By Panos Katsiroubas/ info@eurohoops.net
The Magnifying Glass focuses its attention on all the courts of Turkish Airlines Euroleague and each week examines through its basketball lens some of the games that stole the show in Europe’s top competition!
Complete dominance by Olympiacos
One of the most important games of the week took place in Piraeus with Olympiacos Piraeus facing Real Madrid. And if the teams that play these kinds of games usually exhibit nerves and limited choices, this didn’t apply in any case for Olympiacos, who had a dream first half. In the opening 20 minutes the Reds did everything perfectly. Aside from their impressive defense on every level, the home team presented an impressive offensive character, as well, mostly thanks to the speed of the decision-making on the offensive end of the court. Of course, everything began from defense, with the Greek team hunting down its opponents in every corner of the half-court. Dealing forcefully with every screen, fast turns, checks wherever they were necessary, and trying to obstruct every shot with fast covers on the close-outs. The big difference, however, came from the offense, with Olympiacos playing at a much higher speed than usual. It’s not only that they went into the transition at every opportunity, it’s that, even playing 5-on-5, the hosts tried to attack the basket in the first few seconds, without too many introductory screens and without any delay.
As a result, Olympiacos played at a much higher pace, which automatically gave them many points without skyrocketing their stats. In the first half, the home team played in a rate of 40 possessions, something that they haven’t done this year and despite the several missed free throws, they had 53 points, which is an amazing performance considering their standards this year. Of course, for this to happen it took help from every player that stepped on the court. Vangelis Mantzaris was first and best among them. Aside from the great defense he was playing, he provided big offensive solutions having scored 16 points in the opening 30 minutes, with 5-for-5 three-pointers and 19 points in total. In addition, Hakim Warrick made his presence felt as he won a lot of battles under both baskets, set up good screens, and also scored 8 important points. Madrid had a big problem circulating the ball and they had slow reactions even when they managed to produce open shots mostly from the weak side. They put the ball on the floor a lot, didn’t pass the ball enough and most attacks were carried out under difficult circumstances. Being in a really good state of mind, Olympiacos kept playing in this tempo, having found a rhythm and now even looking to cover the point difference. Even though the Reds only had one turnover in the first half, they committed more in the second, but maintained their speed and the good circulation of the ball on offense, creating from kick-out passes at the beginning and consecutive extra passes until the best shot was found.
The difference remained at the 20-point margin despite the fact that Madrid circulated the ball a bit better and found some lanes to the basket, mostly with Sergio Rodriguez. Every attempt to come back and get a momentum going was neutralized with consecutive shots on target by Olympiacos’ players that disheartened their opponents. In the end, and with Madrid not being able to go for the win, all the focus was on whether the 12-point difference with which Madrid had won in the Spanish capital would be covered. With three consecutive post-ups by Georgios Printezis, but also a head on attack with the ball on the floor, and with many offensive rebounds being the catalyst, Olympiacos managed to overcome both hurdles, getting the much-desired difference that gives them an advantage in case of a tie in the standings. The Greek axis of the team made the difference, with Mantzaris, Printezis, Vassilis Spanoulis and Kostas Papanikolaou having a total of 62 points and 23 rebounds. Papanikolaou and Mantzaris did a tremendous job on defense, taking out of the game some of Madrid’s major weapons for a long period of time.
A win worth half of a qualification for Laboral Kutxa!
Labroal Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz does not cease to amaze. So what if Tornike Shengelia is sidelines or that the captain, Fabien Causeur, was also missing due to injury? So what if after 13 minutes Kim Tillie and Davis Bertans had committed 3 fouls each, while Darius Adams had his worst game in the Top 16? Coach Velimir Perasovic’s players came up with the solutions, controlled the game and in the end managed to withstand FC Barcelona Lassa’s counterattack and get a very valuable win that gives them a big advantage in the playoff race – and even for home-court advantage! For much of the game, Laboral relied on its defense, which, occasionally smothered Barcelona. With the excellent Jaka Blazic and Mike James, they pressed hard on the ball and made it tough for their opponents to circulate the ball. The defensive plan had as its first goal to deny Coach Xavier Pascual’s team the ability to move the ball quickly by being aggressive on all pick-and-rolls with their big men and by adding depth with amazing defender Adam Hanga quickly covering gaps in the defense. In general, with such an amazing defender on the court, Laboral was able to provide help and not be exposed easily in their turns.
The Hungarian forward and Ioannis Bourousis were once again the cornerstones on both ends of the court for the home team. The duo had a total of 33 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals, numbers that show their decisive contributions in the outcome. The key player, however, was James and, in the end, Blazic. In one of his best games, the former masterfully orchestrated his team’s game, scoring behind screens, but also passing brilliantly in pick-and-roll plays in the paint for easy finishes by Bourousis. When he faced continuous double-teaming in the final minutes, the Greek center passed excellently to his teammates (James, Tillie), who scored some very crucial baskets. In terms of tactics, Barcelona double team Bourousis from the start, but as he got into a rhythm the visiting bench was forced to change the way they dealt with him.
