Brose Bamberg loses in Athens

Brose Bamberg succumbed 86:93 on the road at defending champions AEK Athens on the third matchday of the Basketball Champions League. The team of Head Coach Ainars Bagatskis never really got to grips with its opponents in defense over virtually the whole 40 minutes and also conceded 18 turnovers. Even good play in offense and better rebounding (32:21) could not offset that. Brose’s top scorer was Augustine Rubit with 20 points.

Ainars Bagatskis commented: “We were without Nikos Zisis today and that made itself felt. We were only able to play with one experienced guard. AEK was well-prepared for that and it attacked Rice early. That’s not meant to be an excuse, as we expected that. We conceded 18 turnovers. Of course, that’s too many in what was otherwise a pretty even game. Nevertheless, we were actually always in the game, but once again made stupid, stupid mistakes in defense. It’s unacceptable for players to be on court for almost 30 minutes and not have a single foul to their name. In basketball, you have to be aggressive in a legal way. You can and must commit fouls to stay in the game. That’s part of the sport. Some were probably thinking of the NBA and about how good they look, but not about playing aggressive basketball.”

Brose’s opening minutes belonged to Augustine Rubit. He was single-handedly responsible for the visitors’ first eight points (8:7 in the 3rd minute). Six straight points by Athens gave the home side its first largish lead midway through the period (8:13), which it stretched further after that (11:19 in the 8th minute). Bamberg turned in a middling performance, especially in defense, and lost possession six times in the first period alone, with the result that it trailed by six points at its end (15:21).

Things did not really look up in defense in the second period either: The upshot: Tylor Roberson gave his side its first double-digit lead after just over 12 minutes (19:29). Whenever Bamberg produced good moves in attack, Athens had the right response at the other end. The finest example of that: Jelovac reduced the deficit a little midway through the period (23:30), but the home side struck back with eight points in a row (23:38 in the 16th minute). Bamberg still trailed by double digits at half-time (34:44).

The picture was the same in the third quarter. Brose got better into its stride in offense and now scored from downtown through Kulboka, but Ainars Bagatskis’ players were still too far away from their opponents in defense. Consequently, a run of seven points without reply (45:49 in the 24th minute) only injected a little calm into Bamberg’s play. Brose’s run was followed by one from the home side, which extended the gap to double digits again (45:57 in the 26th minute). And so the game ebbed to and fro: When Brose had good actions in offense, it usually ruined that work at the back. And yet the lead was not insuperable going into the final period: 59:67.

However, the 4,000 spectators in the OAKA Arena then saw a carbon copy of the previous quarter. Bamberg cut the gap to five points with a bucket from downtown by Schmidt (66:71 in the 32nd minute), but conceded a three on the very next move. Shortly afterwards, when Larentzakis drained two buckets from outside to make it 70:81 with five minutes left, it was also clear to the 20 Brose fans who had made the journey that they would not be celebrating a victory by their team this time. Brose Bamberg finally lost 86:93 at AEK Athens and so now has one win and two defeats to its name in the Champions League.