By Panos Katsiroumpas/ info@eurohoops.net
The two semifinals of the Final 4 are history, and here we will focus on what we liked and what we didn’t like in these 2 games. Let’s have a quick view of the semifinals together under the microscope.
What we liked
Real Madrid
This was just incredible. Real Madrid played the perfect game and humiliated their biggest rivals with a 38 points difference margin. The score speaks itself, Real dominated the game from the beginning to the end, they were very attacking in both ends of the floor, they executed and share the ball in a tremendous way, in total they played perfect. One of the best team shows in Final 4 history.
Nikola Mirotic
He was excellent against Barcelona. He was the player that scored with consistency in the beginning of the game when Real Madrid faced some problems. He attacked in the slow feet of Erazem Lorbek winning fouls and also shoot the ball with high percentages when he had some space. He also played good defense and had also impact in the great ball movement of Real Madrid. He is very smart and talented in all ways. He has perfect understanding of the game and great vision of the court.
The comeback of Maccabi
Cska controlled the game the score was 55-40 for the Russian side, Maccabi had no rhythm and lost some easy baskets in the offensive end and all the odds were against them. Although the Israeli team never stop fighting, they played great defense in the 4th quarter and hit all the disadvantages in the defensive end of Cska, attacking mostly on Teodosic either in the post with Devin Smith or from the perimeter with the quick guards that Maccabi had in the court. Unbelievable comeback!!
David Blu
In summer he announced that he was retiring from Basketball. Although he was convinced to play for another year and this decision is the main reason of the presence of Maccabi in the Final 4. He scored 5 big three pointers and 15 points in total all in periods of the game that mattered. He kept his team when nobody else couldn’t score and also hit some very important jumpers in the final and critical minutes of the game. For sure this was the best decision in his athletic life.
The fans of Maccabi
They are very loyal to their team and they prove it for another time. They are by far the majority in Mediolanum Forum and the games were played in a yellow background. With their passion they showed that they believe in their team and help them understand they can turn the game upside down.
What we didn’t like
The second half of Barca
Barca went to the locker in the halftime with an 8point deficit. This was not a result of a bad half but a result of 3 bad minutes in the 2nd quarter where they were outscored 11-0. In the 2nd half the Catalan side played terrible in both end of the floor. They couldn’t stop a single play of Real Madrid and in offense they were unable to score and in many occasions they were unable even to take a shot to the basket. The scoring run in the last 14 minutes was 44-15 in favor of Real Madrid. (From 56-47 to 100-62)
The passes to Schortsanitis
If we exclude the 1st period of the game where Sofo took some good passes and finished with some baskets in the next 3 quarters the passes inside for him were mediocre. Sometimes the ball was given to him away from the basket, others was given without good spacing from his teammates that help Cska to give double teams easily inside and other passes were given very early in the possession and Sofo was not already positioned himself in the post. As a fact he had some bad finishes and some turnovers. Sofo is an important part for the game plan of Maccabi and his teammates must take advantage of his abilities.
Sonny Weems
He is a very talented and athletic player and the best scorer of Cska. Although his last night performance will be a night to forget for him. He had very bad executions in the offensive end with only 2/13 field goals and 2/4 free throws and also missed the last shot. He had 6 assists but in general it was a very disappointing performance for him.
They way Messina used Hines
Messina does the same mistake all year long. In the semifinal he used Hines almost exclusively as a power forward and forced him to run after Blu in the perimeter at the time where Cska was facing problems from the penetrations of the guards of Maccabi inside their paint and Tyus who is a player with his characteristics was on the floor. He is one of the best defender and rim protector in Euroleague. Moreover he was totally out of the offensive game of Cska and the ball was given to him in the perimeter, they didn’t used pick and rolls on him and all the points he scored were due to battles or offensive rebounds. Mister Messina with all the respect Kyle Hines is a modern, powerful and quick center and only that. You took nothing from a player who won 2 Euroleague titles the last 2 years.
The looser mentality of Cska Moscow
When it happens 2 times the last 3 years in very critical games we cannot say that is coincidence again. For a 2nd time in three years Cska lost their own game both in the same way with the basket in the last seconds dropping double digits differential. Two years ago was Olympiakos in the Euroleague Final in Istanbul who won a title in a dramatic way and last night was the turn of Maccabi to reach the final in the same way. Something is totally wrong in the mentality of Cska.