The Bayern Basketball players have provided a season accompanied by so many setbacks that the first triumph is a glorius feeling: Thanks to an unexpectedly huge 82:57 victory over rival Red Star Belgrade and the parallel results, Andrea Trinchieri's team has qualified early for the EuroLeague playoffs. Last year, in a field of 18, they became the first German team to reach the knockout round of the top division. In the rousing European Cup atmosphere of the almost sold-out Audi Dome with 6,041 spectators, including around 450 Zvezda fans, the Munich team secured its acclaimed 13th win of the season in the second and third quarters (25-15 and 21-10).
The playoffs - opponents still TBD - begin on April 19/20, with the first home game of the best-of-five series taking place at the Audi Dome on April 26/27.
Just 19 hours after the end of the game, the FCBB have to play in Oldenburg (Saturday, 18:00), although it won't be clear until the game day which personnel will travel with them in the morning. It is the first of five away games in eight days: on Monday at Fenerbahce Istanbul, Wednesday also in Turkey at Efes, Friday in Madrid and Sunday in Giessen.
Top scorers Augustine Rubit and Deshaun Thomas
For the Bavarians, Corey Walden and Nick Weiler-Babb were missing again. Their colleagues were behind early, 2:9 and 9:14 (7th) after the first guest threes. In one-on-one, Belgrade also prevailed several times and defended extremely hard in the back. Led by Rubit (22 points) and Thomas (16), FCBB worked its way forward (31-25/16th) - when Lucic increased to 36-27 (18th), the hall went wild for the first time.
After a nervous restart of both teams, for each of which so much was at stake, Munich at 46-33 (24th) already looked comfortable - Jaramaz even increased the lead to 58-40 (28th) with five points! When youngster George scored a three-pointer to make it 66-45 (32nd), the goal was almost achieved. An excellent defensive performance and good team play on offense (18 assists, eleven threes) gave Bayern a reason to party.
FC Bayern Basketball - Roter Stern Belgrad 82:57 (42:33)
FCBB:
Augustine Rubit (22 Poins/5 Rebounds), Deshaun Thomas (16 Punkte), Ognjen Jaramaz (12/4 Rebounds), Darrun Hilliard (9), Zan Mark Sisko (8/4 Assists), Othello Hunter (6/7 Rebounds), Vladimir Lucic (5/5 Assists), Jason George (4), Nihad Djedovic, Leon Radosevic, Andreas Obst, Paul Zipser
Top scorer Belgrad:
Nikola Kalinic (12 Points)
Referee
Borys Ryzhyk, Seffi Shemmesh, Jurgis Laurinavicius
Attendance
6,041
Points per quarter Bayern - Belgrade: 15-18, 27-15, 21-10, 19-14
Stats: Two-point shooting: 5& % (FCBB) // 39 % (Belgrad); Three-point shooting: 4( % // 33 %; Free-throw shooting: 69 % // 72 %; Rebounds: 29 // 35; Assists: 18 // 10; Turnovers: 9 // 14.
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "Last year we had an incredible run to the playoffs. This year is different, but to be able to sit here and comment on the second playoff run is already great for this organization. It was very tough this year because the road was very rocky this time. But today we showed the best team play possible, and that helped the team. Starting with our franchise player Lucic, who saw that our big players were dominating. That's why we wanted to play inside quite often. Then Djedovic's defense comes to mind, Jason George's influence, Jaramaz and Hillard with a lot of minutes in different positions. I am very proud of my players and I think we absolutely deserve to make the playoffs. The game was as expected, hard and physical. We had a slow start, as usual, then we stepped up big time and dominated them 48-25 in the second and third quarters. After that we controlled the game. I really believe that the best is yet to come, but I don't want to think about anything else than enjoying being the coach of this team. (...) In the days before this important game, I didn't realize how we would look in this important game. We prepared with ease, focused on simple things. The Milan game was important for us, it gave us a lot of confidence. Because we were playing without Nick and Corey and we didn't train properly for 25 days - in the middle of the season. We had no players, no form, alien circumstances took everything away from us. So it's very important to have performed like that under a lot of pressure. We showed team defense and team offense and shared the responsibility. (...) We really wanted to get into the playoffs and know that we are the underdog. And then we wanted to soak up the experience from the EuroLeague and transfer it to the Bundesliga. Last year, everything was excellent until we ended up missing two injured guys, Paul and Leon. It's going to be a tough schedule, but we already have the playoffs in the bag. Therefore, we will find a way to survive this schedule."
Augustine Rubit: "It feels great to be in the playoffs for the first time! All the years I played in the EuroLeague. All the hard work, this has always been a goal of mine, to get into the playoffs. We set our goals at the beginning of the season and now we've achieved one of them. [...] You always want to prove yourself at the highest level and that's the highest level in Europe. Of course you want to win, you always want to win. Now the goal is to prove ourselves in the playoffs. [...] We knew what was coming tonight and what was at stake. But we also knew to get into the playoffs, we had to win today. That's why we gave our best effort, that's what every single person on the team did! [...} Honestly, I don't wish for any particular team in the upcoming playoff round, because it's going to be tough against each one. They're all defensively strong teams now, so it's not about who we play. It's going to be tough, but I just want to play and compete with them now."
Deshaun Thomas: "The game went well. We played well and competed well. Everyone played their game and we got the win. Now we still have to keep the playoff spot and try to move up a little bit in the standings in the last three games. From now on it's do or die for us!
Herbert Hainer, President FC Bayern: "A great experience to have a hall full once again. There you saw what we have missed the last two years and what a great atmosphere it was. And at the end of the day, a glorious victory for our team - a great team performance. (...) The course of the last weeks was not completely free of conflicts. We had a lot of people infected with Corona, we couldn't train properly, but we came back well against Milan and showed a great performance today. You can only take your hat off to the team today. (...) This year it's again an incredibly united team performance, you could see that again today, how everyone was happy for the others. And we were relatively close to taking the next step in the playoffs last year. I think the team has real potential to do anything. But I still realize that we have to go step by step. That's also what I've always said, that we want to get to the European top in the next three to five years, and with this team we've certainly taken another step. (...) This is definitely not an April Fool's joke, we really won (as on 1.4.21)! That's why "never change a winning formula", that's why we would like to play on the first of April again next year."