Beko German Basketball League playoffs: Brose Baskets advance to the semi-finals in commanding style

Brose Baskets have reached the semi-finals of the Beko German Basketball League playoffs in the German championship in commanding fashion. The title-holders won the third quarter-final game against s.oliver Baskets from Würzburg by 93:58 to make a clean 3:0 sweep of the series.

The third quarter-final encounter between the German champs Brose Baskets and s.oliver Baskets Würzburg, who had gained promotion to the top flight this season, was a one-sided affair: the team of Head Coach Andrea Trinchieri produced a gala display for the third time in succession and did not give the other side from Lower Franconia a whiff of a chance. After Elias Harris put the first points on the board (3:0), Würzburg’s Dru Joyce struck back to tie the scores (3:3), but after that it was all Bamberg: Harris, Janis Strelnieks (11 points) and Nikos Zisis put the scoring machine into overdrive, producing a run of 17 without reply to help their side surge 20:3 ahead. As in the first two games, the home side guarded its own basket incredibly well, with the result that Würzburg only drained a meager four out of its 14 shots in the first period. Since Trinchieri’s team drained nine out of 13 and also buried ten out of eleven free throws, it opened up a clear lead after the first quarter (31:12). Thanks to four lay-ups and slam-dunks by Elias Harris, Bamberg extended the gap to 30 points (47:17) after 15 minutes; a comeback by the visitors was out of the question by that time, even though they reduced the deficit by one point by half-time (56:27).

With an 11:0 run shortly after the break through Radosevic, Miller, Melli and Heckmann, Brose Baskets stretched the lead to 38 points (69:31) after just 25 minutes and were well on the way to setting a new record for the highest home win in a playoff in the history of the German Basketball League (97:52, Brose Baskets – Frankfurt in the 2010 final). Just before the end of the third period, top scorer Elias Harris gave his side its highest lead with a half-distance shot (78:39). Head Coach Andrea Trinchieri then put on the young playmaker Andi Obst, thereby resting his point guards Brad Wanamaker and Nikos Zisis and also demonstrating that he was not bothered about breaking records or humiliating Würzburg. Indeed, the visitors from Lower Franconia were even able to take the final period narrowly by 17:15. However, that did nothing to prevent the German champs running out clear winners.

Andrea Trinchieri commented: “Congratulations to Würzburg on a fine season. We had the deeper bench, so had a better rotation and were able to decide the series in our favor. I can only start preparing my team for the next opponent when we know who that will be. The biggest mistake an athlete can make is to already pick something to prepare for. I’d guess Bayern will win the series against Ludwigsburg by 3:1, but that’s a 51:49 percent chance and just my own opinion.”

Trinchieri’s team faces its first game in the playoff semi-finals next Sunday, May 22, 2016, at the unusual tip-off time of 1:20 p.m. Its opponents will be decided in the quarter-final series between FC Bayern Munich and MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, in which Bayern is leading 2:1. The reigning champions will know who will join battle with at the earliest this evening and at the latest on Thursday evening.