intensity, but in the end there were too many mistakes. That must not happen. All the 50-50 decisions went to the opponents this week. We also did a lot of good things, especially in the first two games this week, so we can be happy with that. When we have a bad quarter, things just go too bad. Everybody gets runs, but we have to be careful that they don't get too big for our opponent. I think if we improve on that now, people will see that we're a different team."
Ludwigsberg coach, John Patrick: "It was a very competitive game today. Respect to Bayern for what they have to achieve in the EuroLeague with the two games on Wednesday and Friday and then here. That certainly played a role. We were fresh and in the end we wanted to attack with our guards. We succeeded."
1st quarter
The FCBB started with Maodo Lo, Paul Zipser, Danilo Barthel and Greg Monroe. The Munich team obviously still had the two tough Euroleague losses in their recent past and it seemed to pay a toll on the team mentally and physically. Six turnovers and no goals in six attempts from distance explain the low score in the first quarter. Nevertheless, Bayern took the lead shortly before the first quarter break through Leon Radosevic, 10-9. Eight of the ten points in the first quarter were scored by Center Monroe and Radosevic but at the break Bayern was down, 15-10.
2nd quarter
The shooting was poor (1/8th from three) before the break and in the sencond, the Giants sent the champions to the line frequently as 17 free throws were taken by the FCBB in the first half -14 found the target. The tired looking guests tied the game until the final minute and were even in the lead at one point before they suffered their tenth turnover seconds before halftime - enabling a Ludwigsburgs buzzer beater and a deficit of 37-31.
3rd quarter
This self-confidence from the buzzer beater was obviously taken by the hosts into the second half, in which Ludwigsburg early on took a double-digit lead for the first time. With the lead the home team also benefited from being early in the foul bonus. At the free-throw line they extended their lead with easy points and in the meantime increased their lead to 15. Bayern was able to finish the quarter with a 7-2 run by Radosevic, Barthel and a buzzer beater from Josh Huestis to shorten the lead to 61-51.
4th quarter
Huestis found his rhythm with the last bucket before the last quarter break and contributed with two more threes to get back within seven. But the hosts always found the right answer to these small runs and quickly regained a double-digit lead. In the final phase, Lo brought the visitors promisingly up to six points back, 77-71. Zipser had the last chance to reduce it to four points with 23 seconds left but his shotfrom the corner rolled out and the game was finally decided.
TO THE SCHEDULE
Want to be at the next Bayern home game? Then secure your tickets now.
Photo Credit: Stickle