The Audi Dome goes crazy: The FCBB are in Game 5!

The playoff spectacle for Bayern Basketball is not over, quite the opposite: The eighth-placed team of the EuroLeague regular season defeated the big title favorites FC Barcelona, 59-52 in game four on Friday night after an energetic performance. Thus the underdog will fight for the first ever entry of a German team into the Final Four next Tuesday (21:00) in Barcelona in the decisive fifth duel as they did last year against Milan.

Barças Offense verstummt

Vor 6.500 entfesselten Fans im ausverkauften Tollhaus Audi Dome organisierte Cheftrainer Andrea Trinchieri gegen das Starensemble um Nikola Mirotic (7 Punkte) nichts anderes als eine defensive Meisterleistung. Sein Team zermürbte den am Mittwoch (75:66) noch so souveränen Gast und führte Ende des dritten Viertels plötzlich mit 19 Punkten. Der Vorsprung hielt trotz schwindender Kräfte. Die meisten Punkte holte Nick Weiler-Babb (12), zehn Spieler scorten.

Die Bayern begannen ultraentschlossen und zwangen Barça zu schweren Würfen (18:10/10.). Der spanische Champion suchte seine Big Men, doch Hunter räumte Davies ab und von der Bank kommend punktete Schilling! 29:17 nach 15 Minuten, die Halle bebte - und trug ein Team, das sich in der Verteidigung zerriss, bis zur Pause nur zweimal den Ball verlor und Barcelona bei 25 Punkten und drei Assists hielt. 

Der FCBB erhöhte auf 48:29 (29.) und die Frage war jetzt: Können die Bayern diesen enormen Energieausstoß überstehen? Sie konnten, obwohl es am Ende noch mal enger wurde. Doch das Publikum half und Barça, das beste Dreier-Team der EuroLeague, verzweifelte zu lange in der Offense – die nächste Münchner Sensation war perfekt.

Am Sonntagabend geht es bereits weiter im Audi Dome, wie auch immer das funktionieren soll nach diesem Energieverlust: Würzburg ist zum Südderby zu Gast (20.45 Uhr).

Points per quarter Bayern - Barcelona: 18-12, 18-13, 14-9, 9-18.

Stats: Two-point shooting: 45% (FCBB) // 39% (Barcelona); Three-point shooting: 17% // 17%; Free-throw shooting: 86% // 73%; Rebounds: 42 // 37; Assists: 15 // 9; Turnovers: 9 // 13

Quotes:       

FCBB head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "Of course I'm very proud and very happy for my players. To force game five for the second year in a row (...), this time without Hilliard and Walden, who didn't play a minute in the series, that's an incredible accomplishment by this organization. It's 2-2, but I haven't seen such a different four games in any playoff series. We have to regenerate now, whereas we have another BBL game Sunday night. I'm not good at enjoying good performances from my team anyway, but today I don't know what to do, how to handle this situation. Hopefully more than a good bottle of wine will help me with that.

I want to thank the fans: the atmosphere was completely different from game three, they pushed us today. And I also want to thank everyone from the office of the club who made it possible to sell out two halls in two days. They did a great job, just like my players were great on defense. That's how we were able to win a game with 17 percent shooting from three and 45 percent from twos and with barely half the free throws as Barça.

On Tuesday "in the jaws of the shark"

That was a great win by the team with great defense. On Wednesday we were still consumed by wanting to win, we were a bit naive. We fell into the trap. It's like kids you tell them ten times not to do that - then you turn around and they do just that. But the whole team gave a maximum performance today. When your team responds like that in a do-or-die game, the sky's the limit. I know what's coming on Tuesday, but no one is going to take away the privilege of playing this game anymore - in the jaws of the shark. I enjoyed everything today, the effort, the concentration, the attention. There were few tactics today, today we stood our ground.

When Marko (Pesic) signed me, he not only wanted a coach, but also a partner. And as a partner, I am very happy in my role for the club, what we have achieved the last two years; with different personnel, on different journeys. The resilience, our values, the culture is a great thing. No matter the outcome of game five, we've taken a big step. We know who the favorite is, what kind of game it's going to be. But nobody is going to take away the privilege of being there.

No, we don't have a chance, but not having a chance is a chance. Today we matched their physicality. Can we do that again? That's the key. (...) We need to recharge the tank now. I'm very excited about the game because we shouldn't really have it for many reasons. But we didn't want to accept the realities of our season, that everything went wrong that could go wrong.

We should go there now and look the Barça players in the eye. Not on their shoes."   

Augustine Rubit: "We showed some inspiring defense. We wanted to come out and take advantage of fouls; but you couldn't expect that, to hold them to 52 points. Our goal was to make life difficult for them. If you want to win, you have to go for it. We've played similar defense all season, but against a great team like this, you just have to fight. Not allowing easy baskets, that was the difference. Anything is possible in Tuesday's game. Just the possibility of getting to the next round via this one game is overwhelming. We have to keep the focus and be ready for the fight. My goal this season was to make the playoffs, but now more is possible - and that's awesome."

