Three days after Milan Bayern lays an egg against Ulm

Three days after their departure from the EuroLeague playoffs, the Bayern Basketball team suffered a not entirely unexpected home loss at the hands of in-form BBL rivals, Ulm. Munich, which was without many regulars, lost 98-64 to its opponent in the Cup semifinals next Saturday (May 15, 16:00) at the Audi Dome. For the current third-place team in the league (48-18 points record), it was the ninth loss in the league. In the 34th and final game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon, head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team plays host to first-place Ludwigsburg.

After the highly emotional fifth playoff duel in Milan, the FCBB was recognizably without sufficient energy and intensity. They also played with almost the same squad as last Sunday in the transition game in Goettingen (102-90), i.e. without Baldwin, Lucic, Sisk, Reynolds and Zipser, who were under a lot of physical and mental strain in the EuroLeague. Nihad Djedovic and Nick Weiler-Babb are still missing due to injury, but Trinchieri again brought in the 22-year-old captain of the second team in his second BBL appearance, Erol Ersek, as well as the other FCBB young talents. Against a guest team with a very strong game and strong shooting (54% threes), which started in its best line-up, the clear loss of the game was to be expected. After the first quarter, the score was already 35-18 due to eight turnovers - in the end, 26 turnovers. The top Munich scorer was Robin Amaize with 15 points.            

Points per quarter Bayern - Ulm: 18-35, 14-21, 17-17, 15-25.

Stats: Two-point shooting: 55% (FCBB) // 68% (Ulm); Three-point shooting: 33% // 54%; Free-throw shooting: 83% // 77%; Rebounds: 25 // 25; Assists: 15 // 24; Turnvoers: 26 // 13.

Quotes:

Andrea Trinchieri: "The EuroLeague season is now over. And for all the understandable reasons, I have to say that this was a very poor performance. I would prefer to say unacceptable, but I said that here only 15 days ago and I don't want to repeat myself. But that's what we are right now: a weak team, without energy and the desire to play defense; without the minimum it takes to be competitive. There is not much time to find a new balance, to play in a different way and get back to our style. We have the Top Four coming up for the Cup and then the playoffs in ten days. I think we should stop talking about the EuroLeague now. The season was incredible and great, we went over our limits and had a fantastic run. But now we have to focus on reality, day by day."  

Robin Amaize: "We had no intensity and no energy, we lacked the necessary tension. Ulm defended hard from the start and built pressure, and we weren't ready for it. We had no tension, which is maybe a bit understandable with all the player changes and after the tension in the EuroLeague playoffs. But unfortunately that happened to us too often, especially at home. That's no excuse, but we have to put the game behind us. We'll play again next week against Ulm, and there's something at stake. But we have to perform differently already on Sunday against Ludwigsburg."

Daniele Baiesi, Sports Director: "It is an honor for our entire organization and a luxury to have earned it, to have reached a fifth game in the playoffs against Milan. This is a milestone in the growth of our club. The transition back to BBL life won't happen with a snap of our fingers, it will be a process. Of course, some of us have to recover first because they were drained by the EuroLeague. And we have two players out injured at the same position, so others have had to go over their limits. But we still have our goals for this season and hopefully we win our last game of the season."    

Jaka Lakovic, Coach Ulm: "We are happy about the win. I think we played a good game, shared the ball a lot and found good solutions. and a very good game. But of course we have to keep in mind that Munich had a lot of their stars resting; they had a tough series in the EuroLeague, not only physically but also emotionally, so I understand that they are at this point right now where they need to recover. I have to congratulate Munich for a great EuroLeague season. For us, it was one more game, a good win and now we have to continue like this, maintain our game and improve it." 

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Photo Credit: Eirich, Stickel