Bayern Basketball Send Message with Important Win

Posted: 11:03 am, October 6, 2013 by Carsten Arndt

Flying high. Is this FC Bayern Basketball's year? Photo: DPA

In front of an amazing crowd Bayern defeated the defending champions from Bamberg. Chevon Troutman was Bayern’s top scorer with 14 points but in the end, a new arrival turned into a hero and led his side to an 84-74 over the Brose Baskets.

With Delaney, Djedovic, Savovic, Taylor and Bryant in the starting five, coach Pesic had no German on the court at tip-off. Interestingly, all of his starting players were on another team last season.

Strong start

Bayern had a very good start in the defence and played very fast in attack. After only four minutes, all the starters had scored. Bamberg, who won the title four times in a row, played without concentration and had a few turnovers in the early stages. The new centre “Big John” Bryant scored three of his seven points (13 total) with a three-pointer. He also gave his team a nine-point lead, leaving the sold-out Audi Dome buoyant for the first time in the evening.

Broad squad

A strength of Bayern this season is their bench. All the guys who came in had the quality to affect the game in one way or another. The home side played solid defense and shot a high percentage from the three-point-line (2/3), keeping their lead intact. Twenty seconds before the end, the captain of the German national team Heiko Schaffartzik (recently signed from Alba Berlin), scored for the first time. This pushed the lead for the home team to 24-16.

Incredible home support kept Bayern ahead. Photo: DPA

Jacobsen keeps his team in the game

Two minutes into the second quarter, Bayern had a ten point lead for the first time. They dominated the boards during this phase, especially Troutman and Yassin Idbihi, Bryant’s back-up. With a 9-0 run, including a three-pointer from Steffen Hamann and a very nice crossover dribble drive for a layup by Chevy Troutman, Bayern extended their lead to 17 points (35-18). Only Casey Jacobsen put up some resistance. The US-born guard, and two-time BBL Final’s MVP went on a streak to keep his team in the game. He scored ten of his 17 points in the second quarter, including a wild three-pointer with one second left on the shot-clock. Bayern’s lead was only single digits at halftime (42:33).

Gavel signed out

Jacobsen started the second half as he ended the first, scoring another two points with a nice floater over John Bryant, who had a lot of problems on the defensive side of the ball. Bryant had problems handling smaller and quicker players, and lacks an ability to help defensively. His counterpart, Sharron Ford, was the next man on the highlight reel. At first he blocked Savocic, then he made an open three-pointer on the other side of the court and the visitors were back in the game (48-43). However, Bamberg couldn’t turn the game completely as last year’s Finals’ MVP Anton Gavel, who is, according to media reports, a potential signing for Bayern next season, wasshut down by Nihad Djedovic.

Big-shot Djedovic

Djedovic turned into the hero of the game, but not because of his defense. First Bamberg turned up the pressure defensively, and scored quickly to level the game for the first time with seven minutes remaining. The game remained close, but with 1:30 on the clock it was Djedovic time. The Bosnian forced Gavel into two turnovers on defense, and also made two clutch three-pointers to decide the game. The whole Audi Dome was on fire and celebrated the win against the defending champions. It was a game of runs and Bayern had the last one.

Our player of the game: Nihad Djedovic

He lived in Munich for the first eight years of his life. Now he’s back in Bavaria’s state capital playing for FC Bayern Basketball and his comeback couldn’t have been better. With two game-deciding three-pointers in the first home game this season, he helped his side gain a very important win over the defending champions, Brose Baskets Bamberg. His coach Svetislav Pesic is enthusiastic about his potential and praised the 23-year-old guard in the press conference after the match: “Djedovic is a very skilled player. He’s one of the best players in Germany and I hope he will stay here forever.”

After today’s performance, all of Bayern will be hoping for the same.