The relieved champions, including world champion Andreas Obst, started their party immediately, while tears of disappointment flowed at Alba Berlin: FC Bayern Munich has ended its title drought in the Bundesliga and is back on the German basketball throne for the first time in five years. Coach Pablo Laso’s team narrowly won the fourth final against their long-time rivals from the capital with 88:82 (44:46) and, after a thrilling final phase, won the series in best-of-five mode with 3:1.
Led by the most valuable finals player, Carsen Edwards, the Munich team managed the national double of championship and cup in Laso’s first season. It is the sixth championship title after 1954, 1955, 2014, 2018 and 2019. “I feel very exhausted. It is a deep relief that we finished the season with the goal of two national titles. It was up and down. I am extremely happy about this achievement,” said Obst at Dyn. How much does he drink now? “Open end.”
In the entire playoffs, Bayern only lost two games. At 8:26 p.m., Vladimir Lucic and teammate Obst raised the silver trophy, followed by the usual shower of confetti. Lucic even carried the trophy into the fan block and temporarily handed it over to individual supporters.
«That’s the sport»
In front of 9,668 spectators, including NBA world champions Franz and Moritz Wagner, Edwards and Co. demonstrated their great individual class. Even before the game began, managing director Marko Pesic said that the title “of course means a lot” to the club. Pesic and Laso embraced each other warmly at the awards ceremony.
Alba fought bravely, but it wasn’t enough to make it to game five. “That’s sport. There are so many things that go between us celebrating now and us being second. It hurts,” said Berlin’s Malte Delow.
The fact that in recent years Alba had only won the country’s most coveted trophy three times (2020, 2021, 2022) and finally, last year, Ratiopharm Ulm sensationally won it, annoyed the Munich team. Now the national ranking is being rearranged.
Edwards dominates
The great individual quality of FC Bayern finally prevailed against a weakened Berlin team. Top scorer Edwards (29 points) took control early on and took control of the game. There was also an imbalance among the four world champions from Manila: While Alba’s Johannes Thiemann had to struggle through the final series due to “persistent irritation of the patellar tendon attachment”, Obst and Isaac Bonga played important roles for the favorites in the final. Niels Giffey also contributed to the success. Berlin also had to cope with the loss of three point guards.
The first half of the fourth final offered excitement, drama and some highlights. When former NBA pro Sterling Brown finished with a skillful dunk, Alba was leading by six points. A 10-0 run finally brought the Berliners into the game after a rather mixed start. The crowd was now fully involved too.
Great emotions followed by great disillusionment
Before the eighth duel between the two clubs this season, Pesic referred to the semi-final series against Fiba Europe Cup winners Chemnitz, when Alba came from 1-2 down to win 3-2. Bayern had never been challenged so much in the series against Ludwigsburg (3-1) and Würzburg (3-0). This time, too, Alba showed strong morale, but Bayern held on and made up a ten-point deficit before half-time. The Wagner brothers, who themselves trained at Alba Berlin, railed against the referees from the front row.
After the break, the great emotions were followed by great disillusionment. In the third quarter, Bayern really came into their own. Former NBA pro Edwards took over the offense and converted three-pointer after three-pointer.
The defense also improved and kept Berlin to six points in ten minutes. Bayern went into the final quarter with a 13-point lead. Berlin started a strong comeback, but in the end it was just not enough for the longed-for extra time.
2024-06-14 18:04:28
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