Brose Bamberg disappoints again in the Audi Dome

Anyone thinking that the German champions Brose Bamberg had fought their way back into the semi-final series against FC Bayern thanks to their 78:65 home win and could also survive on the road in the Audi Dome suffered a bitter disappointment at the weekend. In the 67:99 debacle in game three, the team of Head Coach Luca Banchi disappointed and failed to put up any resistance against a Munich side that was in accurate shooting form. The title-holders now have to stave off the first match ball for Bayern on Tuesday, otherwise their season is over.

Bamberg was able to match Munich’s intensity and ambition only in the opening five minutes. After Augustine Rubit’s lay-up made it 6:7, however, Bamberg’s shots on its next five attacks missed their target and so the home side surged 6:15 ahead. Bayern showed more bite, more pace and, in particular, great accuracy in its shooting from the tip-off. Whereas Bamberg had bad luck in the first period when two finely carved-out shots from beyond the arc by Daniel Hackett and Maodo Lo danced briefly on the hoop, but failed to drop, the home side drained just about everything. After the first quarter ended 13:26, Bamberg then played as if it had already given the game up for lost. As a result, FC Bayern was able to pull away by more than 20 points after 16 minutes. Even when Bayern went three minutes without scoring, Banchi’s players were only able to put a slightly better complexion on the score (28:43). As in the first semi-final game, hardly any Bamberg player was able to stop Bayern’s top scorer Jared Cunningham. His solo run from the baseline to the middle of Bamberg’s half and his shot from almost ten meters out to make it 28:48 on the buzzer was symptomatic.

However, things got even worse for the 350 Bamberg fans who had made the journey after the break. There was no sign of any comeback and Bamberg’s team disappointed all round, apart from the tireless Daniel Hackett and (with some reservations) top scorer Augustine Rubit. The upshot was a disastrous 10:28 third period that ended with the score at 36:76, followed by Bayern taking its highest lead of the evening (45:87) after 34 minutes. If the home side’s Head Coach Dejan Radonjic had not subsequently rested his regular players, Bamberg’s defeat would have been even higher. In particular Leon Radosevic, who had scored just two points in the previous three periods, added ten points to make the final result more flattering on paper. Yet as in the 72:95 loss in game one, the nine-times German champions lacked all the virtues they need in the playoffs, especially on the road.

Luca Banchi commented: “We were again not able to put up any resistance against our opponents’ intensity. Bayern has proven itself to be a stable team, whereas we didn’t have the right attitude to match it. We only have a few hours to recuperate and again realize what it means to play in a playoff semi-final.”