In the six seasons that German national player Niels Giffey has been playing in the Basketball Euroleague, he was allowed to throw a free throw 149 times. Number of hits: 123. Hit rate: 82.5 percent. For Giffey, throwing free throws and hitting free throws are a habit. On Thursday evening, when he played with FC Bayern Munich in the Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne Arena, he added the 150th and 151st free throws. But one thing these litters were certainly not: ordinary.
There were only two seconds left to play in the second overtime when Giffey was allowed to go to the free throw line – and wanted to decide the game. The score: 100:100. But he missed the first attempt. “I wanted to hit the first free throw and miss the second,” he said later.
Spectacular victory for Bayern
Because the missed throw would have kept the game clock running and most likely even expired without the French being able to sort themselves out with a timeout. But now Giffey had to convert the second attempt – and did so: 101:100. The French were able to plan the final throw in the following timeout, but when it didn’t find its target, that was really it.
But it wasn’t just Giffey’s throws that made this victory so spectacular from Munich’s perspective. In extra time, shooting guards Nick Weiler-Babb and Sylvain Francisco made the free throw final possible with three-point shots under great pressure. And yet this victory – the fourth in the tenth Euroleague game – had to be asterisked.
Jürgen Kalwa, New York Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4 Jürgen Kalwa, New York Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3 Stefanie Sippel Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4
On the one hand, because the very important players Andreas Obst and Leandro Bolmaro were injured (the diagnoses are still pending). On the other hand, because if Bayern want to achieve their ambitious goals in the Euroleague, the game against the bottom team should not only be decided in the second overtime.
