By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Lenovo Tenerife went down to 1-3 in Basketball Champions League games versus fellow Spanish teams on Tuesday.
The team coached by Txus Vidorreta was dismantled by the defending champions, Hereda San Pablo Burgos, succeeding in delivering a clear message about their own intentions moving forward in the 2020-21 season.
“We did not follow our game plan,” admitted the 54-year-old Spanish head coach, “We only played our game for five minutes. Burgos was much better than us in the remaining 35.”
The defeat shaped a 6% total on every loss in BCL history resurfacing the enormous 66% as two of the three exits from FIBA’s top European club competition came at the hands of an ACB rival.
Burgos connected 17 triples for a joint-high in league-history to become the first team surpassing the 100-point mark in a single game versus the first-ever champions in all BCL seasons. “I am happy for the win against such rival,” noted the winning side’s boss Joan Penarroya, “I need to congratulate my players. They controlled the pace of the game.”
Such losses are definitely rare for Tenerife usually producing a much larger effort in games from the BCL to the highly-competitive ACB. However, unsuccessful bids in All-Spanish battles in the Champions League are beginning to form a concerning trend for the Basketball Champions League lasting original. Rewinding through struggles against other Spanish clubs troubles Tenerife fans.
Round of 16 exit
Coming off going all the way in the inaugural BCL season, Tenerife was knocked out by UCAM Murcia in the 2017-18 season. A dominating 12-2 Regular Season run and a 71-66 win on the road in the first leg of the two-game series were deemed worthless after losing 83-72 in the second leg. Murcia ultimately ranked third in the Final Four held in Athens.
It was a wild game down the stretch with Tenerife attempting to gain ground after falling into a 14-point hole but to no avail. Mateusz Ponitka scored a team-high 16 points, Davin White added 13 points, and Mike Tobey a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double in the losing effort.
Final 8 disappointment
Segadredo Virtus Bologna on May 5, 2019, became the only non-Spanish club to prevent the team based in San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife, from capturing the BCL title. That happened in the Final Four championship game that took place in Antwerp, Belgium.
The 2019-20 season was completed late with a Final 8 in Athens. Tenerife made its way to the final stage but not past Casademont Zaragoza in the quarterfinals. Despite Giorgi Shermadini firing a game-high 22 points, Zaragoza claimed the 87-81 victory sending its Spanish opponent on an early flight back home. The advancing Spanish club finished fourth overall.
The current situation
The record was 1-2 and became 1-3 after unceremoniously falling to Burgos. If history repeats itself, Tenerife can be on its way out once more. In this case, the all-Spanish battles are included in a round-robin six-game schedule featuring Igokea and VEF Riga as well, not a direct matchup with another ACB representative.
A bad sign countered by a favorable schedule. At 1-1, tied with Igokea, one point over VEF Riga and one point behind the BCL title-holders, Tenerife will host all three Group J rivals and also visit VEF Riga. A remaining path looking kind enough in the effort to advance to the Final 8.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League