An extremely weak rate of three, far too many turnovers and ultimately a more effective opponent: Baskets Bonn conceded their first league defeat against Ludwigsburg in the BBL.
On Saturday (November 26th, 2022) the Baskets Bonn lost in the top game to the giant Ludwigsburg on a foreign court with 80:84 (26:20, 23:24, 20:23, 11:17). Bonn’s top scorers were TJ Shorts and Jeremy Morgan with 21 points each. Ludwigsburg’s Prentiss Hubb was player of the game (24 points).
Bonn will remain at the top of the table for the time being, but the competition for Alba Berlin and Bayern Munich can catch up on Sunday. Bonn’s top scorers were TJ Shorts and Jeremy Morgan with 21 points each.
Bonn starts like a top team
The combination of Shorts and Morgan worked right away. And so Morgan scored for three immediately after the tip-off, with Shorts adding two points. Bonn started extremely determined, played their own game and found straightforward solutions against Ludwigsburg time and again on the offensive.
In the style of a top team, the Baskets gave the home side little breathing room, Michael Kessens took the 10:2 lead. There was a problem at Ludwigsburg. Shorts were unstoppable for the hosts, confirming their excellent form of the last few weeks. And delayed the attack with a strong body deception, just before he confidently scored the next points in the zone.
Ludwigsburg stays tuned, Bonn quota could be improved
But Ludwigsburg slowly bit into the game after the clear conditions in the initial phase, moved more aggressively to the basket and gradually came up to 11:12.
Bonn also gave Ludwigsburg a few free throws, the Baskets had five team fouls after six and a half minutes. Even Bonn’s three-pointer rate, the best in the league to date at 42.6 percent, has not yet gotten the baskets onto the court. In the first quarter, only two of eight distance shots landed in the basket. Nevertheless, Bonn’s 26:20 lead at the end of the first quarter was okay.
Baskets compensate three-way quota with offensive rebounds
At Ludwigsburg, it was Hubb in particular who made sure that the giants really hit the Bonn team. Although he was often tied on defense against shorts, he always scored offensively from the three-point line.
But Bonn regularly found the right answers. It was an exchange of blows at eye level, both teams scored diligently at high speed and high physique in the game, with Bonn being better at offensive rebounds and thus effectively compensating for the weaker three-pointer quota up to the half-time whistle.
Ludwigsburg puts better pressure on shorts
After the restart, Ludwigsburg was better able to put pressure on shorts. And this had an effect, a bit of hecticness and inaccuracy spread among the people of Bonn. The giants fought back, Bonn coach Tuomas Iisalo took a break.
Hubb continued to defend strongly and pinned down Sebastian Herrera with good footwork forcing Morgan to take a difficult three and miss. Ludwigsburg equalized, the Bonn three-way quota was now only 19 percent.
Bonn lost a total of nine turnovers in the third quarter. And there it was, the first Ludwigsburg lead of the game thanks to Dunn. From Bonn’s point of view, it was 61:62.
Narrow final quarter: Bonn ultimately narrow winner
However, the Baskets actually started the final quarter with a very small lead (69:67) because Kessens showed a strong block in the third quarter when Ludwigsburg attacked.
But it was an extremely close game. Shorts hit an airball from the three-point zone, but Ludwigsburg didn’t use the momentum either, Hubb only hit the basket ring.
At least for now. Because the hosts seemed to have more grip and took the lead again. Leon Kratzer and Kessens were eliminated with their fifth fouls, and Shorts also ran out of strength a little. The litter rate remained poor. Ultimately, Bonn deservedly lost to the simply more effective Ludwigsburg.
