Bayern loses thriller at Fenerbahce despite come-back

The Bayern Basketball team was unable to improve its starting position for the EuroLeague postseason on Monday: The team of head coach Andrea Trinchieri lost an exciting thriller in front of 8,300 spectators at Fenerbahce Istanbul 81-76 despite a fabulous comeback.

With a 13-13 record, the only German playoff participant so far remains in eighth place, which would mean a duel with the regular season top-team, FC Barcelona.

Fener started the game extremely aggressively (19-6/7th), came too easily to points, often on the board. A 31-16 deficit was the result, and on offense they struggled to find solutions against physical opposition. "We look like a flat tire," Trinchieri complained at the break (9-18 rebounds).

After this, however, the FCBB were suddenly pumped up by a 21-2 spurt and took the lead 52-47 after a good five minutes! Hilliard's three-pointer even increased it to 62-52, and the fantastic third quarter went 31-9 to the FCBB. However, a 12-0 counterattack put the Turks back ahead 64-62 in a hot duel. In the end, they decided the game from distance against the now deflated guests.

Top FCBB scorers: Rubit (17) and Hilliard (13). Corey Walden and Nick Weiler-Babb were absent from the Munich team.

On Tuesday, Bayern will take up quarters on the European side of the Bosphorus, and on Wednesday (19:30) they will be guests of defending champions Efes Istanbul. On Friday (20:45), the regular season ends in Spain's capital at EuroLeague favorite Real Madrid before heading home again for BBL action in Giessen (Sunday, 15:00).

Quotes:     

FCBB head coahc, Andrea Trinchieri:. "Congratulations to Fener for a great game and a good victory. Also, I want to underline what kind of fans they have here. Because Fenerbahce is out of the playoff race, but they supported and pushed the team until the end - a great job also from the fans, We had a very bad 20 minutes at the beginning, then we played great for 15 minutes of the second half. After that, some plays didn't work out, maybe due to lack of energy and we lost some concentration. But overall we had a very solid game and only some great plays by Henry and Vesely prevented us from going home with a win. (...) In the first half we were terrible on defense, offense and rebounding. In the second, we showed more effort. In terms of a playoff game, that's certainly not going to be enough. Because there, no team will let you come back after being down 15 points. But the good thing is that we were able to adapt today and find a way into the game. Adaptations and adjustments are very important in the playoffs, the little things. But we also played against a good team and that's the best way to prepare for the playoffs. (...) We generally shoot the ball with good odds and in my calculation there are always about ten threes that you should make. Today it was a little less and that's one reason for the loss."                

Nihad Djedovic: "Unfortunately we missed it today in the first half, we played poorly and were already down 14 points. Then we fought back, played well and also had the option to win. In the end, we lacked a bit of concentration. Still, we showed a good reaction and can take some positive things out of this game for the next one, which is already in two days."

Game recap:

FCBB head coach Andrea Trinchieri initially ordered Zan Mark Sisko, Andy Obst, Vladimir Lucic, Augustine Rubit and Leon Radosevic into the fight for the best possible position for the playoffs, which will start soon. The FCBB started too hesitantly, Rubit was only successful after about two minutes and the score was 5-2. The defense could not get going, and turnovers did the rest - after five minutes, the FCBB was down by double digits and already had five team fouls to its account (14-4). Thomas brought some offensive power on the floor and Jaramaz added a three-pointer to make it 21-11 (8th minute of play). A courageous three-pointer by youngster George helped a little but did not change the considerable 27-16 deficit after the first quarter.

Danilo Barthel, the former FCBB captain, poured in four points against his  former team and Trinchieri clearly needed to talk on the subject (31-16/12th). Bayern's attacks lasted long and seemed imprecise, so the catch-up demanded by the coach remained unlikely. The fans had their fun, which  Jaramaz knew how to cloud a little with his speed (33-22/16th). However, not everything worked for Fenerbahce either, which meant that the Munich team at least didn't need binoculars (38-28/18th). The last two minutes belonged to Istanbul and led to a large and disappointing deficit at halftime, 45-31

Reinvigorated Bayern turn the rudder around - 21-2 run to take the lead

Munich now looked much more committed and went on a 9-2 run that forced ex-Bayern coach Djordjevic to call a timeout (47-40/23rd). The Munich team had seized the momentum and were now unstoppable and equalized within four minutes at 47-47. Now the opponents played with reversed roles: The Munich team was in the flow, while nothing worked for Istanbul. With a fantastic 21-2 run, the FCBB took the lead (52-47/26th). Fenerbahce held out and stayed in the game but the FCBB was now unstoppable and, with will and enthusiasm, turned a 14-point deficit into an eight-point lead within a quarter - 62-54 after quarter three.

Four-minute lull costs the victory 

The Munich defense now acted variably and confidently, but the momentum and thus the success faltered at the other end of the floor. Open shots were missed and the Turks worked their way back (62-59/33rd). The Munich team went more than four minutes without scoring and Istanbul was whipped into the lead by the crowd, which was getting louder again (64-62 Istanbul/35th). Bayern caught itself just in time as Darrun Hilliard sank important shots, including a three-pointer for a 69-68 lead (37th). Fenerbahce benefited from a timeout and pulled away to 73-69 (38th). Rubit showed strong nerves and sank three free throws to get to within one (73-72/ 126 seconds left). Jan Vesely put Istanbul back in front by three points followed by Hunter converting just one of two (75-73/72 seconds left). Pierria Henry was successful with a three-pointer, then Lucic was fouled on a three-pointer - he then knocked down all three free throws (78-76 Fener/ 42 seconds left). Vesely was looked for and found by Istanbul and scored to take a four-point lead 80-76 (28 sec. left). Hilliard misses the three-pointer and the game slipped away from the FCBB. 

SCHEDULE

(c) FCBB, Stickel, Adanali