Bayern fight back, but once again too late

Still no home win at the third attempt: Bayern Basketball suffered a heavy 107–91 defeat (63–36) to Dubai on EuroLeague Game 7 after a poor first half. The more than 9,000 fans at the SAP Garden could not prevent their team’s defence from going missing in the opening half as Bayern spent far too long on the back foot against a Final Four contender. As they had against Besiktas the previous week, Bayern showed real resolve in trying to fight back. But the deficit was simply too big—and Dubai’s play too polished.

Stats Quotes

Anton Gavel’s team must now recover from the setback before Sunday (4:30 p.m.), when they host Hamburg at BMW Park and look to defend top spot in the BBL. Next week brings a EuroLeague double week, with Barcelona visiting on Tuesday (8 p.m.) before Bayern travel to Crvena Zvezda Belgrade on Thursday.

FC Bayern Basketball – Dubai Basketball 91:107 (36:63)

Boxscore

63 points conceded before the break

Bayern made nothing like the energetic, fast start they had hoped for. Their passive approach led to three quick turnovers and an 8–22 deficit by the eighth minute. Dubai were allowed to pick their shooting spots with too little pressure, while Bayern’s offence ground to a halt. The score was 29–11 shortly before the end of the first quarter—a spell that gave the hosts plenty to discuss.

Bayern fell 34–17 behind, and fight had to replace uncertainty. There were signs of life, but Dubai repeatedly answered with clinical three-pointers, sometimes even banking them in, to make it 44–25 in the 15th minute. The final play before half-time ended in another turnover—Bayern’s ninth. By then, Dubai had already made nine threes and recorded 18 assists.

31-19 in the third quarter

Bayern had come back from 28 points down against Besiktas the previous week. Could they do it again? Andreas Obst’s three-pointer made it 78–65 in the 28th minute, as Bayern outscored Dubai 31–19 in the third quarter. Nothing seemed impossible.

But the visitors’ individual quality—and several contentious interpretations of the rules—meant there was to be no close finish this time.

Quotes

Anton Gavel, Head coach FC Bayern Basketball: “Congratulations to Coach Pascual and his team on a thoroughly deserved win. We gave up 63 points in the first half and 107 overall—you’re not going to win a home game like that. We scored 91, which should normally put you in contention for a win. But that wasn’t the case, because their shooting percentages—especially from two-point range—were brutal. Defensively, we were non-existent in the first half. (…) I have to do a better job of preparing the players. This isn’t the first time we’ve dug ourselves such a hole. We were awful defensively, and in attack we just tried to play one-on-one, which didn’t work. In the second half, we moved the ball a little better and found some good looks. (…) We can’t keep going into half-time 20 points down. In the EuroLeague, you don’t come back from that. We can’t put in a performance like this in front of our own fans, either. That’s on me, and we have to show a different side of ourselves on Sunday and then again on Tuesday.”

Vladimir Lucic: “That was a disappointing performance. We were too selfish in offence and couldn’t find a solution against their switch defence. That’s not how we want to play. When you give a team with that kind of quality and talent such a big lead, it’s hard to come back. At that point, it hardly matters how you perform in the second half. The only positive was that we showed a reaction in the third quarter. Now we have to find a way to fight back. At the same time, we have to be realistic: the EuroLeague is full of talented players. Some teams have 15, 16 or 17 very, very good players. We have to try to compete with them and get better from game to game.”