FC Bayern basketball players beat Alba in German duel at the start of the Euroleague – Sport

There was the thing. The world championship trophy stood shining in gold in the foyer of Munich’s BMW Park, driven up by the President of the German Basketball Association, Ingo Weiss himself. A long line of people who had their photo taken with the gold piece showed that the hype surrounding the German basketball players’ World Cup title is far from having died down. So the officials from the association and the two clubs also surfed the World Cup wave for a bit.

It was also a special game on Thursday evening: On the one hand, the two German representatives in the Euroleague met in their season debut. On the other hand, the four world champions remaining in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) were in a direct duel against each other on the court. Incidentally, it was no longer quite as glittering as it was at the start of the BBL season, because that LED glass floor is not in the European premier class authorized. After the four world champions Johannes Thiemann, the only one on the Berlin side, as well as Isaac Bonga, Andreas Obst and Niels Giffey, who sat down in civilian clothes on the sidelines after his cold, from the hands of Weiss, FCB President Herbert Hainer, Munich managing director Marko Pesic, to whom Alba colleague Marco Baldi and record national player Patrick Femerling each received a halved basketball that was of course also shiny gold, the first Euroleague assessment quickly gained momentum. Ultimately, the favorite retained the upper hand 80:68 in front of 6,057 spectators in the not sold-out hall.

Especially in the first half it wasn’t a basketball treat. Alba captain Thiemann had reminded before the game that both teams were still in “a phase of discovery” due to mini-preparation and players who had joined the squad late. This was initially difficult to overlook, especially for the hosts, because after a quick start and an 8-2 lead, Bayern lost all sovereignty after Berlin equalized. To speak of a lack of fine-tuning would be an understatement, just as the passes sailed into the hands of the opponents or straight into nirvana. The shooting percentage on the host side also remained miserable. No matter whether from a distance or with a layup, hardly any attempt hit the target.

Berlin takes advantage of the opponent’s shortcomings and leads FC Bayern with 44:36 points at halftime

The Berliners were already one step further. Led by Thiemann, who has transformed his strong World Cup form into everyday league life, they dominated events. What was all the more surprising because coach Israel Gonzalez was missing two big players in Christ Koumadje and Yanni Wetzel. In addition, the World Cup drivers Ziga Samar (22, Slovenia) and Matteo Spagnolo (20, Italy) still lack experience in game design. Consequently, in addition to Thiemann, Louis Olinde, who at 25 is one of the veterans in the Alba team and, like Thiemann, was the top scorer with twelve points, was responsible for the 44:36 halftime lead.

The way new Bayern coach Pablo Laso walked angrily into the dressing room alone didn’t bode well for his disappointing staff. Afterwards he reported with a smile about a calm speech; it was too obvious how far his players had fallen short of their potential. At least Bonga and director Sylvain Francisco, who represented France at the World Cup, played well in the first two quarters and kept the deficit bearable. This was immediately equalized with an 8-0 run after the break, and from then on the Munich team proved how much quality there is in their squad.

NBA signing Serge Ibaka (8 points, 9 rebounds) impressively demonstrated how his athleticism under the basket helps Bayern’s game. Devin Booker (10/6) and Nick Weiler-Babb (8 points) are slowly finding their Euroleague form, Andreas Obst (8) misses are the rare exception, and Argentine guard Leandro Bolmaro (10) is visibly acclimatizing. But the influential actor is Bonga. Since the flexible guard moved into the starting lineup for the injured Franz Wagner at the World Cup in Okinawa, he has shown one top performance after another. It wasn’t just his eleven points and ten rebounds that were noticeable, Bonga drives the Munich game and gets into the heads of opposing attackers when he blocks shots or steals balls while dribbling. “He was great and important on both ends of the field. He closed down Brown at the beginning, got rebounds and attacked the basket,” praised Laso, who attested to his guard having a “complete game.”

After the change, Bayern stormed to a 61:51 lead, especially Berlin’s 17:49 rebound deficit seemed to come from a school game; the last quarter became a formality. Alba has a difficult season ahead of him in the European premier class, but coach Gonzalez can at least hope for the return of his two centers Koumadje and Wetzel. Colleague Laso then spoke of a solid performance – especially in the second half. The first one was miserable, Laso admitted that. And that his team is in the middle of a discovery process.