Brose Bamberg capitulated from the first minute in front of Virtus Bologna
Brose Bamberg capitulated from the first minute in front of Virtus Bologna
The supposed derby in the semifinals of the BasketballCL Final 4 had no history. Even if the odds indicated the German team as the favourite of the game, since the beginning they had no chance in front of Virtus. First of all, because the Italian powerhouse started in their strongest formula, meanwhile Brose stepped to the court with Louis Olinde and Patrick Heckmann in the 5 starters. The gap was already created because these 2 German players couldn’t do anything against the tough defense of Bologna. Where in the world do you see 2 starters combining for 2 points till the end of the game? The only good thing they did was grabbing some rebounds, which is not enough at this level.
The start was a disaster for Bamberg who missed everything and continued the same way the entire game. The excellent defense of Bologna was responsible for the ridiculous 27.9% inside the arc of the German squad. Tyrese Rice, the leader of Bamberg had 1/11 on this category, Nikos Zizis 1/5 and the giant Cliff Alexander the same 1/5 in the paint.
Another huge factor for the German embarrassing loss was their weak 3 points percentage. Except for Rice who was excellent on this chapter (5/9), nobody scored for Bamberg from the arc. Ricky Hickman and Bryce Taylor had each 0/4 and Nikos Zizis with Patrick Heckmann 0/2. The whole team, except Rice, had 0 from 14!!!
At the end of the game, the most efficient player for Bamberg was Ellias Harris who had 9 on index rate, meanwhile, the other players of Bamberg were reduced to nothing: Hickmann finished with -4, Zizis with 2, Taylor with 1 etc.
Virtus Bologna obtained a well-deserved win thanks to their tough defense because in the offense the Italian squad was also far from being impressive.
Photo credit: championsleague.basketball
Gratian Cormos, info@brainbasketball.net
Brose Bamberg and Virtus Bologna
