By Panos Katsiroubas info@eurohoops.net
The World Cup shots is going to be an everyday round up from Eurohoops in which we will summarize everything that we liked or dislike during the games! So sit back and enjoy some very important details.
The wrong decision of Ataman: Ukraine and Turkey had a big battle in Bilbao. The game was close and coach Ataman decided to play with two “towers” Asik and Savas in order to control the boards and give power in the paint. This decision proved to be very wrong. Ukraine make all their offensive plays with a simple pick and pop by the point guard and the power forward, killing Turkey on the process. Savas was too slow and couldn’t follow Zaytsev in the perimeter, the Ukrainian forward scored 10 big points in less than 5 minutes and gave an important lead which Ukraine kept until the end of the game.
No Kalnietis, no party: In the first real test for Lithuania, it was proved that the absence of Kalnietis can’t be covered in any way from all the other players of the roster. Kalnietis was giving his team confidence in ball handling, good defense, good execution after screens in offense and finally passing ability in pick n roll situations. What we saw from Lithuania was just the opposite of what Kalnietis offers. Many turnovers under pressure, nonexistent ball distribution, almost no execution after screens with the exception of Seibutis in the second half, and only 8 assists combined with 22 turnovers. This problem has no easy solution unfortunately and Lithuania has to deal with it.
The correct decision! Australia beat Lithuania after an exceptional first half in which they build a 19 points advantage. The key to this success was the full court press that Australia used in order to make the life of their opponents very difficult. They stole a lot of balls, they hit Lithuania in transition and they made a lot of good plays. We can say that they beat Lithuania using the Baltic country’s style. This motif continued also in the second half when Lithuania cut the lead to 3 points. Full court press again, a total of 22 turnovers for Lithuania and a win for the Boomers without any real pressure.
Disappearance! After Kalnietis injury the biggest threat for any team facing Lithuania is for sure the NBA front line duo of Valanciunas and Motiejunas. In the game against Australia they disappeared! In the first quarter they were both on the floor and Aron Baynes had a real party in the paint, scoring 12 of his 14 points. Valanciunas was nowhere in defense and also both of them couldn’t give any help in the offensive end. They contributed together 6 points, 7 rebounds and 7 turnovers. Motiejunas didn’t play at all in the second half, Lithuania came back with the Lavrinovic brothers in the paint and we (the viewers of this game) felt that we travelled seven years back in time!!!
The most European Team USA: After three games of Team USA, we can say for sure one thing. This is the most European Team USA that ever appeared in FIBA tournaments the last 16 years. They have roles, they have shooters that can kill almost any zone defense, they set a lot of screens and have good cooperation in offense. They also have players who can defend the pick and roll (like Faried, Anthony Davis and Plumlee). That was their biggest problem in previous competitions. Of course they haven’t played one of the favorites ye, but in those three games they look like more international than before.
The surprise!! The surprise of the day was Eloy Vargas, the center of Dominican Republic, who had a huge game against Finland. He protected the rim and the paint wonderfully and he was extremely efficient in the offensive end. In the first two games of the competition his numbers were a bit disappointing (3pts- 7rebs average) but in this game he made the difference. He scored 18 points, grabbed 13 rebound and blocked 4 shots in 26 minutes. Not bad at all!
JUST HAKA!! Every time New Zealand participates in a big basketball competition everyone is waiting for this…