Strasbourg - Baskets Bonn
International - Championsleague, Playoff, Quarterfinal
Baskets Bonn will again be strong favorites against Strasbourg, although the German team stumbled at home last week and will play away knowing they have to win.
That the defeat in the first match of the quarterfinals of the FIBA Champions League against Strasbourg, 77:76 in the duel played on April 5, was only a momentary setback for Baskets Bonn, is evidenced by the quality that the Bundesliga leader demonstrated in the victory last weekend. In the away match, Oldenburg was relatively easily defeated 87:76, and Baskets Bonn scored 31 points in the last quarter in that match.
This season and many times Baskets Bonn has shown that they play equally well away from home, and in France against Strasbourg they will play aware of the mistakes from the first match. On the other hand, in the Strasbourg team, they know the opportunity they have: a victory in this match guarantees passage to the semi-finals. A defeat for the French club would mean that the trip to the semi-finals would be decided by the third match in Germany, and in that match Strasbourg would certainly be a complete outsider.
The previous weekend, Strasbourg was convincingly defeated 93:80 by Boulogne-Levallois in the French LNB league. Overall, the team's form has been poor this spring, with just one win in their last six games – just that big surprise last week, away to Baskets Bonn.
First of all, the visitors need to find the firmness, which they lacked in the first match of the quarter-finals in the end of the duel. At that time, Strasbourg was also lucky, and the Baskets Bonn team was clearly burdened by the pressure of being the favorite and having to win. They have a chance to make up for all that tonight, against a squad that has three consecutive defeats at home.
In 2021, Strasbourg was fourth in the FIBA Champions League, they will look for a chance for a second place in the Final 4 of this competition. On the other hand, Baskets Bonn last week ended a series of 11 victories in FIBA CL, which is the third longest winning streak in the history of this competition.
The key task for the visitors will be to stop Marcus Keene. One of the best basketball players in the FIBA Champions League scored as many as 13 points for Strasbourg in the last quarter of the duel last week, and scored 17 points in total. Also, the German team will have to find solidity in duels under the hoop.
It is a duel between teams that have a good execution, Strasbourg has an excellent 48.3 percent of shots from the field, which is the best in the competition. However, the offensive potential of Baskets Bonn is even more impressive, the team scores as many as 117.3 points per 100 possessions and has the highest offensive ratio.
If the guests manage to speed up the game, the triumph should not be out of the question, even a convincing victory. The only chance for Strasbourg is possibly an uncertain final minutes, where with firmness and the support of the fans they could prevail... However, the form in recent weeks, especially at home, does not seem promising for a team that has much less quality options in attack than the exceptional German opponent.