It’s not often that the bear tap-dances in the home of BC Vienna. But in a basketball super league finals series, everything is different. Opponents Swans Gmunden brought a lot of fans of the battle to the first of a maximum of five finals in the federal capital. The loud cheers were not able to give the “Korbjäger” from Traunsee the wings they needed to survive. The Viennese, who won their only championship title to date in 2013, lived up to their role as favorites and won 83:63 (38:34).
Nothing is lost for the Swans, who want to make it 1-1 in the second of a maximum of five duels on Thursday (7 p.m., ORF Sport+ and Sky) in the local Volksbank Arena. “We are strong at home. We know something is possible,” said Captain Daniel Friedrich. Of course, the statistics speak for the Viennese, who have won five out of six matches this season.
However, the last match at Traunsee to date went to the Swans. The Gmundners are still unbeaten at home this post-season. In the quarterfinals against the Raiffeisen Flyers Wels (3:1) there were two home wins as well as in the semifinals against the Oberwart Gunners (3:0).
“We make too many mistakes of our own”
For the Swans it’s about the sixth championship title, the way there is rocky. This is probably also due to the fact that Enis Murati left Gmunden in the summer of 2021 and followed the call of Croesus from Vienna. The 33-year-old international knows. that the focus in this explosive and intense series is (also) on him. Murati seems to be fine with that, taking the first points of the night.
After the balanced first quarter, the Viennese led 18:17, and an initially high-quality match developed between the two best teams in the Republic. Gmunden had advantages on the rebound, BC Vienna was more accurate and gradually increased their lead. “We make too many mistakes of our own. Nervousness also plays a part,” said Toni Blazan during the half-time break in the Sky interview (38:34 for Vienna). “The high intensity shouldn’t be the problem,” added the 30-year-old.
BC Vienna benefited from its extremely strong defense, Gmunden (for the fourth time in a row in the league final) found no effective means. “We have to reduce turnover,” coach Anton Mirolybov, who had extended his contract until the summer of 2023, swore in his “swans” towards the end of the second quarter.
All the instructions didn’t work. “If we don’t execute, it doesn’t work,” said the Finn (a bit angry) and looked skeptically at the scoreboard. After the third quarter, in which the Swans only scored 13 points, the Viennese were 61:47 ahead. The hope of a memorable race to catch up was not fulfilled.
The Viennese showed a compact team performance. That was also thanks to Jozo Rados (15 points), who wore the Gmundner jersey from 2010 to 2013. Rados shared the relatively worthless title of top scorer with his opponent Blazan (also 15 points).
Source: Nachrichten
