By Panos Katsiroumpas/ info@eurohoops.net
They ran out of options
Fener’s image in the first 25 minutes was disheartening. This was mainly because they didn’t have creation along the perimeter, something that made sense since Sloukas was out, while in that time Bogdanovic hadn’t yet entered the game. The absence of Datome caused congestion and a problem in spacing. The ball got stuck in the hands of Dixon and Mahmutoglu who are not good creators and whenever the ball didn’t get inside the paint, desperate shots were the only option.
The ace up their sleeve
Dogus Balbay played a very important role in the time he played. In the first half he took on Bobby Dixon and essentially got him out of the game with his good defenses. Aside from the excellent individual and overplay defense that he played, he provided solutions in offense and won several hustle plays. He was key for about 18 minutes he was on the court and the stat numbers don’t do him justice.
Ruthless marksmanship
These two words characterize Efes’s offensive plan in the first 30 minutes. They took advantage of literally everything. They struck the weak Dixon in defense, they posted any mismatches they had from the ‘3’ position whenever Fener had a small line-up on the floor, while Brown made things difficult for the rival power forwards that weren’t so good in defense away from the basket. Furthermore, they took advantage of any mismatches that resulted from Fener’s switching defenses. Super well read!
He wasn’t enough
Bogdanovic stepped on the court when things had already gone downhill and he almost turned the game around on his own. The Serbian ace got his team’s game in order, and at the same time created a threat in offense, a department in which his team was faltering. After him, Fener’s good defense also showed up on the court, with Pero Antic its cornerstone. In the end, neither of the two was enough to come back from a 17-point deficit. The Serbian guard had 16 points with one missed shot and 4 assists.
The inspiration
Xavi Pascual’s inspiration essentially threw Baskonia off rhythm at the beginning, but without ever being able to really bounce back. He set up his defense with four players in a zone arrangement and Calathes or James defending Larkin man-to-man. The four players essentially switched on every screen and drive and this messed up with the minds of the Basques. The defense looked like it was closed but risked shots only by choice and was vindicated. The 6-24 of the first quarter was the biggest award.
With no rhythm
The Basques couldn’t play their game at all and they definitely had one of their worst performances in the EuroLeague. Larkin only had one outburst in the second quarter, Beaubois was like he never played, Shengelia couldn’t threaten from the post and the home team was thrown off center in offense. Even their comeback in the game came with spasmodic basketball and desperate defenses, while Panathinaikos’s many turnovers after the 30th minute also helped in this.
We’re going to forget it pretty quickly
Of course we’re talking about the fourth quarter, which, in terms of quality, has to be one of the worst quarters we’ve seen in this season’s EuroLeague. In the last three minutes alone, nine turnovers were committed and the teams were playing almost randomly. This kind of performance should not be repeated by any of the teams if they want to have any luck in the playoffs. Panathinaikos should simply erase ten minutes while Baskonia all forty.
Talent>team
Real got a big win in Piraeus and they did it thanks to the talent of some of their players. Llull and Randolph scored some very important baskets and were the players that were constantly causing problems with their ability in offense. In the end, these two were the real difference between the two teams. The two of them scored 42 of their team’s 79 points.
Defense and Randolph
Real produced one of their best defensive games in this season’s EuroLeague. A big piece of the defensive pie surely belongs to Jeff Taylor who visibly contained Vassilis Spanoulis in the first thirty minutes. However, we couldn’t overlook the formidable presence of Randolph, who functioned as a goalkeeper in the pick-and-rolls, placing his body everywhere and blocking many shots. When Ayon was on the court Olympiacos struck from the paint, but with Hunter and Randolph this wasn’t as easy. Overall, Real played really good defense, especially in the second half, a kind of defense we have haven’t been accustomed to from them.
Pick-and-roll
In the crucial part in the fourth quarter, when the visitors ran away with it, they ran wild in the pick-and-roll with Llull doing an excellent job at reading and with Hunter providing important solutions in offense. Olympiacos’s defense got tangled up on the screens, both on the ball as well as the back screens, and lost the guys they were supposed to be marking. The speed with which plays were executed was exceptional, with Real laying the foundations of the victory at that point.
Immobility
From the 25th minute onwards, Olympiacos’s offense lost the mobility and the cuts with which they scar many defenses. The ball either got stuck in the central lane with Spanoulis trying to set up plays with screens on the ball, or along the wings as Real’s good close out defenses didn’t allow direct executions from Green or Lojeksi. There didn’t seem to be any alternatives and Olympiacos were forced to carry out several doomed attacks. Offensive rebounds kept them afloat, but not until the end.