By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Things didn’t go as planned for G-League defending champs Austin Spurs and FIBA Americas reigning champion San Lorenzo in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup semifinals against Flamengo and AEK Athens respectively.
Both teams suffered blowout losses and lost the chance to compete for the title. However, there’s still something to fight for in the competition, as they face each other for the third place.
Per FIBA:
After the substantial defeats they went through in the Semi-Finals, now San Lorenzo and the Austin Spurs must play for the third place in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
The two teams failed to portray their best version in the most recent game and were greatly overpowered by AEK and Flamengo, respectively. Now, both teams must recover in order to put their corresponding institution’s name in a high place and to not go back home empty-handed.
San Lorenzo, DIRECTV Liga de las Américas champions, in their first presentation at this event, could not set in motion their usual fast attack and counterattack strategy and were not very efficient in the long distance. They must improve these aspects to have better chances.
The men coached by Gonzalo García achieved 40% in field goals against Greece’s AEK in the Semi-Finals, and could only manage 3/19 three-pointers, for a very low 16% effectiveness rate. They also must lower the number of losses (20 in the first game) —if they don’t, it’s going to be a difficult ride for them.
As for the NBA G-League champions, the Spurs, they must make necessary adjustments as well and stay focused during the whole encounter. Against Flamengo they started solid with an 11-2 quarter, but soon they couldn’t run anymore and lost all cohesion when they couldn’t find the space to make any comfortable throws. In total, they threw an 38% average from the field, including 4/20 from the three-point area. They must avoid this the next time.
The encounter starts at 3:00 PM (local game time) in Arena Carioca and will serve as a prelude to the Grand Finale.
Photo: FIBA