By Panos Katsiroubas/ info@eurohoops.net
After focusing and analyzing the 2 big games in Istanbul and Tel Aviv there is time to sum up the most important facts that affected the results in the rest 6 games of the 5th week in the Top 16.
–CSKA didn’t have the same quality ball distribution against Nizhny. They had very good transition offense and good plays from their guards even in isolation. Jackson was the key player with his quickness, passing ability, and execution.
-The mistake of Nizhny was that they had the same defensive plan for all the guards of CSKA. You cannot give space to Teodosic behind the screens, he will kill you with his execution.
–CSKA defended well against the pick n roll of Rochestie and Parakhouski. They gave always extra help from the weak side forcing Nizhny to look for extra passes.
–Kinsey and Tompkins are giving huge help with their ability in isolation plays, they were both huge against CSKA. Their execution was the basic weapon of Nizhny along with Rochestie.
–Vorontsevich is the key player in this CSKA team. He opens the court with his execution against set offense, he is quick and can penetrate and in defense he can switch effectively and rotate very fast.
–Milano shouldn’t be playing in the Top 16. Their performance against Laboral Kutxa especially in defense is a shame. They didn’t defend, they had very poor reactions in transition defense, and they were totally in another arena.
–Baskonia has many players that can score or put pressure in any defense but they really don’t have creators. Adams and James are looking basically for execution, the same stands for Bertans, Shenghelia. Causeur is the only one with a more altruistic approach in his game.
–Red Star finally reminded the team we saw in the 1st round. Great defense in the 1st half leading to transition opportunities, and Marjanovic reminded the MVP player that we missed in the Top 16.
-Alba Berlin had a bad day in Belgrade. Their backcourt faced big pressure and they committed many turnovers. Renfroe who is a key player for Alba alone committed 7 turnovers and in total the German backcourt 15 of the 18 turnovers.
-Despite absences Panathinaikos played well. Ball distribution, good weak side passes, great co-operations in pick n roll and a variety of creators. Diamantidis, Nelson, Jankovic contributed for 18 assists.
–Bad defensive day for Galatasaray. Everything they tried didn’t have result. They tried to stop pick n roll plays they left open the weak side and the gaps were huge. They tried to protect the weak side they were punished from penetrations and pick n roll plays. They tried zone but Panathinaikos executed great with almost 50% from the 3pt arc.
–With Arroyo and Erceg contributing for 3/17 field goals there was not big space for a big offensive night. The offensive game plan of Galatasaray was not oriented in any way. Distribution of the ball was delayed due to bad decisions, bad shots were taken.
–Malaga is not a tough team and Euroleague needs toughness. They have talent but they are soft. They don’t react well in powerful contacts and they miss a player to score permanently from the paint.
–Bjelica and Vesely were the keys for Fenerbahce. They protected the paint and played great the switching defensive plan of Obradovic. Vesely finished many plays in offense, and took advantage of all the miss matches. Bjelica also created many plays and scored big shots from the perimeter.
–The paradox of Fenerbahce was that in plays that they moved the ball extremely well they didn’t took score while they took score from the isolation plays of Goudelock especially in the 3rd period.
–Tomic has variety and quality moves in offense. He can do anything he can score with post-up game, he can finish pick n roll and he can pass greatly. Great court vision and a real team player. His defense in pick n roll is his only weakness.
-Another show from youngster Mario Hezonja in both ends of the floor. 12 points and 4 steals for a player that always puts tons of energy on the floor.