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Bayern continued their promising preseason, winning both games in a quick tournament in Hagen. While preseason results obviously don't matter, the encouraging things have outweighed the alarming ones so far.
First they beat Göttingen, a team that just won promotion to the Bundesliga. After a close first half that ended with a one-point lead for Bayern, the quality and squad depth of the German champs proved to be too much to handle for Göttingen. Robin Benzing scored 16 points. Vasilije Micic collected 8 assists. John Bryant grabbed some rebounds but had an off day in offense.
FCBB v BG Göttingen
Final score: 99-72 (HT 48-47)
Most points: Benzing (16), Gavel (13), Djedovic/Jagla (12)
Most rebounds: Bryant/Jagla (7), Idbihi (5), Savanovic (4)
Most assists: Micic (8), Benzing (3), Djedovic/Schaffartzik (2)
Beating Göttingen meant that Bayern would play the final against the hosts from Hagen who finished 10th in the Bundesliga last season. The FCBB lead kept growing once the Hagen shooters cooled down, and Bayern not only got the third clear victory in three days but also the first trophy of the season. A shockingly ugly one, that is. The king of the final was "Big But No Longer Fat" John Bryant with 17 points and 11 rebounds, all done without missing a single shot. That's the kind of performance Bayern fans and club officials had in mind when they signed the two-time MVP a year ago. Nihad Djedovic also seems to find his rhythm again, as he collected 19 points. Micic of course had 8 assists again. I think that's 23 assists in about 60 minutes for him now.
Phoenix Hagen v FCBB
Final score: 80-108 (HT 40-49)
Most points: Djedovic/Savanovic (19), Bryant (17), Idbihi (14)
Most rebounds: Bryant (11), Idbihi/Savanovic (8), Schaffartzik (5)
Most assists: Micic (8), Djedovic/Gavel (5), Bryant/Staiger (3)
One guy who hasn't made an on-court appearance yet is Bryce Taylor. Fortunately, the injury isn't supposed to be anything major. The bigger news however are that Taylor has been officially confirmed as the team's new captain. The athletic 27-year-old is gonna be the successor of Steffen Hamann, and I'm convinced that he'll do a great job.
Bayern's preseason will be continued next weekend when they travel to France for some international action. Don't expect the results to be as impressive.