Bayern's Hard-Fought Battle Goes Unrewarded

There was only one thing missing: a reward. Despite a strong, hard-fought performance, Bayern Basketball narrowly missed their first EuroLeague home win against FC Barcelona on Tuesday evening; in front of 11,100 spectators at the SAP Garden, Anton Gavel’s team lost 84:88 (42:41). In the closing phase, the favorites ruthlessly capitalized on Munich’s mistakes, and Bayern remain on just two wins.

Stats Quotes

Already by Wednesday at midday, the BBL leaders are heading to Serbia for part two of the double week, the road game at Crvena Zvezda Belgrade on Thursday. The next home games: next Tuesday (8 p.m.) against Braunschweig and on November 15 against MBC, both at BMW Park.

17 points from Norris and Jokubaitis

7:2 and 13:10 after two dunks from Norris; the opening looked quite different this time compared to recently. However, Barça kept getting to the rim; Munich needed more physicality and more ball movement on offense: after a 0:11 to 13:21, Gavel called a timeout (9'). And they managed to close out the quarter, 17:21.

FC Bayern Basketball – FC Barcelona 84:88 (42:41)

Full Boxscore

Hollatz’s defensive pressure added even more intensity to Bayern’s play, with Thiemann making it 26:23 (13th minute). They kept the game close, despite giving up a few rebounds and struggling to find their shooting rhythm. When the refs called the first foul against Barcelona in the final minute (!) of the second quarter, Washington converted an and-one to give Bayern the halftime lead.

It’s still anyone’s game at 78:79 with possession

In the third quarter, the defense failed to generate enough stops against the guards, and Barcelona (70% on two-pointers) also capitalized on its size advantage—61:64 heading into the final ten minutes. The FCBB made too many mistakes during this stretch to take control of the game; turnovers on throw-ins or conceding backdoor points took their toll (67:73/32nd minute).

However, Munich showed great fighting spirit: a rebound and Beauchamp’s fast break made it 78:79 (39th minute)—unfortunately followed by their 13th turnover. The next one came at 78:81, and the three-pointer to tie the game also missed. Barcelona, on the other hand, kept scoring; they were a bit more composed.

Quotes:

Anton Gavel, head coach of FC Bayern Basketball: “Of course we wanted to win this home game, but unfortunately we couldn’t stop Punter in the fourth quarter and gave up a few turnovers. That cost us the chance to win this game. We didn’t get to the free-throw line very often and, up against their physicality, we only tried to score from the outside. I think we need to attack the basket a little more. (…) Their guards were sometimes able to drive to the basket uncontested—our communication wasn’t there. At times, we were too aggressive in closing out players who aren’t that dangerous from the perimeter, which opened up gaps.

The four road games we have coming up certainly won’t be easy. But we need wins, no matter where—preferably as early as Thursday—even though we know how tough it will be. We’ve picked up two wins on the road, and now we need another victory to restore our confidence. (…) It’s a shame we couldn’t reward the fans for their support- thank you; they’ve been pushing us the whole time. (…) We have to get out of this situation now, but we can only do that together. It’s now up to us coaches to clear the players’ heads.”

Miles Norris: “We got off to a good start, but we should have kept it up. It was a step in the right direction. We have to stay focused in practice and stick together as a team. (…) We hope to get the win in Belgrade.”