By Panos Katsiroumpas/ info@eurohoops.net
Week 4 is history and as the games pile up we start having a more analytical profile of all teams with their advantages and disadvantages. Intense and important games took place and the magnifying glass makes a conclusion of all last week’s action.
Beautiful basketball!!!
When we are talking about beautiful basketball we mean the teams that are a joy to watch for any basketball lover. Those teams in the last weeks are CSKA, Real Madrid and Panathinaikos.
For the second week in a row Real Madrid played an unbelievable offensive game. They scored a record of 115 points for this Euroleague season and they also tied the record of assists that they had from the previous week with 33. This is the first time in Euroleague that a team has more than 30 assists in two consecutive games. As usual in this kind of games when Real Madrid starts to find rhythm, just can’t be stopped. Transition, beautiful plays, great passing, and everyone playing his part in the offensive end.
“El Chacho” for the second game in a row had a double digit of assists with 12 in only 21 minutes. In the last two games he averages 11 assists in only 20 minutes. However, it is important for the future to see if Real Madrid can have the same productivity in offense against stronger defensive teams because those numbers during the last two weeks are achieved against the two worst defensive teams of the competition.
CSKA was really impressive especially in the first half against the very competitive Unicaja Malaga. Teodosic was in the zone again, he finished the game with 27 points and 10 assists. Until now, CSKA took help from everybody in offense but against Malaga it was really nice to see plays which finished with Kyle Hines’s execution. He finally took the ball in the paint and this is the area in which he can be very dangerous. He was used as a center for the majority of minutes he was on the floor and he was really effective. He finished the game with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. With Hines playing like this, CSKA has one more weapon in the paint that last year was not used in an effective way.
The pick and roll plays of Teodosic have many different options that make CSKA very dangerous. He can either took the shoot after the screen, he can play the pick and pop with a stretch power forward like Vorontsevich in the game against Maccabi, he can create plays in the paint with both Kaun and Hines or he can pass to the weak side with Fridzon executing or Weems attacking the basket. If nothing of that works, then he just extends the passing game for an even better option. CSKA plays really beautiful in offense.
Panathinaikos have their own creator in the face of Dimitris Diamantidis but what differentiate them from the other two teams is that everything starts from defense. Panathinaikos plays very agressive defense, they can use switches in every screen especially with Fotsis and Gist on the floor and they put a lot of pressure on the ball. In the offensive end Panathinaikos does extreme good work in off the ball movement and screens that help a lot to open spaces for their shooters. Panathinaikos has an average of 85 points in offense with almost 58% in 2pt shots and 45% in 3pt shots. In the last two games the Greens have 27/42 3points shots. A result that is based not just in a “hot streak, but in good screens, excellent spacing and clear mind that leads the players to look for the extra pass and the best option.
Batista also is a very important offensive help with his low post game and his great moves in the paint. He is also a great pick and roll finisher. This obliges the opponents of Panathinaikos to send help to him from the week side and that makes them extremely vulnerable to open shots. Transition game is also of high level in the last games of Panathinaikos and this is an extra offensive weapon that offers a lot of points when combined with good defense. We need of course to have a special mention to Dimitris Diamantidis who scored only one field goal and finished the game with a 24 ranking! Really amazing!
Huge Problems…
They are teams that have almost every week the same problems and solutions are needed immediately. The teams included in this category are Fenerbahce, Olympia Milano, Bayern Munich and Nizhny Novgorod.
The biggest problem of Fenerbahce is that almost nobody understands what kind of basketball this team is trying to play. Which are their characteristics, in which parts of the game they are strong and which is the character of this team. In the game against Barcelona we saw very few automation in offense, they attack basically with isolation, and only Zoric put some pressure in the post, but he had problems in defense at the same time. The creation from the guards was very limited and as a result Bjelica led the team in assists. Transition was the only real source of easy points for the Turkish side but is not enough.
What is important to say is that this team has nothing in common with the basketball that previous teams of coach Obradovic produced. The defense is poor, the team play in offense is limited and the threat from the post is not there. Moreover the toughness and the fighting mentality of this team have not yet appeared in the court. Point guard are needed immediately. Barcelona played just above average for their standards and escaped with a huge victory to remain unbeaten after four games.
Olympia Milano
The team that appeared in Athens against Panathinaikos has nothing in common with the word “team”. The defense was terrible specially from Gentile and Kleiza. They didn’t give the needed helps and in many plays they lost their players, leading to easy baskets for Panathinaikos. In offense there was no movement without the ball. The passing game was slow and that had as a result many shoots under pressure.
