Basketball-Bundesliga
Tension after Bayern comeback – “kicked in the butt”
Bayern’s head coach Andrea Trinchieri shouts something to his team. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Suddenly everything is open again. Bayern’s basketball players fought their way back into the final series. Now they want to equalize on Sunday. For Alba, the burden of expectation was too great.
On Saturday, the basketball players from Alba Berlin went on the road again. However, not with the championship trophy in their luggage to celebrate somewhere on a Spanish party island, but in Munich.
Because the fourth playoff final of the basketball Bundesliga will take place there on Sunday (3 p.m. / Sport1 and Magentasport), after Bayern proved to be a party crasher in Berlin on Friday and shortened the series to 1: 2. Instead of master intoxication, there was a little bit of shock in the arena at the Ostbahnhof. “They kicked us in the butt,” said Berlin’s Luke Sikma.
FC Bayern surprises Alba in Berlin
The big question now is how both teams will react to Bayern’s surprising 90-60 in Berlin. Actually, everyone had firmly assumed that Alba would make the third German championship in a row clear on Friday with the 20th win in a row. The defending champion had always been too dominant recently, and Bayern, who were badly battered in terms of personnel, seemed too battered.
But then the Berliners had a bad day, while the Munichers played their best game of this year’s playoffs with the feeling that they had nothing left to lose. «You can make mistakes, but you must never give up. That was the best answer you can give today,” said the proud Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri. “The game shows the culture of our team and the entire organization,” said the Italian.
The people of Munich were very annoyed by the fact that in the run-up to the third game there was only talk and writing about the upcoming Berlin champion’s party. With a sweep, i.e. a defeat in three games, the star ensemble from the Isar did not want to say goodbye to the season. «You could smell it: everything was ready for the title party. Nobody in the BBL expected us to win here today,” said Trinchieri.
Djedovic: “Have shown character”
In the run-up, the coach had therefore no longer discussed basketball-specific things, but only appealed to the pride and honor of his players. With success. The Bavarians were there right from the start and taught the paralyzed Berliners a lesson. “Everything was against us, but we managed to show character,” said captain Nihad Djedovic.
That’s what Alba will do after the home gossip. “The result doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how you react to it,” said Alba Managing Director Marco Baldi. “We lost the big game for which everything was arranged. You have to make sure that you get it out of the system immediately.”
Bayern, who flew back to Munich right after the end of the game on Friday evening, have hope again. Managing Director Marko Pesic euphorically high-fived Bayern President Herbert Hainer after the win. “It was really strong today,” said Pesic. “Now it’s time to regenerate and to build on that on Sunday.”
