Even with the debut of returning coach Svetislav Pesic, German basketball champions Bayern Munich continued their downward slide in the EuroLeague. The Bundesliga club lost against league leaders Hapoel Tel Aviv 72:82 (32:44) in front of soccer world champion Thomas Müller in their own hall, it was their ninth defeat in a row on the international stage.
“I had the feeling that Tel Aviv played with five players against zero at times. They have to feel our physical presence,” said Pesic after the game at MagentaSport: “Our job for the next games is to improve the defense. We only made three fouls in the last quarter – it doesn’t work that way. Fouls are an important part of the game.”
The 76-year-old Pesic was immediately on fire, stood on the court gesticulating several times and received a technical foul after just a few minutes. However, the successor to world champion coach Gordon Herbert had little reason to be happy: in front of more than 10,000 fans it quickly became 0:7 and at the break it was 32:44. It was only in the final phase that Bayern achieved a somewhat conciliatory result against Hapoel’s second guard.
“It was frustrating, but at least we fought in the end,” said Justus Hollatz at MagentaSport. The world and European champion said about the new coach: “He told us that we should play with courage, that we should play hard. He’s only been there for a day, he couldn’t do much. If we have a few days, we can definitely do more.”
World and European champion Andreas Obst was Munich’s best thrower with 18 points. Elijah Bryant also scored 18 points for the guests.
Bayern remain in the bottom of the table in the EuroLeague with just five wins from 18 games. It continues on January 2nd in Munich, when Hapoel’s city rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv will be guests.
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