Hackett and Ragland tried to invovle their teammates but they couldn’t follow their lead. This is the third game that Milano has a very disappointing performance and the win in Munich was just the exception of the rule. Much more team work and team play is needed combined with better defense in order to advance to the Top16.
Bayern Munich
The Germans lost in Poland a very important game and now they are facing elimination. Bayern continued their average performances without showing all the things that made them very competitive the previous year. The biggest problem of Bayern this year is that they have very limited talent in the back court compared to last year’s roster. Delaney left and there is no other player who can cover his absence. Bryce Taylor hasn’t played in Euroleague this season yet due to his injury, adding more problems to the back court of the German team. Moreover Bayern put less defensive pressure on the ball and this results to many open spaces and easy baskets for their opponents. They are definitely worst in both end of the floor this year and this aspect appears in their record till now.
Nizhny Novgorod
Another big disappointment until know is Nizhny Novgorod. The team with the worst defense in Euroleague. The problem for them is not only that they cannot win but that they lose almost every game from the first half without even trying. In the game against Efes they were down in halftime almost by 20 points. They never threatened Efes and their defense in the first three periods was bad.
It is important to mention the very good performance of the youngsters of the Turkish team with Saric being the leading scorer with 18 points, 6 rebounds. Korkmaz was really wonderful with the 17year old scoring 9 points, adding also 7 rebounds and 4 assists and also Osman contributed with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Their performance is a reason for coach Ivkovic to smile.
Buycks left, Valencia won!
In the previous versions of the Magnifying Glass we had commented in the big problem of Βuycks to adapt in European Basketball. Just hours before the game against Laboral Kutxa, Buycks concluded his collaboration with the team from Levante and Valencia managed to get their first win in this year’s Euroleague. They had their best night in terms of productivity by scoring 77 points and dishing 17 assists. Van Rossom played an excellent game on both ends of the floor. He finished the game with 9 assist and this was his biggest contribution in the game. Harangody was exceptional with his outside shooting, creating many problems in the zone defense that Baskonia preferred to play for big parts of the game. Sato was once again a defensive stopper and Van Rossom added a lot of pressure on Heurtel who couldn’t find the solutions especially in the second half.
RESPECT FOR:
Zalgiris Kaunas
They are overachievers! They are by far the biggest surprise in the competition till now. They have one of the best American players in Euroleague, James Anderson, and one of the best defensive teams. They achieved another huge win against Unics Kazan with Anderson doing everything in the court. He had 27 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assist and 3 steals. Milaknis had a second consecutive excellent game after killing Efes in Istanbul. The most important thing for Zalgiris is that they can play good defense and they have a balanced offense. They can put the ball in the post, with Javtokas, Ulanovas and Jankunas, Songaila can help also in the post and with his mid-range jumpers. They also have good backcourt despite their inexperience. We are very curious to see what else this team can do and how much more they can surprise us.
Cedevita
This team in terms of roster and injuries is considered one of the weakest in the competition. Still they got the biggest win of the week by defeating the European Champions in their home. The reason that Cedevita deserves respect is that they miss Marko Thomas, one of their best players and Ukic came back from his injury just one week ago. Despite their problems they seem to improve every week and after putting pthe ressure to CSKA in Zagreb, they defeated Maccabi in Tel Aviv with a great performance of the backcourt trio of Ukic, Gordic and Pilepic. Together they combined for a total of 47 points and 14 assist and many huge plays, especially pick and rolls in the last minutes when Maccabi increased its pressure. Bilan and Delas won the battles in the paint, scored huge baskets and also grabbed some big offensive rebounds.
Unbelievable atmosphere, bad game, great win for the Reds!
This game will be remembered because of what happened off the court. The fans of Red Star have a brotherly relationship with Olympiakos fans and they watched the game together, chanting for both teams in a very friendly atmosphere for the guests in Belgrade. The game, however, in terms of quality was a very tough and bad contest. Olympiakos managed to win this game despite the absences of many key players because they succeeded into taking the ball away of the hands of Marcus Williams and Boban Marjanovic. Olympiakos played excellent and clever defense to both players and Red Star faced a lot of difficulties to create good plays and score. Williams finished the game with only 7 points, 3/15 field goals and 5 turnovers. This was the key for the win of the Greek team in Belgrade.