Nick Weiler-Babb: "We put up a great fight from start to finish. In the second half, we came out and dug in. We had some stops. We played as a team offensively and defensively."

Club President, Herbert Hainer: "An incredible performance, simply a fantastic evening! The team fought tremendously, played superbly, defended excellently. When you see how few points Barcelona scored in a game like that and how fantastic the atmosphere was in the Audi Dome today, it really was one of the best evenings I've spent here."

General Manager, Marko Pesic: "Except for the first 15 minutes on Wednesday, we were always fully in this series. The fact that you come back today with such an energetic performance deserves huge respect. I've been with Bayern for eleven years now, but I've never experienced an atmosphere like today in the Audi Dome. Two games within 48 hours and both sold out with such an atmosphere, that means a lot to the players and also to me. (...) We have overperformed in the last two years. The distribution of points today is evidence of a fantastic team performance. That's what makes us and now we'll see what we can do with it on Tuesday."

Game Recap:

Nick Weiler-Babb, Andreas Obst, Vladimir Lucic, Augustine Rubit and Leon Radosevic made up FCBB head coach Andrea Trinchieri's starting five. In contrast to Game 3, Barça was slowed down at the beginning of the game. The first three-pointer of the Munich team also dropped from Weiler-Babb for a 3-2 lead (2nd minute of the game). The FCBB played on equal footing and the score was 7-7 after five minutes. The coach distributed the playing time on many shoulders. The players gave their all, analogous to the enthusiastic fans, and led thanks to points from from Rubit and Lucic 11-8 (7th). The guests struggled to find the rhythm, but the Bavarians did not allow it and in their turn started to roll. Djedovic was served finely by Hunter for 16-10 (9th). Hunter blocked Davies spectacularly at the basket, and at the other end of the floor Thomas scored for an 18-10 lead. After the first quarter, FCBB was ahead 18-12.

As in game two, Bayern dominates the favorite

The heavy favorite actually seemed unsettled, but at the same time the Bavarians gained in self-confidence. Schilling made his way under the basket, Sisko took the lead to double figures with a clever basket (22-12/12th). With every basket the Munich team shed its too-high respect for the opponent. Barcelona tightened up considerably on defense, but Bayern knew all too well what was at stake today and countered - with everything they had to offer (27-17/13th). The intensity was evident in Vladimir Lucic, who was almost reeling after his effort as he moved towards the bench to rest. After five quick points from the guests, Trinchieri took a timeout (29-22 (17th). The Munich offense was stopped time and again but the willpower of Jaramaz cracked the Spanish wall and provided five consecutive points for a 36-25 lead at halftime. FCBB's excellent team performance was evidenced by the fact that ten of the eleven players had already scored at the half.

The second half started spectacularly with Lucic being served by Sisko with millimeter precision for an alley-oop dunk (38-25/21st). The first-place team in the EuroLeague was prevented from scoring for a full five and a half minutes by the Bavarians. In this phase, however, Lucic and Co. failed to extend the lead (39-25/26th). Barça was off the the mark however and theFCBB did not put the ball in the basket either, except Hunter for a 41-28 score (26th). Jaramaz dribbled past Calathes, went around two more Spanish giants and passed to Weiler-Babb, who hit a three-pointer to make it 44:28 - right in front of the guest coach Jasikevicius, who took a time-out with a shout (28th). The fans rose to their feet in appreciation, for they were treated to a spectacle they had hardly thought possible: Bayern dominated the great FC Barcelona, allowing only nine points in this quarter and leading 50-34.

Munich's team defense excels 

The Spaniards were looking for their go-to-guy for these cases: Mirotic. But his shots also just missed the basket, and the Munich team was highly successful on the boards. The lead held and moved into the comfortable range of 20 points (56-37/34th) - Barcelona timeout - thanks to buckets by Weiler-Babb and Rubit. But the usually fiery volcano Jasikevicius visibly lapsed into silence in the face of what he saw on the floor. Bayern kept the top favorite at bay. In a fabulous attacking sequence around four minutes before the end of the game, the Munich team grabbed three offensive rebounds in a row and drove the Spaniards to despair, because a lot of time ran off the clock. And finally, the fouled Weiler-Babb sank two free throws to make it 58-40 (37th). Carelessness helped Barça to take a 7-0 run and suddenly the guests had come up to within ten points (59-49/39th). The FCBB once again mobilized the last forces and drove in an overwhelming second victory to equalize the best-of-five series. See you on Tuesday in Barcelona for the do-or-die game!

SCHEDULE

(c) Eirich,  FCBB, Pahnke & Stickel