In the critical minutes, Blazic also provided enormous help as he didn’t hesitate to attack in isolation situations and also got some good shots through good ball circulation. For 30 minutes, Barcelona had big problems with Laboral’s good defense. In this period, they committed several turnovers and couldn’t easily find open shots with the home team’s turns being very good. In the fourth quarter, they found some points in transition following turnovers by Laboral, while Alex Abrines also got into a good rhythm with shots behind screens, supporting the amazing Tomas Satoransky, who was the only Barcelona player with a consistently good performance throughout the game. In this way, they turned the game around, but once again Laboral’s defense made the difference in the final two minutes and, with a foul to give, didn’t give anything to their opponents. The dream of the playoffs for Perasovic’s team is starting to become a reality.
Lokomotiv’s party against Crvena Zvezda
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar completely dominated Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade to win 86-62. Coach Dejan Radonjic’s team was able to stay in the game for only 15 minutes, but from that point they couldn’t keep up. In yet another game, Lokomotiv played some great defense and essentially obliterated the visitors’ big advantage on offense. With intense pressure on the ball, but also very aggressive marking of Maik Zirbes, Zvezda’s pick-and-roll disappeared from the game, which resulted in the offensive plan of the Serbs being rendered useless. Anthony Randolph played some great defenses against the German center by intercepting passes, keeping his supply almost impossible, and holding him to just 2 points on 2 shots, all in all, until the 25th minute. Randolph made 4 steals, which led to very easy points in the open court. Of course, aside from defense, Lokomotiv had to score and did so pretty well. The visitors’ defense couldn’t deal with Lokomotiv’s spread out and flexible offense at any point in the game. Movement without the ball, screens along the sides, good kick out passes and big men who can shoot and put the ball on the floor made for an explosive offensive combination for the home team and many open shots. The two most characteristic parts of this kind of offense were the small number of shots from inside the paint and the number of shots attempted by the two centers from the perimeter.
Of Lokomotiv’s 29 shots on target in the game, only 9 were taken from inside the paint, with most of them being baskets scored in the open court following steals. In addition, Randolph and Chris Singleton shot 9 three-pointers, while they also attempted many mid-range shots, essentially stepping in the paint only when they decided to put the ball on the floor. Zvezda didn’t have players who could defend that far from the paint in defense, especially at the ‘5’ position, not only to mark their personal opponents, but also to play switching defenses on the many screens the home team set away from the ball. This led to many open and successful mid- and long-range shots. Lokomotiv finished the game with 13 steals and forced their opponents to succumb to 22 turnovers, numbers that exclude any thought of, not just winning the game, but even attempting to do so. Lokomotiv took full advantage of their strengths and held Zvezda captive with their defense, getting an absolutely fair win that can earn them home-court advantage for the playoffs.
Another miracle by Brose Baskets
Brose Baskets Bamberg seems hell bent on driving everyone crazy in this year’s Euroleague. In this column we’ve made countless references to Coach Andrea Trinchieri’s unbelievable work and to the excellent ensemble of players he has put together. But everything his team is doing is beyond everyone’s imagination. So, after the two wins over Olympiacos Piraeus plus wins over Barcelona and Khimki Moscow Region, it was CSKA Moscow’s turn to learn what it means to play at Brose Arena. In the end, the home team prevailed in a game characterized by its fast pace, but also the high quality of both teams. If we could linger on the points on which the game was decided, we’d pick two glaring examples, especially in the last five minutes. The first was Bamberg’s teamwork. In every play, the home team included all their players in their offensive game, working hard in offense and always looking for the best options, even when they were under pressure by the shot clock in some instances.
On the other side, CSKA essentially turned to clearly individual creations by its guard duo, with Milos Teodosic and Nando De Colo monopolizing the attacks. Besides, the final number of assists doesn’t lie, with the home team having almost twice as many as their rival, 23-12. Overall, the reading of the game by Bamberg’s backcourt players was great on every level, even under relentless defensive pressure. Nikos Zisis, Bradley Wanamaker and Janis Strelnieks had 18 assists and just 4 turnovers. Bamberg’s ball movement is enviable and worth watching for those who really want to see how the game is played correctly. The second area in which the home team excelled was with its switching defenses. Once again, the Bamberg big men did a really good job against CSKA’s guards whenever they faced each other following screens. It isn’t at all easy for any defense to obliterate the amazing guards on Coach Dimitrios Itoudis’s team, but what Bamberg’s defense did was to disorient them, make it difficult for them to make drives and to block their shots so that, even if they got off, they weren’t under ideal conditions.
The trio of De Colo, Teodosic and Cory Higgins made in total 11 of 35 shots and only 10 assists with 6 turnovers. That means that they shot at a much lower percentage than they had until now, and even though they scored a lot, they didn’t hurt the home team much, as they missed many shots, while taking many forced attempts. It’s worth adding that Bamberg again had eight fewer possessions if we consider the difference in offensive rebounds, something that highlights their defense even more. The Freak City fans can still dream of qualifying, but no matter how this year pans out, it’s going to be unforgettable for a team that, up until three months ago, had never won in the Top 16. They deserve much congratulations and respect.