Playoffs, baby! The Bayern basketball team stole the first game and home advantage from the Telekom Baskets of Bonn at the start of the semifinal series. Head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team triumphed 80-68 in front of 6,000 fans in the sold-out Telekom Dome and now lead 1-0. With a 26-16 third quarter the Munich team took the momentum and never looked back. The passionate Bayern team inflicted only the third home loss of the season on the second-seed Bonn.
The top scorers were Vladimir Lucic (19 points), Ognjen Jaramaz (17) and Nick Weiler-Babb (16) and together the Bavarians clearly dominated the rebounding duel (42:24).
In about 46 hours, it continues with Game 2 on Monday night (20:30/MagentaSport & Sport1 live), again in Bonn. Next Saturday night (20:30), the series finally moves to Munich's Audi Dome.
Telekom Baskets Bonn - FC Bayern Basketball 68:80 (35:33)
FCBB:
Vladimir Lucic (19 Points, 7 Rebounds), Ognjen Jaramaz (18 Punkte), Nick Weiler-Babb (15, 8 Rebounds), Deshaun Thomas (8), Othello Hunter (8, 4 Rebounds), Andreas Obst (5), Augustine Rubit (4, 6 Rebounds), Leon Radosevic (4, 4), Nihad Djedovic (1), Jason George, Joshua Obiesie und Paul Zipser
Top scorer Bonn:
Parker Jackson-Cartwright (14 Points)
Referee
Moritz Reiter, Christof Madinger, Armin Mutapcic
Attendance
6,000
Points per quarter Bayern - Bonn: 18-16, 15-19, 26-16, 21-17
Stats: ZTwo-point shooting: 75% (FCBB) // 44% (Bonn); Three-point shooting: 29% // 31%; Free-throw shooting: 95% // 59%; Rebounds: 42 // 24; Assists: 17 // 16; Turnovers: 21 // 11.
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "First of all, I want to congratulate these fans; the atmosphere, the mood was incredible. We played the way we wanted to in the second half. It's 1-0, no more, no less. I'm sure Bonn will come back super strong. And the most important thing in a best-of-five series is to raise the level. (...)
Today we had a bad first half with many mistakes and 14 turnovers; normally we average ten turnovers over the season. In the second half we were considerably better, despite still losing seven balls; at least we reduced that by 50 percent. But the key was our good defense and excellent rebounding - 42 to 24 rebounds was the key of this game, without us shining. But with some guards missing, it wasn't easy either.
Now we have to be better on offense, better on defense and better on concentration in the second game. Bonn has had a great season so far, they are a very good team, very well coached and have beaten us very badly here. (...) When we lost the ball we were just too sloppy, we got the ball inside, Bonn closed inside and we often thought it was done with the pass. That's where we have to be better."
Vladimir Lucic: "I think on defense we were very solid today. We were able to stop the Bonn players and the MVP of the league and take away the idea that he will be the main person. On offense, we did a very good job of attacking Bonn's weaknesses. It's 1-0, we still need to get two wins. Bonn is a strong team, they were the league leader for a long time this season and dominated in the series against Hamburg at 3-0. They deserve to be here. Because of their quality and aggressive defense, we had so many turnovers."
Game recap:
For Bayern, playmaker Zan Mark Sisko (4.9 apg) was still absent due to back trouble, Corey Walden (back) and Darrun Hilliard (season-ending shoulder surgery) were also absent for Trinchieri; Othello Hunter and Jason George, who have been ailing recently, were in the squad, however.
Many turnovers before the break
Their coach saw a 6-0 start (4th) and a lot of physicality on defense, but Bonn pressed extremely tightly on the tempo in transition. The guest, in turn, skillfully brought the ball into the zone - 18-16 lead after an intense first quarter. Despite 14 turnovers before the break and problems from the three-point line (3/12), they initially remained at eye level because Bonn also had to fight hard for every basket in front; even league MVP Jackson-Cartwright (6pts, 14 in the end).
Bayern counter highest deficit
38-33 after the restart was the highest deficit - and was quickly turned into a 40-38 lead. A fierce fight for every centimeter and advantage finally developed and the Bavarians turned up the heat. Lucic hammered the ball through the ring, Weiler-Babb hit from three, Jaramaz added six points and Hunter also turned in some points - 59-48 (30th)
The nice lead didn't last long, as again turnovers and Bonn's physicality let it melt to 59-58. But the Bavarians accepted this hard fight, Lucic did anyway and the leader brought his team forward again (67-58/35th). At 73-58, the game was ultimately decided early and the defensively strong FCBB found the free man again and again and shone as a collective.
(c) Stickel, Wolter