With the renewed win of the German championship, FC Bayern Basketball saved the season. A season with light and shadow in which the very big goals were missed. There was even a bitter disappointment in the trophy.
Relief sounded through in the words of head coach Gordon Herbert after victory in the fifth game of the Play-Off final series for the German championship against Ratiopharm Ulm. The 3: 2 in the series through the 81: 77 success in the decisive game is the conciliatory end of a season that had promised so much but would have ended a hair.
Target Euroleague play-offs was wrong
A look back: before the start of the season, the euphoria among those responsible was huge, and not only because of the partial parade In the new SAP Garden and the commitment of world champion coach Gordon Herbert. “This year is clearly the goal of creating the Euroleague play-offs. We will be measured by this at the end of the season,” said President Herbert Hainer.
What was so confident about him? “The prerequisites have never been as good as this season. We are peppered with German national players. So Hainer’s season outlook in October.
Euroleague: long strong – then Bayern runs out the air
In the Bundesliga and in the Euroleague, a lot looked really good over long distances. The team completed the basketball Bundesliga (BBL) after 32 match days as the main round, even if there was a little luck, for example in the more than controversial load second victory against fear opponents Central German BC.
And in the European premier class you were on play-off course for a long time, celebrated some great and also surprising victories (for example at FC Barcelona) and thought as good as in the quarter-finals before an unnecessary defeat against Maccabi Tel Aviv ensured that the “play-ins” had to be played as the “play-ins”, as a table. Where there was the end of Real Madrid.
Explanable but embarrassing cup-off
Before that you had in BBL Cup in the semi-finals against Central German BC adopted out of the tournament. Any defeat that can still be explained because of the enormous workload, but still embarrassing, that President Herbert Hainer still hurts: “That was very disappointing,” he admitted to Br24sport on the sidelines of the final.
What remained was the title defense in the BBL. And that also ran highly. 1: 2 was in the back series. Only the away win in the fourth game of the final series against Ulm brought the turn. The “match ball” of the Ulmer was repelled. The team then saved the season in Sap Garden at home.
Marko Pesic leaves an ordered field
The multiple burden and injury worries – many top performers were repeatedly out over a longer period of time – may explain one or the other defeat. But that was the same. If you compare the budget and the squad width with other clubs, FC Bayern has significantly better conditions than many competitors.
Still, you have to say: Managing Director Marko Pesic, who ends in early 2026, left a ordered fieldbrought the club forward both sporty and as far as the infrastructure is concerned. The fruits of his work could now harvest others, namely, if at some point it still succeeds in achieving the big goal, after the signing of Gordon Herbert as a head coach as a dream: “Gordi has the vision with us to get to the final at some point.”
Many changes in the new season
In the coming season, however, Herbert will no longer only have FC Bayern basketball in mind – He also takes over the selection of Canada as a national coach. And it is not yet clear which players will continue. Some professionals like Oscar da Silva or captain Vladimir Lucic have long -term contracts (both by 2027). Others will go (Nick Weiler-Babb is probably moving to Anadolu Efes to Istanbul) or, like Carsen Edwards, are very popular.
From July, Pesic will incorporate his two successors – the previous sports director Dragan Tarlic and Adrian Sarmiento for the commercial part. The expectations will not be smaller in Munich.
That is the European perspective at BR24.
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Source: BR24 27.06.2025 – 6:30 p.m.
