By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
There’s probably nothing better than a statement win on the road for a team to react and recover after hitting a couple of bumps.
For Dreamland Gran Canaria, that game arrived at ratiopharm Ulm last week.
Against one of the hottest BKT EuroCup teams at that moment, which was in the middle of a four-game winning run, the Spanish side got a 76-83 road win to bounce back in style after two straight losses and improve to 10-4, retaining the advantageous second seed in Group A.
The way Gran Canaria achieved the result included several aspects that have been a trademark for the 2023 champions this season: tough defensive attitude, superior energy down the stretch and fighting mentality, all of them leading to a 16-0 run over seven minutes in the fourth period for the comeback victory.
“We wanted to control their transition defense because they are running and are very vertical to the basket,” said Gran Canaria coach Jaka Lakovic. “We also wanted to protect the defensive rebounds and, for sure, make a good job defending on three-pointers.”
Ulm was held to 76 points after averaging 106.6 points over its three previous games. Once again, it was mainly the defense of Gran Canaria that showed the way, as has been the case several times this season.
Gran Canaria may not be the fanciest team in EuroCup when you look at its offense, since it is ranked 16th overall in scoring with 79.2 points. However, what it may lack in firepower, it carries in abundance when it comes to defensive effort, grit and successful plans to dismantle the opponent’s schemes.
By Round 15, Gran Canaria have the top Defensive Rating in EuroCup with 102.3, allowing just 74.3 points per game. The fact that they operate at the second-lowest pace in the competition after Bahcesehir College Istanbul obviously attributes to that, too.
It’s still quite a feat to force opponents to a number below 75.0 points in a competition thriving with plenty of offensive talent where seven of the 20 teams put up more than 85.0 points and just six are below the 80.0 ppg. mark.
Meanwhile, Gran Canaria are the third-best team in defensive rebounds with 23.9, a number that shows both the skill and affinity it has for grabbing those boards as well as the number of opportunities it creates to force its opponents into misfiring from the floor.
It’s collective work as eight Gran Canaria players average 1.9 rebounds or more, with center Mike Tobey leading the way with 4.1 boards per night.
Apart from a well-prepared strategy suited to each team it faces, what’s required is the individual willingness to commit and put all the schemes to contain the opponent into action. Gran Canaria features some notable defensive warriors and perhaps none fiercer than captain Andrew Albicy. In his fifth year in Las Palmas, the veteran French guard is co-leading (along with Valencia’s young playmaker Jean Montero) the EuroCup in steals with 2.0, and it’s a small wonder that he was voted as Best Defender in the GMs’ mid-season survey.
Albicy and his teammates make it a pain for opponents to execute their game in multiple areas. Against Gran Canaria, other squads have 16.8 assists, a number that would be the second lowest in the EuroCup as a team average. At the same time, they struggle to make shots, hitting merely 30.8% of its three-pointers and 43.0 percent from the field overall.
Keeping the batteries full
Lakovic’s rotation of 10 players also helps keep everyone fresh and ready to always give their all. No one plays longer than forward Nico Brussino’s 26:50 minutes while five more of his teammates spend from 20:37 to 23:11 on the floor. There are four other players who see action ranging from 14:44 to 17:34 minutes.
Gran Canaria’s ability to deliver down the stretch, especially by locking down its opponents on the defensive end, has led to some of the team’s biggest wins in the regular season so far, including the one against Ulm, of course.
When it faced Bahcesehir College Istanbul at home in Round 3, Gran Canaria was trailing 54–61 with five minutes to play before turning it around completely in crunch time for a 66–63 win. In Round 7, the team escaped Joventut Badalona with a 76-78 win in overtime thanks to a 9-0 run in the fourth period that finished 19–14 in the visitors’ favor. At Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul, Lakovic’s players turned a 61–57 deficit in the middl of the fourth period to a 61–69 advantage in just three minutes before getting the 74-76 victory.
With four games left in the regular season, Gran Canaria is hosting Joventut Badalona and Besiktas at home as well as traveling to Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius and Trefl Sopot. Securing the second seed is a more than attainable goal for the team, which has high hopes of reclaiming the champion’s crown once more.