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An end of an era for Bayern?

Brose took the lead in the semi-finals series with 2-0, and today they can check their ticket for the finals. It's obvious Bayern won't be the champions nor secure Euroleague, which could mean that this will be the last night coach Svetislav Pesic will be leading the Bavarian team

If there were any doubts, after the second game of the semi-final series there are none. On Wednesday Brose once more showed they're one level above than the rest of the clubs in Bundesliga. The weakened Bayern lost in their Audi Dome, fell behind 0-2 and today the title defenders already have the first match point. The numbers suggest they should use it immediately. This season in the championship Brose haven't been defeated at home, they have a 20-0 record at home, and in the playoffs they've won all matches with a double-digit difference.

On Wednesday Bayern opened up the match great, a lot more aggressive and determined than in the first match, the defense looked better. Brose remained at only 14 points in the first quarter. In the second quarter they continued at the same pace, until half-time they were at +9. In the second half the Bavarians made the difference slightly bigger, but then Brose kicked in, the advantage was melting away, and at the start of the last quarter the opponents were just at +2.

The last quarter clearly showed what makes a difference between these two teams. While Brose kicked into a higher gear, Bayern's game fell apart, they made errors one after another, and three minutes before the end the Bamberg club escaped to +11, and that's where the story was more or less done. Play Wanamaker clearly showed why he's the leader of the team. He took the responsibility, recorded 28 points (7-for-10 shots from the floor), had five assists and four turnovers. Zisis recorded 22 points, Theis added 15 in the paint, along with nine rebounds.

Usually in matches against Bayern, Brose would lose in the rebound section, but this time they were a lot better in that segment as well. They had 13 rebounds more in total, and 11 offensive rebounds more. And not only that. They limited their opponents to 14 turnovers, and allowed them only 11 assists.

- The first two matches have shown that you can't relax for a second, but at the same time it showed that our team know what they're playing for and in the key moments they did it the best - said Brose's manager Rolf Beyer.

Coach Adrea Trinchieri, when asked what's the preparation like before the third match, just said the following:

- Practice, practice, practice.

In the playoffs, Bayern don't have a visiting win. They lost both in Ludwigsburg, the first one in Bamberg. During the whole season they weren't particularly convincing in visiting games, they have an additional problem with Savanovic and Thompson being out for some time. The only bright spot is the fact that they were the one who gave Brose the last home defeat. It was at the start of last season's finals, but that hardly has anything to do with today's match.

On Wednesday they gave it their best, they played great for 20 minutes, but they simply weren't at the right level to be able to stand up to Brose during the entire 40 minutes. In the paint Bryant was but a shadow of a player who this season gave very good performances against Brose. He made some errors and coach Svetislav Pesic didn't use him too much. Kleber wasn't great either; it all fell down to the back line and the young Zipser, which wasn't enough.

The German media say that today could be an end of an era for Bayern. Pesic announced earlier in the season that he will be leaving Munich at the end of the season, that there's 1% chance of him staying. Now when it's clear they won't win the title, and thus not secure Euroleague, the coach change seems logical.

- We're going to Bamberg to win. That's the right approach. In the second match we didn't only give it our best, but we played part of the match on a very high tactical level. Now we want to play like that for the entire 40 minutes - said Pesic, and captain Taylor added:

- In the first two legs of the series we allowed 88 and 90 points. If we want to make something, we have to improve our defense numbers.

- If we don't think we can win in Bramberg, we don't even have to go there - play Renfroe was clear.

Savanovic and Thompson are still questionable, and the decision whether they will perform or not will be brought after the last practice.

Brose versus Bayern. On paper, two of the strongest German teams. But only on paper. Brose keep proving they're one dimension above other clubs in Bundesliga, they're a team who don't miss. Under Trinchieri's leadership they're a well-oiled machine who are especially dominant at home where their record this season is 20-0; in the playoffs they've raised the bar additionally. Bayern have injury problems and defense problems. On Wednesday at half-time they were leading with +9, and then Brose kicked into higher gear, recorded 56 points and won with +14. In the first leg of this series Brose won with +15, tonight there will be no relaxing. Trinchieri is a coach who always goes to the max, I don't expect them to win with less points of difference than the first leg. Brose won with less than 12 points of difference at home in the championship in the Christmas round, so the last 13 home games went over that margin. In 20 home matches in the championship only once they didn't win with +12. Bayern lost the last four away games, and in the playoffs they have never won in a visiting match.