After winning three of its last four, Bayern (12-15) will attempt to maintain its postseason challenge with a testing trip to unpredictable direct rival Efes (11-16).
Tomislav Mijatovic, Efes: 'We have to bring our 40 minutes of intensity'
Seasons
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 28 of 34
Regular Season
Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS
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FC Bayern MunichBAY
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These teams' strengths lie in different areas, with the Efes relying on star guard Shane Larkin, who memorably scored 49 points against Bayern in 2019. The German team, on the other hand, will look to dominate the frontcourt through the duo of Devin Booker and Serge Ibaka, who combined for 34 points and 14 rebounds in last week's win over Zvezda. Bayern also possesses long-range shooting threats like Andreas Obst, who netted 17 points in a 86-71 home win over Efes in Round 15.
Tomislav Mijatovic, Efes head coach
"Our next EuroLeague opponent is the team that is in very good form recently and has won a great number of games in both EuroLeague and German League in a row. Therefore, for the home game on Thursday, we have to bring our 40 minutes of offensive and defensive intensity, that is the only way that we can reach our goal which is to win the game. Again we are expecting a great support as always from our wonderful crowd in Sinan Erdem and hopefully together we can reach our goal to win the game."
Pablo Laso, Bayern head coach
"Efes has suffered a lot from injuries this year and also changed the coach, but now they seem to be back at full strength. They have many dominant players in the squad, such as Larkin, Beaubois, and Clyburn. For me, they are a very good, well-balanced team. However, we need to focus more on ourselves, and without a doubt, we need to deliver a top performance for a victory there."
Will Clyburn, Efes player
"We need to come out and take care of our home court. It’s been a while since we played a EuroLeague game in front of our fans. We need to focus on us and our principles this game."
Elias Harris, Bayern player
"The atmosphere in the arena is always intense. Therefore, we need to show up as a team again. We've seen that in recent weeks: when we play team basketball, move the ball well offensively, and collaborate defensively, we are very effective. And that always helps in such an atmosphere."