Disastrous first half: Bayern remain winless at home against Dubai

FC Bayern’s basketball team must continue to wait for their first home win of this EuroLeague season. Against Dubai, coach Anton Gavel’s side once again produced a disastrous first half and were unable to recover from it. This is already their third defeat at the SAP Garden.

The personnel merry-go-round in Munich keeps turning. Whilst Miles Norris started against Besiktas last week, the swingman wasn’t even included in the 12-man squad this time. Johannes Thiemann (6 points), who had almost orchestrated the comeback in Istanbul, took his place in coach Anton Gavel’s starting five.

However, this did nothing to resolve the offensive problems of the previous week. Just as in the first half against Besiktas, the Munich side once again lacked creativity and movement in their build-up play. This stagnation led to three turnovers within the first five minutes. On the offensive end, it was repeatedly left to Thiemann to sort things out, as he powered his way through under the basket on a few occasions.

However, that wasn’t enough to counter the Dubai side’s fast-paced play. The Emirates side moved the ball well and repeatedly created open shots – partly because Bayern rushed to help out against their opponents’ accurate shooters on several occasions, leaving their own men unmarked. The result: eight of the first 14 three-point attempts (12/24 in total) found their way through the Munich basket. Former NBA star Davis Bertans (9 points) extended the visitors’ lead shortly before half-time with his third three-pointer of the game, before Jaron Blossomgame (16, 6/11 FG) set the half-time score at +27 (36:63).

Bayern’s comeback ends abruptly

After what was possibly one of their worst first halves of the season, Bayern returned to the court with a completely different starting five. As against Besiktas, the trio of Lucic, da Silva and Thiemann were tasked with turning things around – and that’s exactly what they did. Munich stepped up their defence significantly and played much more aggressively in one-on-one situations. As a result, they scored several easy points and found their rhythm. Following a 12–2 run – with Voigtmann (10, 6 REB, 5 AST), Lucic and Jessup (15, 5/7 FG) all scoring from distance – the crowd suddenly came alive again. Dubai initially reacted nervously during this phase, but then had the right answers at the ready: Elie Okobo (17, 9 assists) and Blossomgame silenced the crowd. Munich went into the final quarter trailing by 15.

In the final quarter, too, any hopes of a Munich comeback were nipped in the bud. Seven quick points from Kosta Kondic not only took the wind out of the Bavarians’ sails, but also dampened the spirits of the spectators in the stands. In the end, it was a clear 91–107 home defeat.

Bayern have thus officially got off to a poor start to the new EuroLeague season. With a record of 2–5, the German runners-up sit in 17th place in the table. Following a home game against the Towers on Sunday, they face a double-header against FC Barcelona (27th) and then away at Red Star Belgrade (29th).