By Panos Katsiroumpas/ info@eurohoops.net
In the Magnifying Glass of the 6th week you can read the analysis of the games of Olympiacos against CSKA Moscow and Galatasaray against Maccabi. Moreover we have the key facts of the other games in this great basketball week
Red Star don’t have solutions and alternative plan when they cannot steal basketballs and run to transition. They faced huge problems against Zalgiris in set game situation. They had almost 20 more possessions (+10 off. Rebounds, +10 from turnovers) and scored only 68 points.
When you have 0/18 3pt attempts and you try to win the game with the 19th then the possibilities are not with your side. Marcus Williams tried the game winning shot and missed. Red Star finished with 0/19 3pts.
Rudy and Sergio are back! They played tremendously in the classico leading Real Madrid to big win. Big time scoring in isolations, scoring behind screens, penetrations, transition, assists! They have done everything in this game.
Barcelona couldn’t take any defensive stops the whole game. They were always one step behind. They didn’t press the ball effectively and they handled the screens softly. As a result Real Madrid executed with high percentages.
We have said it many times. The Bjelica- Vesely duo in the forward – center position gives the energy Fenerbahce needs in order to make runs and have defensive stops. In the 3rd quarter against Baskonia they were the difference.
With such terrible defense Fenerbahce and Laboral Kutxa will not go any further in the competition. They both have pure talented offensive players but I cannot see how they will play better defense against quality opponents.
Τhe full court press of Alba Berlin encapsulated Panathinaikos. This is the basic defensive weapon of the German team. With the Greens having trouble to open the rhythm the low scoring numbers were normal.
A different Panathinaikos team appeared in the 2nd half! The Greens controlled the boards, they had a lot of 2nd chance opportunities, and they played more attacking in defense with pressure on the ball and paint protection. In offense they opened the court, and tried to attack in the miss match situations.
Granger, Kuzminskas and Vazquez were for the 1st win of Malaga in the top 16. Granger scored 29 points in 25 minutes with a huge 3rd quarter, Vazquez played great defense against Parakhouski and protected the rim in many occasions and Kuzminskas put threat in the post against Kinsey, creating miss match and also defensively did a great job against him.
Even though Parakhouski scored 10 points his effect on the game was not decisive. He was not involved in many plays and Malaga did a tremendous team work to stop him. Even though Rochestie and Tompkins scored a lot Parakhouski is the extra factor inside threat that can change the balance of a game
The last possession of Olimpia Milano is the image of this team in the top16. They couldn’t set a play, either a screen, or try to force a miss match with off ball screens. Just an isolation and a missed 3pointer. 1-5 the record for the Italians.
The limit up of Perperoglou! Perperoglou was huge in both ends in the 2nd half. He scored big baskets and he was the basic factor that led Efes to a big road win.
The formation of Efes in the 4th quarter was a surprise! With both Lasme and Krstic on the bench and Bjelica as a center the Turkish team open spaces in the Italian defense. Bjelica used some plays starting from the perimeter to penetrate against the heavier body of Samardo Samuels.