FC Bayern wins in the Euroleague in Berlin and in the Bundesliga against Bamberg. Access Justus Hollatz celebrates a successful debut.

On Friday evening, Justus Hollatz was sitting very relaxed next to his new boss: Marko Pesic and his latest addition were watching the FC Bayern basketball team’s important Euroleague victory in Berlin’s Uber Arena from the stands. In the first three quarters, the Bayern managing director was still mistreating his gum, but the game was completely even up to that point. The guests brought a wafer-thin halftime lead (52:50) of two points into the final half, but then Pesic’s chewing muscles visibly relaxed. Because down on the parquet, Bayern’s biggest attraction of the season once again really got rolling.

With an 8-2 run, Munich’s top scorer Carsen Edwards gave the game a southerly direction; the last quarter was led by the high-speed dribbler, who collected 34 points, proving why FC Bayern still has good prospects of direct entry into the The playoffs of the European elite competition are fighting – and the big German rival from the capital is at the bottom of the table. The 99:84 away win brought the Munich team back to ninth place, although Bayern are only one win worse than third-placed Monaco.

Just two days later it was against another big Munich rival in basketball, even though Bamberg has lost a lot of its previous reputation in recent seasons. This time, national player Justus Hollatz, who won European Championship bronze and World Cup gold under coach Gordon Herbert, was in the middle of the action in the narrow 84:82 victory. The 23-year-old most recently played for the noble Euroleague club Efes Istanbul, where he hardly got any playing time. In Munich, Herbert hopes that the 1.93 meter tall playmaker will give him “the chance to rest some of the boys in the BBL”. By which the coach primarily means the guards Edwards, Nick Weiler-Babb or Shabazz Napier. Especially since Hollatz, who has signed until 2028, is not allowed to play for Bayern in the current Euroleague season because the transfer window has expired. The new guy knows “many players, the coaches, the systems” and he “already feels comfortable” even though he has only been here for a few days.

Three world champions on the bench: No BBL team has anywhere near the possibilities of Bayern

Hollatz had a decent debut, the director got a lot of playing time and scored nine points. The Munich game was still very tough. It is the recurring task for Bayern to achieve a top performance in the domestic league shortly afterwards with a difficult Euroleague duel in their bones. This may not always work smoothly, especially since the standard in the Basketball Bundesliga has gradually increased in recent years.

At the break, Bamberg surprisingly led by 41:34 points, which was due to a strong performance and the tiredness of the host, who was clearly better equipped in all positions. In Shabazz Napier, Devin Booker and Johannes Voigtmann, Coach Herbert gave three top players a break after Sunday’s exertion, but he was still able to send three world champions onto the floor towards the end of the first quarter in Hollatz, Andreas Obst and Niels Giffey. In addition, leader and captain Vladimir Lucic, who had been injured since mid-October, came into play – no other BBL team has anywhere near these personnel options.

The Upper Franconians, who have had their great times behind them, resisted with passion and commitment. Bamberg was the benchmark in German basketball in the 2010s, when they still benefited from the goodwill of wealthy entrepreneur Christian Stoschek and won seven championship titles in eight years (2010 to 2017). Since Brose Group reduced economic support and disappeared from the club’s name, things have gradually gone downhill for the basketball players – Bamberg is currently fighting for a place in the BBL finals.

As expected, there was no step in this direction on Sunday, after all the guests went into the last quarter with a 56:56 draw and kept the game open until the end. Above all, Edwards (13), distance shooter Obst (11) and Giffey (10) ensured the narrow victory. The best shooter was center Danko Brankovic (15), Hollatz crowned his good performance with an important steal in the final phase – he will have plenty of opportunity to work on his statistics.