Dimitris Itoudis's men spoiled Bayern's welcome home party
Hapoel pleased about stacking another good day in win over motivated Bayern
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 18 of 38
Regular Season
FC Bayern MunichBAY
7282
Hapoel IBI Tel AvivHTA
Overview
l
l
l
l
l
w
l
w
w
w
Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv spoiled two homecomings at once by defeating FC Bayern Munich 72-82, as the German side played its first EuroLeague home game since November 12 and its first game with head coach Svetislav Pesic back in the hot seat.
Hapoel, however, showed why it tops the EuroLeague standings as it dominated for the entire game, allowing it to improve to 13-5 and rebound from its loss at Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens last week.
“We knew that we were going to be facing a team that was on fire after some 40 days being back home and playing a EuroLeague game. Changes in the coaching staff always works as extra motivation, too. But we wanted to bounce back as well and try to defend, and I think we accomplished that,” Hapoel coach Dimitris Itoudis said.
Hapoel already led by double figures for parts of the first half but put the game out of reach with a 0-16 run over nearly 6 minutes in the third quarter. The advantage grew to 25 points early in the fourth quarter when Hapoel started taking its foot off the gas. Bayern used that and did some cosmetics to the final result, getting to within 10 points at the final buzzer.
“At the end of the day, we got the win and that’s all that matters as a team. There are a lot of things to correct and get better from. But we’ll enjoy this one and move on,” said Elijah Bryant, who set the tone with 16 of his team-high 18 points in the first half. “They don’t stop until the final buzzer, so you have to play hard the whole time.”
Dan Oturu added 16 points and 7 rebounds for the winners, who also got 12 points each from Antonio Blakeney and Chris Jones.
“We’re just trying to stack good days,” said Oturu. “Today we were able to come out with the win. I think we played pretty well throughout the whole game and disrupt some of the things that they do well. I’m grateful that we were able to leave here on a happy note.
“Every game imposes different challenges. Bayern posed a certain challenge that we had to accept. And I think we accepted that challenge.”
For Bayern, the game was a return home after playing seven consecutive road games in the EuroLeague – losing all of them, as well as the one before. The ninth consecutive loss drops the team to 5-13, and it was the first game with returning head coach Pesic, who was brought in to replace Gordie Herbert.
“We must play much better. I had the feeling tonight that our opponent was playing five against zero. They must feel our physical approach. They must feel that we are here,” said Pesic, who coached at Bayern from 2012 to 2016. “The second half was a little bit better. Our first job in the German League and EuroLeague is to improve our defense. We are too comfortable. We must play more aggressive.”
In the game, Pesic set the record as the oldest coach in EuroLeague history at 76 years, three months and 26 days old, surpassing Aito Garcia Reneses, who was 74, three and 19 days old when he coached ALBA Berlin on April 8, 2021.
Pesic wants to see what he has to work with and all 12 Bayern players played, with only Spencer Dinwiddie appearing for fewer than 10 minutes. Andreas Obst hit 3 three-pointers to pace the team with 18 points, and David McCormack added 12 points.
One aspect of the second half for Bayern that Pesic appreciated was the hosts only allowing three Hapoel offensive rebounds, after the Israeli side crashed the offensive glass for nine boards in the first 20 minutes.
“We will begin from the start and the start is defense,” Pesic said of the new beginning. “We have to improve our attitude. Okay, we lost the game, and we are not happy. But we have to find some positive things and find continuity, especially on defense.”
While Hapoel is far along in its process, Bayern seems like it is only at the start of a new era.
