“We want a fresh start now,” the Bundesliga basketball players were quoted as saying on Wednesday, and nobody can really doubt that this restart is necessary. However, the statement did not come from those responsible at FC Bayern Munich, who would have been expected to make such a confession that day.
After all, FCB Honorary President Uli Hoeneß was not the only one who left the Audi Dome well served after the 58:71 defeat against Alba Berlin in the second championship final game. The 70-year-old only used the gossip sporadically during the course of the game on a Tuesday evening that was frustrating from a Munich perspective. However, the restart statement came from Yannick Binas, managing director of the Fraport Skyliners, who, according to the club announcement, have parted ways with coach Luca Dalmonte.
Despite the commitment of the interim coach for the last third of the season, Frankfurt could not prevent the sporting relegation, the Hessians only remain in the basketball league thanks to a wild card. So the situation for the Skyliners is not comparable to that of Bayern, and Munich coach Andrea Trinchieri is also sitting very firmly in his coaching chair, as far as we know (although the emotional Italian never really sits, but almost exclusively cries while standing).
But this so-called restart, which the Munich team will definitely need in the third duel of the final series on Friday (7 p.m.) in Berlin. In any case, after the two sobering defeats at the start of the best-of-five series, they have earned the status of an underdog, and hardly anyone should bet on them anymore. The fact is that Berlin can become German basketball champion for the third time in a row after 2020 and 2021 – and even Trinchieri speculated on Tuesday evening after the home defeat in view of their own lack of chances: “You are ready for the party.”
Of course, such sentences are always a popular trick to lull the competitor into security. At the same time, pretty much all the data and the circumstances speak for the Berliners. Statistically, they not only won the game clearly on points on Tuesday, but also the rebound duel, which not only Trinchieri, but also Berlin’s coach Israel Gonzalez considers the key in this final series.
“I have to find a way for my players to go the extra mile on rebounds,” said Trinchieri on this subject – knowing that his players recently gave the impression that they could not go many miles. Nick Weiler-Babb was the only one to convince in this area in Munich, but in Berlin there was a trio: Oscar da Silva, Luke Sikma and Louis Olinde. Alba also had the far better rate of two, and the Berliners are currently showing far greater energy and team spirit.
Bayern are now obviously paying tribute to the focus on Europe
The Munich team, on the other hand, hardly have any more promising options for a change, in addition to Darrun Hilliard (broken collarbone) and Corey Walden (muscular problems), who have been injured for a long time, the co-captain Vladimir Lucic, who is so important for emotional stability, was also absent on Tuesday, one who also can sometimes provoke the opponent and sweep his own team away, which is why he likes to be booed in foreign halls. And who often hits the very important throws. According to Trinchieri, Lucic will also be absent from Berlin on Friday evening.
Bayern have long focused on their Euroleague season, sometimes playing enthusiastic basketball there, like in the quarter-finals against Barcelona, which they narrowly lost in the crucial fifth game. The fact that they have made it into the playoffs there for the second time (no other German team has managed this step once) is a great success on the credit side of their balance sheet. The embarrassing end of the cup in Chemnitz stands in contrast to this success – and if the game in Berlin is actually lost, plus the final series then 0: 3, they could hardly sell the Bundesliga season as a great success.
Bayern are now obviously paying tribute to the focus on Europe, they reached their peak in the quarter-final series against Barcelona mentioned – after that their performance curve steadily went down.
Berlin dropped out a few weeks earlier after the preliminary round as a decent tenth in the most prestigious European club competition, just behind Bayern – and is now in worthy playoff final condition. While the cup winner Alba is now heading for the double and his eleventh German championship, the Munich team have to fear that they will go away completely empty-handed. If that happens, and with three Berlin match balls, everything points to it, it would also be a big disappointment for Trinchieri, who collected national titles almost on the assembly line during his time at Brose Bamberg between 2014 and 2018. With Munich he has only won the cup title in 2021.
And speaking of numbers: Becoming champions with 20 wins in a row would be a new BBL record – and an additional motivation for Berlin to snatch the rebounds from Bayern again in front of 14,500 spectators at the Mercedes-Benz event, which has been sold out since Wednesday Arena.
