The expectations for the basketball players at FC Bayern Munich are high. After four years without a championship, the most important national title is to be brought back to the Isar, and the Euroleague, the most demanding European competition, has play-off ambitions. For this purpose, two top-class players were hired: coach Pablo Laso, who led the basketball powerhouse Real Madrid for eleven years, and NBA champion Serge Ibaka.
But the vehicle, which was equipped with a lot of horsepower, had difficulty getting rolling at first. Bayern, who almost all experts had chosen as the clear favorites for the championship, only won four of the first seven Bundesliga games. In the past few weeks, however, many things have moved in a good direction. This development accumulated in the clear 95:80 win against champions Ulm. For the first time this season, the Munich team lined up with their best line-up.
End of the injury problem
Captain Vladimir Lučić made his comeback after an eight-month injury break and hit all of his throws in (still) manageable playing time. World champion Andreas Obst was available for a seven-minute gallop after five weeks without match practice. The squad also included Sylvain Francisco, Leandro Bolmaro, Carsen Edwards, Devin Booker and Serge Ibaka as foreigners and Nick Weiler-Babb, Isaac Bonga, Niels Giffey, Niklas Wimberg and Elias Harris as Germans. No other club can implement the 6+6 rule in the Bundesliga with such quality.
The end of the injury problem provides optimism, but even more important is the team’s progress. In the first weeks of the season, many sequences still seemed uncoordinated. One got the impression that the players were too busy with themselves. That has changed fundamentally. The team seems much more homogeneous at both ends of the field because the teamwork and timing has improved fundamentally.
With his presence and shot blocking, Ibaka is a defensive anchor at the highest European level, and scorer Carsen Edwards, who initially took too many risks with his shot selection, is now acting much more consistently. This also applies to the playmakers. The Argentinian Leandro Bolmaro is only 23 years old, the Frenchman Sylvain Francisco is three years older but has no experience at Euroleague level.
The two newcomers have found their niche and have already taken the coals out of the fire for Bayern here and there. Bolmaro, who actually acts more as a classic playmaker, was the top scorer against Ulm with 19 points. With his speed, Francisco presents himself as a constant threat towards the basket. Like Edwards, he tends to overdrive at times, but the balance in the Munich game is much more finely calibrated than it was a month ago.
FC Bayern is in a better position
This is of course a credit to Laso, who always had to manage squads full of top players in Madrid. His ability to moderate such situations profitably is undisputed. There may not be a better coach in Europe when it comes to creatively assigning roles. The Spaniard is a master at keeping everyone in line. Role distribution and role acceptance – Bayern have recently made big steps in these areas. This is also reflected in the interaction between the players. Communication has become more intense and positive.
Many observers had expected that the Laso coach swap for Trinchieri would also bring about a paradigm shift in the playing system. So far, this has only been recognized to a limited extent. The Munich team still has the slowest pace in the league (i.e. they have the fewest ball possessions per game on average), but the players enjoy more freedom. Defensively, Bayern are more conservative and rely on their length.
Anno Hecker Published/Updated: Recommendations: 7 Jürgen Kalwa, New York Published/Updated: Recommendations: 8 Stefan Koch Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2
Before Christmas, the Basketball Bundesliga announced that it would host the top four tournament for the cup, which Bayern will enter as defending champions, on February 17th and 18th in Munich. First the victory over Ulm, then home advantage in the race for the first title of the season. This was followed by the confident Euroleague victory against Anadolu Efes Istanbul, in which the world champions Obst (with a perfect three-point ratio) and Bonga particularly shone.
And even if Bayern lost against Monaco afterwards, they are in a much better position before the home game against Valencia this Thursday (8.30 p.m. on Magentasport) than was the case just a few weeks ago.
The author is a two-time Coach of the Year.
