Having trailed by double digits in the first half, the Spanish side dominated after the break
From ‘terrible’ to ‘great’: Baskonia downs Bayern after a 35-point swing
Rungtynių ataskaitos
3 Minutė skaityti
Regular Season
Round 12 of 38
Regular Season
Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-GasteizKBA
9573
FC Bayern MunichBAY
Overview
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Overcoming a slow start to get a home win is nothing new in the EuroLeague, and that’s the exact recipe Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz used on Friday night in beating FC Bayern Munich 95-73.
However, turning a 13-point deficit into a 22-point win is a feat that requires an outstanding effort, which is what Baskonia got on this night.
“I am super proud how the team reacted,” Baskonia team captain Tadas Sedekerskis said after the game.
The ‘reacted’ part relates to the first half. In particular, the clock at Buesa Arena was showing 2 minutes and 37 seconds left in the first quarter, and Bayern’s sharpshooter Andreas Obst caught fire. He used a screen and quickly fired a shot that found nothing but the bottom of the net.
Not only that. Obst just strung together 8 consecutive points and Bayern was up 10-23, dominating on both ends of the floor and in full control of the game.
“The start of the game was terrible for us,” Sedekerskis said, while Baskonia head coach Paolo Galbiati said:
“In the first quarter, [we were] horrible. After that we started doing our things, moving the ball and create for our shooter.
“The key was that we changed our behavior on defense. After that we had an opportunity to run a little bit, find shooters, and attack their defense.”
From that point on, a 13-point first-quarter deficit, Baskonia allowed just 50 points the rest of the night.
Baskonia won the game by 22 points despite only pulling down 3 offensive rebounds. However, just about everything else was in the hosts' favor.
For instance, Baskonia also allowed only 6 offensive boards, which says more when we know that Bayern only shot 50% from two and 27.6% behind the arc.
The team had eight scorers with 7 or more points, one of them being Sedekerskis, who had 11 points and 7 rebounds in 20:26 on the floor. Another one was Markquis Nowell, who had 12 points and dished 8 assists in 19:44 on the floor.
The latter agreed with his coach, not only about the final three quarters, but in general.
“We changed our behavior, we changed our chemistry, we bonded with one another, and it showed today with the ball movement, with screening with one another, and it was a display of all the work we put in this week,” Nowell explained.
Nowell's 8 assists were his personal best, and they helped Baskonia register its fourth consecutive home win. However, the team is 0-5 on the road.
“We’ve been playing really good at home, hopefully we can carry that on the road,” Nowell said. “Road wins are testament to tough teams.”
For Nowell and his teammates, the first chance for that will come on Tuesday when they face Zalgiris (7-5) in Kaunas.
