Good at the front, desolate at the back: FC Bayern Munich gets badly hit by AS Monaco. The top game in the Basketball Euroleague becomes a lesson in defensive work.
After two recent wins in the EuroLeague, basketball champions FC Bayern suffered another defeat. In the top game at AS Monaco there was a narrow 74:93 (40:46) defeat. Former national coach Gordon Herbert’s team deservedly lost on the Côte d’Azur under the eyes of Prince Albert II due to a hair-raising defense. The strong 17 points from Bayern’s Carsen Edwards didn’t help either.
Mourning for the deceased basketball professional Timma
Before the game there was a minute’s silence for the unexpectedly deceased basketball professional Janis Timma. The 32-year-old Latvian was found dead in Moscow on Tuesday, the cause of death is still unknown. The game initially started in the direction of Monaco, but then FCB, in the person of the very agile Carsen Edwards, got into the swing of things and went into the quarter break with a slight lead thanks to a 9-2 run.
Monaco reveals Bayern’s weak points
However, this didn’t last long, also because the Monegasques used their feared attacking game via the gigantic Georgios Papagiannis. The 2.20 meter tall Greek put up six points within three minutes, and the fast Elie Okobo and Mike James made the Bayern defense look old again and again. At halftime, the result was a narrow six-point deficit.
No access for FC Bayern
After the break, the guests acted more aggressively in defense and got better going in attack thanks to Edwards and center Danko Brankovic. But it was precisely in this phase that simple mistakes in the build-up game ruined any attempt to catch up. Monaco took advantage of this coldly and distributed their goals very evenly, four players scored in double figures.
Bayern were unable to counteract anything in the third quarter, ended up with 17 turnovers and were lucky that Monaco visibly increased their pace and precision in the final quarter. The Munich team continues at Emporio Armani Milan on Friday.
Source: BR24 December 18, 2024 – 6:45 p.m
