With an 83:67 win in the playoff quarter-finals against the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, the FC Bayern basketball team equalized the best-of-five series 1:1 and adjusted the balance of power. The sluggish Munich team, who had fielded their best team except for the injured Nick Weiler-Babb, had surprisingly lost the first match 98:102 after extra time. Bayern world champion Andreas Obst had dramatically brought his team into extra time with a three-pointer at the final whistle to make it 90:90 – and thus supposedly brought the momentum back to their side. But the guests continued to score high percentages from distance, deservedly taking a 1:0 lead in the quarter-final series and stealing the home advantage from the Munich team.
Nevertheless, two days later, coach Pablo Laso sent the same formation onto the field as in the first match: not a good idea. Because they continued where they had left off on Saturday. Simple layups went wrong, free throws were missed and balls were lost. In contrast to the first game, when Bayern initially had everything under control and were always in the lead until three minutes before the end, Ludwigsburg now took the lead and quickly pulled away to 14:7.
FCB coach Pablo Laso has the best quality squad and he will benefit from that in game two
But Laso is known to have a squad of enormous quality, he reacted and sent his three world champions onto the field in the middle of the first quarter. An effective measure, especially since playmaker Leandro Bolmaro, as in the first game, was miles away from his best form. Because Sylvain Francisco was also missing, who had injured his knee in the first game, Isaac Bonga took over the build-up game at times – and proved his versatility with 18 points and eleven rebounds. “His performance was great, he played different positions and helped us everywhere. That was hugely important today,” said Laso.
So it was Munich’s world champions who brought security to the game and swept over the opponent like a wave. At halftime, the lead was double digits, after the break, Bayern finally washed away the opponent: the lay-ups worked, the long-range shots were on target, and minor mistakes hardly crept in. The big difference to the defeat in game one was the defense, which did not allow the giants to make easy shots – and thus more than 20 points less than in game one.
The Munich team has the biggest advantage under the baskets
Nevertheless, Laso saw “a few things we need to improve,” by which he primarily meant the offensive. However, that was due to the guests, who once again proved to be uncomfortable opponents. It was only last Thursday that the Baden-Württemberg team qualified for the knockout round in eighth and last place with a win in their second play-in game against Hamburg. Now they have duped the big favorites thanks to an outstanding shooting rate and at least stood up to them for a long time in the second comparison on a foreign stage. Ultimately, that was “not enough for this opponent,” said Ludwigsburg coach Josh King. But he promised Bayern the next big fight, then on home soil.
Munich’s top scorer was once again Carsen Edwards with 21 points. He even scored 25 points in the first game, but made poor shots in the crucial phase of extra time. Munich’s NBA champion Serge Ibaka also impressed with 15 points and seven rebounds; Overall, Bayern have the biggest advantage in the baskets, where Bonga and Devin Booker also collect rebounds. Nevertheless, after the big surprise in the first game, the cup winners have to win at least once in Ludwigsburg in order to achieve their declared goal: the double.