The basketball players of FC Bayern have already surpassed their record from last season (8-20) on the 13th gameday of the EuroLeague. Head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team celebrated a convincing 76-62 home win against the French champions Asvel Villeurbanne, who have been in good form recently, and earned their ninth win. The third-placed Munich squad defended outstandingly for long stretches, partly with a clever zone defense, and were ahead for the entire game. The FCBB also won the rebounding duel against the athletic guests (37-32) and also compensated for the absence of its most outstanding player so far this season: Vladimir Lucic was missing due to back problems. Center Jalen Reynolds shined with a double-double of 17 points and eleven rebounds.
The hellish pace of the schedule continues in about 42 hours as the FCBB welcome the Giessen 46ers to the Audi Dome on Sunday (Dec. 13th), tip-off at 15:00. The next EuroLeague challenge awaits on Wednesday at Zenit St. Petersburg (17:00).
FC Bayern Basketball - Asvel Villeurbanne 76-62 (42-25)
FCBB
Jalen Reynolds (17 Points/11 Rebounds), Nihad Djedovic (11), Leon Radosevic (11), Zan Mark Sisko (9), Wade Baldwin (7), Paul Zipser (7), JaJuan Johnson (7), D.J. Seeley (5), Nick Weiler-Babb (2/6 Rebounds), Robin Amaize, Diego Flaccadori (dnp) und Sasha Grant (dnp).
Topscorer Villeurbanne
Allerik Freeman (12 Points)
Referee
Sreten Radovic, Jurgis Laurinavicius, Amit Balak
Points per quarter Bayern - Villeurbanne: 24-15, 18-10, 18-19, 16-18.
Stats: Two-point percentage: 45% (FCBB) // 45% (Villeurbanne); Three-point percentage: 43% // 35%; Free-throw percentage: 87% // 73%; Rebounds: 37 // 32; Assists: 14 // 13; Ball losses: 11 // 17.
Quotes:
Andrea Trinchieri: "We had to play a little bit differently today than usual because Lucic was out and we only had a small rotation with our big men. But I'm happy because my team trusted my words and followed my instructions. We played with a good energy and kept going after a mistake. We didn't have much time to prepare for this game, only one practice. We led the whole game and won the rebound duel, which was very important today - our defense was great. We deserved to win because we performed as a team. It wasn't a normal win because, as I said, we had to reorganize a bit, but we played smart and I'm happy for my players. We miss Lucic, of course. You can cry then or you can embrace the challenge and accept it. That's what my players did, I'm very happy about their intelligent, smart performance."
Leon Radosevic: "Everything we do, we have to approach with 120 percent - then the plan will work. The 9-4 record after the 13th gameday is very good. No one could have predicted that, but we are of course very happy about it. But we also work very hard for that."
Game recap:
Trinchieri started Wade Baldwin, D.J. Seeley, Nihad Djedovic, JaJuan Johnson and Leon Radosevic. Munich got off to a very good start with a brisk 8-0 run including two Djedovic threes - timeout Asvel. Smaller mistakes did not have a particularly detrimental effect, because the French did not have much success against the mobile zone defense. A three-pointer by Paul Zipser marked a 13-5 lead (5th). The Munich team had the guests under control as Jalen Reynolds scored with a clean hook shot (19-11/8th). Zan Mark Sisko sank a three-pointer six seconds before the end of the quarter to make it 24-15 for Bayern.
A beautiful pass from Sisko to Johnson was converted by the latter for a three-point play and the first double-digit lead (27-15/11th). The Munich defense was hard as rock and the guests saw little success on offense (31-17/13th). The FCBB created very good shots but didn't score for four minutes. Radosevic ended this with two buckets to increase the leade (35-21/17th). Suddenly, the Munich team was able to do almost everything offensively again and a clear 42-25 lead was the result of a very strong team performance.
The French came out of the dressing room more aggressively and sank two threes, but the Munich team answered with Seeley scoring his first EuroLeague points for Bayern (44-28/21st). Reynolds asserted himself under the basket and heaved the lead towards 20 points (56-37/25th). With a clear lead, the hosts took a little speed out of the game and time off the clock. Asvel went on a 7-0 run (56-44/29th) but Bayern rallied in the final minute and took a 60-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Trinchieri stifled any relaxing from his team with clear instructions from the sideline (64-49/33rd) and distributed the minutes among many shoulders for a nice ninth win in the Euroleague.
TO THE SCHEDULE
Photo Credit: Eirich, Rauchensteiner, Stickel, Pahnke