Basketball: Bavaria’s final point in a messed up season

The season of the big favorites FC Bayern is finally messed up, the early exit in the Euroleague and the semi-final defeat in the cup in their own hall against Bamberg was now followed by the final defeat in the championship fight. Legendary coach Svetislav Pesic was denied a title at the end of his great career; the 76-year-old was deeply disappointed: “I was not able to form a team that can come back from difficult moments.” The coach was referring to the 20-point lead at halftime (47:27), which his team gave up.

The Berliners had already achieved something similar on Friday when they were down by double digits at the start of the third quarter (42:52) and demonstrated their extraordinary resilience. As a result, his team scored nine points in the last 15 minutes, a negative record that will be difficult to beat in the future.

A twenty point lead at halftime is not enough for FC Bayern

So the big question before Sunday was how the people of Munich were going to get this collective blackout out of their heads before the showdown in their own hall. Especially since the Berliners had already duped them there in game two of the series. What succeeded brilliantly – at first: After an even opening phase (15:15), the Munich team increased their defensive work to a high level. Berlin no longer got easy throws and was instead forced to lose the ball. And FCB scored again, led by their best: Andreas Obst, who contributed 16 points to the 47:27 halftime lead.

But after the change, the young Alba team once again proved how much they had found themselves and developed after a mediocre start to the season. No matter how clear the deficit may be, no opponent should be too quick to write off this selection. Mattisseck, Justin Bean (both 18 points) and Malte Delow (14) in particular took over. First, the Munich team fended off the guests’ first attack (52:46) and before the final quarter they were back in double digits to make it 66:53. But by then the albatrosses had already crawled deep into the opponents’ heads.

The more confidently their long-range shooters hit, the more Bayern’s hands shook during their throws. And once again it became clear how dependent the team is on the accuracy of their world and European champions. If Andreas Obst (24 points) has a weak phase, there is no player to step into the breach. Neither Justinian Jessup nor Isaiah Mike scored in the decisive phase, Nenad Dimitrijevic, recently one of the most reliable players in the squad, and Justus Hollatz also failed to score. Only veterans Vladimir Lucic (10) and Oscar da Silva (12) reliably score points alongside Obst. The Berliners were completely different, as they rarely made a bad throw, no matter who tried. The reasons? “I have no idea,” said Niels Giffey, he was the only Munich resident who tried to explain.