Shortly before the start of the game, Serge Ibaka asked for the basketball, which was already in the referee’s hand. Bayern Munich’s center took him in both hands, held him right in front of his eyes, kissed him and cuddled with him, as if the 34-year-old was about to play the most important game of his career. The scene made it clear how focused Bayern were going into this cup semi-final against a clear outsider.
To describe Munich’s victory against Bamberg Baskets as “never in danger” would also be wrong, because the Upper Franconians kept up well in the first quarter and even led with 22:21 points. But then the tension, which hardly anyone had expected anyway, was quickly dissipated: Bayern won 81:62, meaning the defending champions are in the final of the top four tournament for the German Cup (Sunday, 2 p.m.). The quality of the squad was crucial: “Bamberg started with a lot of enthusiasm and energy,” said Munich world champion Niels Giffey, but: “We are lucky that we have a lot of depth and class in the squad. Bamberg couldn’t maintain the level.”
The German Basketball Federation (DBB) is organizing this cup weekend under the motto “Celebrate German Basketball”. On the one hand, he wants to counteract the criticism that the event is tearing the Bundesliga season apart, and at the same time he is trying to extend the hype of last fall’s World Cup victory.
On Friday evening, many alumni met at the BMW Welt for a gala: numerous players from the 1993 European Championship team were there, as were all four medal-winning national team coaches – Svetislav Pesic, Henrik Dettmann, Dirk Bauermann and Gordon Herbert. And many more, whose photos could also be seen in a legend museum that was quickly set up for Saturday. At the semi-final there was also a living legend sitting in the front row: Dennis Schröder, captain of the World Cup winners, had to sign numerous autographs during the break.
“Serge Ibaka is a winner,” says world champion Niels Giffey about his teammate
Bayern’s managing director Marko Pesic admitted that he was “a lot afraid” of this duel. However, this was not justified, even if the team on the floor did not initially seem to be looking for a quick decision. Although she started with four successful three-point throws in a row, she was initially barely able to assert herself under the basket. It looked like a test – at the end of the first quarter Munich was surprisingly behind. The two world champions Andres Obst and Isaac Bonga as well as Sylvain Francisco did not play at all in the first quarter. When they were ordered to work, Francisco in particular created a lot of gaps in Bamberg’s defense with his quick changes of direction, the eye-catching Serge Ibaka grabbed more and more offensive rebounds, and in the end he became Bayern’s best scorer with 15 points.
But overall, coach Pablo Laso relied on full rotation – and at halftime, when Bayern were leading 48:32, ten different players had already scored. The Upper Franconians were mainly dependent on the hit rate of their development player Zach Copeland: The 26-year-old scored 19 points. “He was very good,” Bayern coach Laso later said about his NBA center Ibaka, “but not just because of the points, he also created situations for us.” He particularly liked his team’s defensive performance, which ultimately made it possible to rotate so much – and save energy. Especially in the second half, Bamberg’s offensively strong Copeland and Trey Woodbury were kept in check. Laso also had some extra praise to give: “Bonga was great today,” the world champion toiled tirelessly on defense.
In the middle of the third quarter it became more and more quiet in three quarters of the hall, where the Bamberg, Berlin and Ulm fans were sitting – unsurprisingly, all of these fans supported the outsiders, who were increasingly unable to keep up. Bayern pulled away to 22 points, and while a showdown on the floor developed in the final phase, the fan camps exchanged pleasantries (“You can go home”).
“It happened as it had to happen,” said Bamberg coach Arne Woltmann, adding that after a good ten minutes they weren’t good enough defensively. Giffey said about Serge Ibaka: “Someone like that is always a bank, someone we can rely on. He’s a winner.” That should be much more important in the final than in the one-sided game against Bamberg.
The final opponent, however, had no opportunity to spare their most important players: In a hard-fought, sometimes wild and long-lasting game, Ratiopharm Ulm prevailed against Alba Berlin with 87:79 (42:40) points; the best thrower of the entire semi-final day was Ulms Center Trevion Williams with 25 points, who was also the decisive player in the final minutes. No team was able to pull away for a long time, the Berliners only led by eight points at the beginning of the final quarter, but the team of former Munich champion player Anton Gavel quickly caught up. So on Sunday there will be a duel between the defending champions and the current German champions.