Gordon Herbert didn’t even look that bad after the games against Alba Berlin and Barcelona when he was struck by a nasty infection. His team’s two brilliant victories cheered him up a little, but this time, in the huge Belgrade Arena, he seemed really exhausted. The coach of the FC Bayern Munich basketball players survived the persistent cold, but his team’s performance seemed to suck all the energy out of his body. With empty eyes, Herbert tried to explain the 77:101 defeat at the Serbian series champions Red Star Belgrade in an appropriately succinct manner at Magentasport: “Today nothing just worked.”
The Canadian had prepared his team for the opponent, who regularly attacks the competitors with enormous force and energy in his cauldron with 20,000 euphoric fans. At halftime the deficit was still 42:50, in the usual Euroleague range, but then Bayern collapsed completely like at the worst of times: “We couldn’t find our way into the game after halftime either. We could have done things better in training and you could see that today.” Herbert went on to say that will, commitment, greed and tackling were the qualities in which the Serbs were clearly superior to his players.
Elias Harris then spoke of a “lesson for us as a team. We allowed ourselves to be taken by surprise and then we were off the hook. Then there was the atmosphere, things sometimes happen very quickly here.” The crux of this learning unit will be whether it can help the test person improve.
Despite the defeat in Belgrade, Bayern remain fifth in the top group and on course for the playoffs
The Munich team’s season so far has been characterized by great quality. Under the world champion coach, the newly assembled team quickly developed into a homogeneous group of professionals who pumped more self-confidence into their bodies with every success. And there were a few of them: FC Bayern not only leads the table in the Bundesliga, as expected, it must be added, but is still in fifth place in the Euroleague – just one win worse than Primus Paris.
Which allows us to draw two conclusions: The European elite class, at least in the top half, is more balanced than it has been for a long time because each of these teams, which are full of top players, has already given up a lot. Secondly, the Munich team has a squad this season that can beat any of these top-class continental teams and is currently clearly on course for the playoffs. Especially in the SAP Garden at home, where in front of 11,200 spectators in the always sold-out arena, every opponent has been sent home with a defeat – including Real Madrid, Piraeus, Barcelona and league leaders Paris.
The recent personnel development also shows how strong the Munich line-up is. Yam Madar, the Israeli national team’s hope, who came as a super talent at the start of the season and was supposed to be trained to become a future Munich playmaker, has already left the club. Behind Nick Weiler-Babb, whom coach Herbert preferred from the start of the season, and Shabazz Napier, who was blessed with NBA experience, Madar was only the third choice for the position of director.
:The Silence and the Beast
By dismantling the Berliners, who are severely weakened in terms of replacements, FC Bayern proves that they have matured into a top European team. But the Munich team doesn’t want to draw any conclusions about the championship fight against their eternal rivals so early in the season.
The 23-year-old recently showed outstanding performances in the national team in the European Championship qualification, and now he has been released from Munich by the up-and-coming Israeli top club Hapoel Tel Aviv for what is reportedly a six-figure fee. In Tel Aviv, which recruited a two-time Euroleague champion in Dimitrios Itoudis as its new coach, Madar is even said to receive a seven-figure salary. A lucrative deal, at least for the Munich team, which also includes the opportunity to further refine the squad.
Which brings us to Onuralp Bitim, the youngest addition with NBA experience. The Turkish international seems to fit in perfectly with the team. In Belgrade, the loan player from Fenerbahçe Istanbul revealed his abilities for the first time and was the second best scorer after Devin Booker (14) with 13 points.
In the Turkish metropolis, it will become clear on Tuesday whether the abrasion of Belgrade has left its mark: Bayern will then play at Anadolu Efes, before former coach Pablo Laso visits Munich with Vitoria-Gasteiz just two days later.
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