Will PJC sweep Bayern with Bonn as well?

In the run-up to the semi-final series in the German Basketball Bundesliga between Telekom Baskets Bonn and FC Bayern, the respective coaches are striving to cede the role of favourites to their opponents. While one can accept this without hesitation from the “Coach of the Year” Tuomas Ilsalo in view of the differences in the budget, his counterpart Andrea Trinchieri naturally has a primarily psychological approach behind it.

Although the Euroleague play-off participants from Munich are threatened with the loss of several important players, they naturally have a much deeper and higher quality squad. Nevertheless, the regular season has already shown that the championship aspirants also have a downward swing at national level from time to time.

The bookmakers nevertheless agree before the first game of this series that the favourite will take a 1:0 lead. Consequently, lower odds are offered on the away win between Bonn and Bayern. Nevertheless, caution is advised, especially as the Magenta team has perhaps the best individualist in the league at the moment in Parker Jackson-Cartwright and can also rely on the home advantage in the sold-out Telekom Dome.

Baskets Bonn – Statistics & current form

The Telekom Baskets Bonn are definitely one of the positive surprises of the current season. While they even missed the playoffs last season as 13th in the main round, the top position in the regular season was even up for debate for a long time in 2021/22. In the end, the Magenta team only had to let defending champions ALBA Berlin pass them by. In 34 games, 26 victories were offset by eight defeats.

Especially at home in the Telekom Dome, the Rhinelanders were hard to beat. In 17 attempts, 15 victories were celebrated. No other Bundesliga team had a better winning record in its own hall. For this reason, among others, it is inevitably associated with a certain risk to make a prediction on the away team between Bonn and Bayern.

Who will stop PJC?

In addition, it has to be mentioned that the Bonners can fall back on the “Coach of the Year” in Tuomas Ilsalo and have an individualist on board in set-up player Parker Jackson-Cartwright, who dominates the league like no other. With his quick first step, he is a real nightmare for any defensive matchup. If the American also lives up to his role as a “streaky shooter”, any opponent will have to dress warmly.

What “PJC”, as he was only called in the course of the season, is capable of, became clear in the quarter-final series against Hamburg, when he put up 36 points in the first game, marked even 41 points in the second game and finally fixed the 3:0 sweep in the third meeting thanks to an outstanding final phase.

But anyone who thinks that the Telekom Baskets only have PJC is mistaken. The team looks extremely self-confident, has won 14 of the last 15 competitive games, has outstanding chemistry and is currently a very uncomfortable opponent for all other first division teams. Combined with the aforementioned home advantage and the fact that the main round runner-up does not have much to lose against the favourites from Munich, we even see the most promising value in betting on a home win in Game 1 between Bonn and Bayern.

Predicted line-up of Baskets Bonn:
PG: Parker Jackson-Cartwright
SG: Skyler Bowlin
SF: Karsten Tadda
PF: Javontae Hawkins
C: Michael Kessens

FC Bayern – Statistics & current form

It should be clear to everyone that FC Bayern, in top form and with their best line-up, probably have the best chance of winning the BBL championship. However, coach Andrea Trinchieri, who has already won the German championship three times with Brose Bamberg but is still waiting for his first league triumph with FCB, was rarely able to call on his regulars throughout the season. Time and again, key players were absent – as they are now before the BBL semi-final.

Even though the Munich team had a few days off after the sweep against Chemnitz in the quarter-finals and the injured players were given time to get fit in time, there are many indications that five potential starters – Hunter, Hillard, Walden, Zipser and Sisko – will not be available. Hillard, Walden and Zipser, however, have been missing for some time and were not a factor in the Euroleague playoff series against Barcelona. That being said, the squad is still deep enough to talk about making the finals on a national level.

Bayern must stop Bonn’s fast game

The biggest strength of the Trinchieri team is of course the defence, especially in the person of Nick Weiler-Babb, who is considered the best guard-defender in the Bundesliga and has a size advantage to offer over his probable counterpart Parker Jackson Cartwright. But the team defence will also make it difficult for the Rhinelanders to get into transition and on the pace needed to get out of the way of set play.

It already became clear in the regular season, however, that the Munich team certainly has its difficulties against fast-playing opponents. That’s one of the reasons why we’re particularly fond of playing the higher odds on the underdog ahead of the first game of this series between Bonn and Bayern. It is quite possible that the Telekom Baskets take a 1:0 lead, but are subsequently eliminated 1:3 in view of the FCB’s expected adjustments.

Predicted line-up of FC Bayern:
PG: Nick Weiler-Babb
SG: Andreas Obst
SF: Nihad Dedovic
PF: DeShaun Thomas
C: Leon Radosevic

Baskets Bonn – FC Bayern Direct comparison / H2H-balance

In the two main round duels between these clubs, the home team prevailed in each case. In mid-January, FC Bayern won 100:81 at home, but then fell to a 35-point defeat in the return match at the Telekom Dome in early March. Looking back at the past ten meetings, the statistics show seven victories for the Munich team. So, according to the head-to-head, the Cup winners from 2021 are favoured.

Baskets Bonn – FC Bayern Tip

After all four quarter-final series ended after three games and thus each with a sweep for the favoured team, neutral BBL fans are hoping for much more excitement in the semi-finals. Indeed, we are optimistic that there will be more than three games, especially in the clash between Bonn and Bayern.

On the one hand, the Telekom Baskets are one of the hottest teams in the league. 14 wins from the last 15 games underline this, as does the top form of MVP Parker Jackson Cartwright, who almost dismantled Hamburg Towers single-handedly in the quarter-finals. Because the atmosphere within the team is excellent and the Rhinelanders have also won 17 of their 19 home games this season, you definitely have to keep them in mind against the Euroleague team from Munich.

In our opinion, too high betting odds are offered on the host between Bonn and Bayern before Game 1. The value therefore lies relatively clearly with the Ilsalo team, which could also benefit from the fact that some of Bayern’s key players are not available.