The FC Bayern basketball team lost the top game of the Bundesliga against Alba Berlin 100-62 on Sunday and were clearly outclassed from the second quarter on. After a good first quarter (23-21), the Munich team lost the thread on offense, which the clearly fresher and more focused guests exploited with speed and very good shooting. Especially in the zone, the strain of the week was visible for the FCBB against a ferociously defending opponent (23% in the first half). In addition, playmakers Wade Baldwin (3) and Zan Mark Sisko (4) got into foul trouble before the break.  After the break, Trinchieri gave youngsters Grant and George, as well as players who had been less busy recently, plenty of playing time. For Bayern it was the eighth loss in the 31st BBL game of the season.

For the FCBB, the playoff series against Olimpia Milan (0-2) continues on Wednesday evening with the first home game, a do-or-die duel. A win would earn them a game on Friday, also at the Audi Dome.   

Points per quarter Bayern - Berlin: 21-23, 9-29, 16-31, 16-17

Stats: Two-point shooting: 45% (FCBB) // 73% (Berlin); Three-point shooting: 37% // 40%; Free-throw shooting: 71% // 88%; Rebounds: 20 // 32; Assists: 16 // 22; Turnovers: 17 // 15.

Quotes:
Andrea Trinchieri: "Considering the season we've had so far, this game is unacceptable; towards ourselves, towards the club. We can cite many reasons, but none is sufficient to explain what we did today. This performance was totally unacceptable and I repeat myself: for what we have done so far, we don't deserve such a performance."

Aíto, Coach Alba: "We had a good focus in intensity on defense and offense in the game. After Bayern got weaker, we didn't always have that focus. But in the end it was a good win in Munich. (...) It (the top games in the EuroLeague playoffs) means a difficult situation, because to balance two competitions with EuroLeague is very difficult. Now they (Bayern) are in the playoffs and have this task and when we were building a lead, they had problems with their intensity. (...) The schedule is a problem, all the leagues want to have a lot of games, plus Fiba with its windows and a lot of games. 32 teams are playing the World Cup, it's more, more, more - and it's not possible. Everybody is just looking at their situation and I think that's not good for basketball. For basketball, it would be good if players can recover and play with intensity - every game."                            

D.J. Seeley: "We came out and weren't ready to compete. It wasn't a good performance by us, at all, defensively or offensively. We have to learn from that and take that into practice to develop for both the playoffs and the BBL. At the end of the day, Berlin was more ready than us and wanted the win more than us. For Wednesday, of course, it's difficult, but I feel we can do it. It's a do-or-die game and we have nothing to lose. (...) The coach was quite short in the dressing room because we have to settle this thing among ourselves."

Game recap:
Wade Baldwin, Jason George, Vladimir Lucic, James Gist and Leon Radosevic were Trinchieri's starters in the classic between the German EuroLeague contenders. Tired legs or not, the Munich team initially got off to a good start and led 6-2. The Berliners caught up but Baldwin converted the first three-pointer of the game to make it 11-7 (3rd). The guests then grabbed the lead with a 7-0 run (14-11/7th). FCBB stayed in it though as Zipser equalized with a three-pointer to make it 21-21 (9th). After the first quarter, Bayern trailed only 23-21 thanks to Maodo Lo's basket to take the lead for Berlin.

The Berliners set off with a renewed 7-0 run, which was only stopped by Lucic (30-26/14th). Alba picked up their play and dominated the boards and the scoring. Several poor shots by Munich in or at the zone did not find the target and the deficit continued to grow. In view of the double-digit deficit, Trinchieri took a timeout (37-26/16th). The Berliners were now always one step faster while the hosts were far away from finding any rhythm. The powerless and helpless Bayern squad lost the quarter 29-9 - 52-30 at the half.

Trinchieri came out of the dressing room early, he brought Grant, George, Kramer and Amaize next to Radosevic. The signs for the further, painful course were clear. After three minutes, the deficit already amounted to 30 points (64-34). D.J. Seeley scored now and then while Baldwin, Gist, Lucic and Zipser were left on the bench. Berlin played on undeterred and at this point had a whopping 74 percent scoring rate fromt he field. 83-46 after three quarters. The one-sided story did not change in the final quarter.

TO THE SCHEDULE

Photo credit: Eirich, Stickel, Pahnke