Defeat of the Bayern basketball players in Berlin: “They simply overran us.”

As announced, fuel has become more expensive since the beginning of the year, and you can also see this on the digital displays at gas stations in Munich. This is bad for drivers, and also bad for the FC Bayern basketball players, whose coach Gordon Herbert openly said after the game that his team “ran out of fuel a bit” towards the end. It was just lucky that Herbert’s words were dated December 27th, when his club had just lost the Euroleague game against Panathinaikos Athens 69:80 – it was the first home defeat this season in the highest European club competition.

Back then there was actually still a few days left to refuel cheaply. Only: A week and a half later the gas seems to have run out again, the defeats on January 3rd at Real Madrid in the Euroleague (76:88) and on Sunday in the Bundesliga at Alba Berlin (81:88) hardly leave any other conclusion to. And the statements of those involved also fit into the picture: “They simply overran us, it’s that simple,” said Devin Booker, for example, who was still the best Munich player with 19 points and nine rebounds on this last Christmas holiday afternoon in Berlin. Coach Herbert didn’t dare to use a fuel metaphor again, but used a very similar term for at least one game sequence: “In the last three or four minutes before the break we lost control, we lost the ball, we got tired.” The first words in the club’s media release sent out in the evening were: “Battery empty”.

“With the deep bench we have, we have to use all of our guys, especially after a tough Euroleague game,” said Bayern’s Booker

The duel against the Albatrosses, who have since fallen to 15th place and are in severe crisis, was actually intended to cement Bayern’s dominance against their rivals, who once often played on equal terms. That’s what the game initially did, Bayern were ahead by 19 points in the second quarter. But shortly before the break you already suspected that they would lose their nimbleness. The hit rate fell and ball losses increased. And when in the middle of the third quarter, once again after one of Munich’s 15 turnovers, Berlin’s Malte Delow served Alba center David McCormack wonderfully under the Bayern basket, it became more and more obvious: the game was now tipping towards Berlin. McCormack garnished his total of 20 points (and five rebounds) – a BBL record for him – with a dunking. At the end of the fourth quarter, Will McDowell-White destroyed Bayern’s last attempts at victory with two three-pointers.

“It was definitely a factor that we played on Friday, but we can’t use that as an excuse,” said Bayern’s booker, followed by a few words that almost sounded like a warning: “With the deep bench we have , we have to use all of our boys, especially after a tough Euroleague game.” Bayern had only arrived in Berlin from Madrid on Saturday evening, and a day and a half after the challenging Euroleague duel they had to go back to the parquet. And Gordon Herbert left Carsen Edwards on the field for 33:33 minutes, the tired-looking Andreas Obst for 32:28 minutes, and the disappointing Shabazz Napier for 29:23 minutes.

Maintaining balance and giving the regular players rest at the right moments will now be Herbert’s priority task. But the Canadian has to realize that his bench is not very well staffed compared to Europe’s top players. When, as is now the case, key players like Nick Weiler-Babb or captain Vladimir Lucic are missing injured, as has been the case for many weeks, that is enormously significant. In order to continue their promising Euroleague start, Herbert will hardly be able to avoid a tough decision: to use his bench even more in the Bundesliga until the playoffs, which makes further defeats there more likely – but increases the chance that Edwards, Booker, Obst, Voigtmann and Co. recover and don’t turn into the finish line with a completely empty tank.