By Panos Katsiroumpas / info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce – CSKA Moscow
No Milos, no party!
Without Teodosic CSKA had a very rough night in Istanbul. Especially in the second half, they barely scored, while they just couldn’t play their game at all. De Colo was struggling on his own but couldn’t get his teammates in the game. The Russians were below 50% in two-point shooting as well as three-point shooting and they finished the game with 10 assists, half their average so far.
A different team with Bogdan
Fener look much better lately and that is largely due to Bogdanovic. The Serbian guard filled the gap in the backcourt, he helps a lot in creation and even on the nights that he’s off, as he was against CSKA, his influence is significant. He sets up pick-and-rolls and the defense can’t take risks against him. He finished the game with 8 assists, almost half those of his team.
20-5
The point that decided the game. Fenerbahce barricaded their defense, had amazing reactions in all kinds of defense and kept CSKA scoreless for quite a while. In this way, at the start of the third quarter they had a 20-5 run that gave them double-digit leads.
Clutch Gigi
He might have had his worst game as of late, but at the critical point he killed off CSKA. A three-pointer but also a basket and foul with his favorite fade away shot kept his team at a safe distance in the final crucial moments.
Zalgiris Kaunas – Barcelona
A coach’s team!
Zalgiris are the definition of such a team. Saras has left his mark on the line-ups he chooses as well as the style of basketball the team plays. A lot of movement, good reading of the game, merciless aiming at and persistence on mismatches, and excellent spacing. Zalgiris spreads out well on the court, scores and plays enjoyable basketball. Thumbs up!
The key player!
That was none other than Lukas Lekavicius. The small Lithuanian guard had an amazing game in terms of scoring, killing Barcelona with shots behind the screens. 7 of the 8 two-pointers he scored were in gaps in defense and on the weak spots of Tomic as well as Faverani. Aside from this, he distributed the ball very well and the capstone of his appearance was a heroic defense, stealing the ball from Doellman who posted him in one of the most crucial attacks of the game.
Ten minutes!
Essentially this is how long Zalgiris played without a center, against a team that constantly had a quality center in the game. Saras’s well-known trick using three forwards on the court and no center, paid off again. Ulanovas posted as a ‘3’ and Jankunas waited for the ball in the high post. In this way, Barca’s big man had to move out of the key and Ulanovas had plenty of room to play in the post. When the defense closed the pass came instantaneously and the spacing was good. The result was 17 points and 4 assists for Ulanovas and 15 points for Jankunas.
Defense wanted.
We had emphasized that now, with Faverani in Dorsey’s place, as well as all their absences, Barcelona would be playing their games in terms of “as many as we score, as many as we concede.” In yet another game, their defense was disheartening, as they’ve been conceding almost 85 points on average in their last four games.
Baskonia – Real Madrid
They can win like this too!
No other week could be as suitable as this one for Real to climb to first place. Facing one of the best teams on one of the toughest home courts, without Reyes or Rudy, with Llull shooting 1-for-9 and Carroll with only 2 points. And still, they turned out to be a monster, getting a huge win, proving that the team’s depth is amazing.
He’s only 17 years old!
Luka Doncic is without a doubt the absolute attraction of this year’s competition. Against Baskonia he came up with another amazing performance, doing everything on the court. Furthermore, he created and executed one of the most impressive plays, similar to which I can only recall Bodiroga pulling off. His numbers: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and no turnovers.
The key
Jeff Taylor, clearly. From the start of the game he took over the difficult task of containing Larkin. He succeeded to the fullest extent by playing excellent defense, something that threw the Basques’ entire offense in disarray. Aside from this, he had amazing movements without the ball, often receiving the ball behind the defense to score 16 points.
Without a plan B
Baskonia were disappointing and all their bad nights have one thing in common. Shane Larkin’s complete entanglement in the tentacles of the opponent’s defense. Unfortunately for Sito Alonso and Bakonia, there is no treatment for this kind of problem. Laprovittola was good but overdid it, Shengelia is out, among the big men only Voigtmann and Tillie are fighting, and things look bad in Vitoria.