The German champion Bayern Munich stumbled on the way to defending its title right at the start of the final tournament of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). The host lost on Saturday (06.06.2020) in the Munich hall at home in Group A with 85:95 (40:41) against Ulm.
Crailsheim also loses
Bayern Munich, the best team in the canceled main round, will meet Merlins Crailsheim in the second of four preliminary round games on Monday, who unexpectedly lost to BG Göttingen at the start.
In the first half, the Munich team drew twice by eight points. Not least after numerous turnovers by the German champions, Ulm took the lead for the first time 1:21 minutes before the break.
Harvey scores best for Ulm
Even after the break, Bayern missed too many opportunities under the basket of the Ulm defenders. Led by Tyler Harvey (21 points), the Ulm team, who had only finished tenth at the end of the regular season, moved slowly but steadily in the last quarter. In the meantime, they extended their lead to twelve points. Vladimir Lucic (23) was the best shooter of the Munich team, who at times was not very accurate.
Crailsheim had also surprisingly lost to BG Göttingen in the opening game of the tournament. The outstanding player at 89:78 (51:42) in Lower Saxony was 21-year-old Bennet Hundt with a personal best of 30 points. The fifth team in Group A is the EWE Baskets Oldenburg, which will join the tournament against Ulm on Monday.
All teams in one hotel
The total of ten teams will initially play the quarter-finals in two groups of five. The knockout round will be played in two rounds. The master will also be determined in two games (June 26 and 28).
All teams are accommodated in a hotel in Munich, which they are only allowed to leave for training, games or in groups of a maximum of three people for walking. Before entering the hall, the active participants must go through a disinfection tent.
Strict hygiene regulations
Until just before the start of the first of a total of 35 games, those responsible had worked on the last hygiene measures. So they introduced tracking chips at short notice, which the participants should wear on their wrists on a voluntary basis. “In the event that we had a positive player or coach, we could use their data to determine who has been in contact with for a certain period of time in the past 48 hours, for example over 15 minutes,” said Florian Kainzinger, head of the league’s hygiene and safety concept.
The measure was taken, according to Kainzinger, because the BBL had been advised during a longer discussion with the health department in Munich to sharpen one or the other. “The chip is pseudonymized, which means there is no name on it”, explained Kainzinger. Only the doctors in the hotel could assign the chips to the people. BBL managing director Stefan Holz said about ESPN: “If there was a positive test, the whole group would be at risk. That could mean the end of the tournament.”
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