The basketball players of FC Bayern surprisingly lost game three of the final series against ratiopharm Ulm in their home arena. After the game, coach Gordon Herbert’s substitutions are in focus.
The sensation in the BBL is within reach! Ratiopharm Ulm actually stole home advantage from FC Bayern Basketball with an 81:79 victory in game three of the final series and can clinch the second championship in the club’s history at home on Tuesday (from 8 p.m. on LIVETICKER).
This was preceded by an unbelievable collapse of the favored Bayern in the final phase of the game. With 3:20 minutes remaining, the current champion was still leading by six points, but then only scored two points from the free throw line.
Gordon Herbert made the wrong decision against Ulm
Everything suddenly clicked for Ulm, especially for match winner Justinian Jessup. The sharpshooter scored ten points in the last 2:30 minutes and shocked Bayern.
But not only Jessup’s outstanding performance caused Bayern’s bitter defeat, but also a coaching error by Bayern coach Gordon Herbert.
BBL: Herbert puts top performers on the bench
Just under six minutes before the end, the world champion coach substituted his two world champions Niels Giffey and Johannes Voigtmann when they were leading by four points, even though they had played outstandingly before.
Giffey was Bayern’s top scorer with 16 points and Voigtmann also contributed a strong twelve points, four rebounds and five assists.
Even more important than the bare statistics was the fact that the two world champions significantly improved Bayern’s game and contributed from the bench to the fact that Bayern led for almost the entire game.
Herbert explained why he substituted his two best players of the evening on SPORT1 request: “Niels and Jo were exhausted in the fourth quarter and we wanted to switch more in defense, which is why I brought Devin (Booker, editor’s note) into the game.”
Herbert puts Voigtmann permanently on the bench instead of for one minute
Voigtmann himself also said to SPORT1 that he was quite exhausted in the fourth quarter: “The coach asked me if I needed a minute’s break and I said yes.”
But instead of one minute, Herbert then put Voigtmann on the bench for the rest of the game. Giffey only came on for the last defensive play.
The decision seems even more bitter when you see what an unfortunate evening the two substituted players experienced. Devin Booker (-24) and Vladimir Lucic (-15) had the two worst +/- values. For example, with Booker on the field, Bayern scored 24 points less than Ulm.
In comparison, the two world champions acted outstandingly. It is not without reason that they had the best efficiency values at the end of the game (Voigtmann 18, Giffey 16) and by far the best +/- values (Voigtmann plus 22, Giffey plus 20).
Even Ulm is surprised by Herbert’s decision
Herbert himself also emphasized the strong game of the bank unit, which also included Voigtmann and Giffey, at the PK after the game: “The five players who came off the bench played really well. We had some problems at the start, but the bench then played very well.”
The bench “brought really good energy,” Herbert continued. “It seemed like our starters were a bit exhausted.”
And yet Herbert did not rely on the successful bench in the final phase, but on his proven starters, which, by the way, even surprised the opponents from Ulm.
“I was a little surprised by the changes,” Ulm’s match winner Justinian Jassup explained to SPORT1 after the game: “But on the other hand, it was also logical. They finished the game with Obst, Napier and Weiler-Babb, as they have actually done all season.”
In many season games, Herbert and his Bayern also achieved the desired success by consistently relying on the starters. But in game three of the final series, the bench players looked much fitter.
Letting the Giffey and Voigtmann, who were playing so strongly, simmer on the bench permanently was definitely a coaching error that could cost Bayern the championship at the end of a long season.