In the end, everything had to happen very quickly. “Come on, we have to!” shouted Marko Pesic, manager of the FC Bayern basketball team, and waved his arms.
It was still early on Friday evening. But planes are only allowed to land in Munich until midnight, and the Bavarians have had bad experiences with flights from Berlin, which made headlines, even though it was the football department at the time. And who doesn’t know about the disastrous conditions at Berlin Airport BER, where people sometimes pile up in front of security like on Indian trains?
But the reason for the rush was different. It was about providing what the Bayern team needs most right now: maximum peace and quiet. Because Bayern had won 90:60 at Alba Berlin – and thus forced a fourth final game in the playoff series for the German championship on Sunday in Munich (3 p.m. / live in Magentasport and Sport1). Another success could still lead to a fifth final game on Wednesday – a scenario that just a short time ago seemed hardly possible.
The size of the chance of this cannot be realistically assessed after Friday; there are things that won’t change. For example: the tendential exhaustion of the workforce. But the fact that Bayern have missed their opponents from the federal capital at least one so-called impact hit cannot be denied. Thirty points difference is a statement. Or a denial: Because the Berliners had won the first two finals so convincingly, i.e. were only one win away from winning the third title in a row, it was considered certain that they would receive the trophy.
But: “We just postponed the party,” said Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri. The Italian was asked whether this sounded like pessimism, but he contradicted it. “That’s not pessimistic. It’s realistic.” But it was a little fun for him to have robbed the Berliners of a planned celebration. “You could smell it: the party was here!” Trinchieri said when the game was over and his nose was free again.
“Everything looked too good for us before the game,” said Alba’s manager Himar Ojeda
At Alba, too, they knew that the euphoria had led to a “Maracanazo” in small: Just as the Uruguayans broke up a party against the Brazilians in the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro at the 1950 World Cup in 1950, so did Bayern now in Berlin. “The mind plays along,” said Himar Ojeda, the manager of the Berliners, “everything looked too good for us before the game.” Alba’s coach Israel González also confessed to having had an uneasy feeling at the latest when, contrary to his usual practice, he studied a few articles from the local press, which read like hasty homage. How hasty and ultimately premature announcements of the first championship victory in their own hall since 2003. Alba had committed the last two of the ten triumphs so far in Munich.
Head coach Andrea Trinchieri found the right tricks in the win against Alba.
(Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa)
Bayern were better in every respect, González quarreled with the rebounds, the defense, the throws, the pick and roll, and there was no contradiction possible. There was no facet of the game that Bayern weren’t better at, on the contrary. The brutal difference on the score sheet gave a brilliant reflection of what was happening on the floor, at times his team seemed paralyzed, the second half “had no history,” said González, who succeeded his legendary compatriot Aíto García Reneses at the beginning of the season. Desperate attempts to shoot baskets as quickly as possible, i.e. hastily, there wasn’t much more. Bayern, on the other hand, scored reliably – above all Deshaun Thomas and Nick Weiler-Babb, who each scored 19 points.
Alba was probably already in party mode, “and a bit surprised that we came out with so much energy and self-confidence,” said Andreas Obst. “We were very focused on defense and then played our boots down, also in the second half.” His coach was therefore proud. “This game reflected the culture of my players and our organization,” said Trinchieri. “I don’t think anyone – anyone! – who watched the BBL this season thought before the game that we were going to win today – except for the 50 people around our team and their families.” And in case of doubt, that was even an exaggeration.
“Now we have to remember what a good team we are – and rediscover our identity,” said Alba coach González
Because Bayern had to do without four of five nominal Starting 5 players in Berlin, Leon Radosevic also had to withdraw on Friday, Darrun Hilliard, Corey Walden and Vladmir Lucic had previously withdrawn. “We don’t have control over the result because too many pieces are missing. But we have control over our effort. And we played with the perfect effort today,” said Trinchieri. In the end, Alba was a broken toy. “They kicked our butts,” Alba captain Luke Sikma said.
Is that enough to change the dynamic of the final series? Who knows. The knowledge gained so far no longer sounds so apodictic pro Alba. In the first final game you were “dead” after four games in eight days, said Trinchieri, in game two you “didn’t show up”, “like at the airport if you miss the plane.” Now he spoke to the conscience of the team. “The most important thing I said to my players: You can play badly, you can miss shots, you can make mistakes – but you never give up!”
In game two, they “let themselves be carried away” by their own culture, and on Friday they gave the “perfect answer” because “we returned to our values.” That was a very important message that his team gave him. But she not only arrived on the Bayern coaching bench, but also with the opponent. “Bayern are a proud team,” said González. “Now we have to remember what a good team we are, what good chemistry we have, find our identity again.” Maybe that’s enough, maybe not, González explained. Berlin’s advantage: They still have two match balls, Bayern don’t have any.
