By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
When the day comes in the far future when Thomas Heurtel hangs his shoes and decides to make a scrapbook of career recollections, he will probably file March 15, 2018, under “Nights to Remember.”
After all, the game between Barcelona and Olympiacos in Piraeus created some pretty memories for the French point guard.
Heurtel notched 13 points plus 7 assists, helping his team capture one absolutely stunning, blowout victory over the Reds that were forced to suffer their second biggest defeat ever at home in EuroLeague history. And when he dropped dime no. 4 during the match, he ascended to the fourth top spot among the all-time EuroLeague assist leaders.
“I’m very proud of this. It’s great pleasure,” Heurtel told Eurohoops. “I‘m fortunate to have good teammates with me who make the shots. I send them the pass and they make the shots.”
The 28-year-old player surpassed EuroLeague legend, two-time (2006, 2008) champion, 2007 season MVP and 2006 Final Four MVP Theo Papaloukas in the list of the most prolific passers. He now has 981 assists in 172 games and the next goal is entering the Top 3.
For that to take place, however, he first has to take down Serbian playmaker Milos Teodosic who left last summer for the L.A. Clippers with 1126 EuroLeague assists in his bags. Heurtel is quite aware of who’s next and that there are two other Greek basketball greats at the top.
“Yes, I know which players are above me now,” Heurtel said to Eurohoops. “Milos Teodosic, Vassilis Spanoulis, and Dimitris Diamantidis. “But they have more games than me. Hopefully, Spanoulis will retire one day (laughs) and I will finish in the Top 3 if God gives me the chance.”
Records are fine and dandy but nothing is sweeter than the delicious taste of a win. Heurtel considers his climb in the all-time assists list as the icing on the cake of his team’s roadkill.
“It’s very nice also because this accomplishment happened in a great game and a big win for us,” he said to Eurohoops.
“Big win” is understatement of the century. Barcelona traveled to Greece being injury-plagued and missing key players like 2017 EuroLeague DPOY Adam Hanga. Basically, they couldn’t even manage to complete a 12-man squad.
This game also practically meant nothing to the “Blaugrana” in regards to their position in EuroLeague since they were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago. Meanwhile, their opponent stood at the second spot of the standings, boasting of showcasing the top defense in the competition and possessing a motivation to win the match to further cement their place in the Top 4.
Still, Barcelona fought tooth and nail, especially inside the paint where the team’s bigs bulldozed their opponents to absolutely dominate the battle of the rebounds 50 – 36. As a result, the whole squad struck swiftly and potently with counterattacks that punished the sluggish transition defense of Olympiacos. Barcelona obliterated the best defense in the competition with 90 points, to escape the loud “Peace and Friendship” arena in a triumphant fashion.
“Maybe we surprised them,” Heurtel said. “We started really good. We had a game plan that also worked very well. They didn’t make many 3-point shots. We had problems with Spanoulis in the first half but we solved this in the second half by playing better defense against him. Our defense was generally the key. It was great. The 50 rebounds we got show that.”
This number of boards, the second best in the EuroLeague history of the franchise, led head coach Svetislav Pesic to laud his guys for their passion in the post-game press conference. It’s a kind of reciprocal appreciation since, according to Heurtel, the players of Barcelona “feel much better now” with Pesic at the helm.
“Everybody knows his role. You can see it on the court and it was obvious tonight (15/3) as well.”
The Serbian coach has beneficially transformed the game of Barcelona since he returned to the club in February to replace Sito Alonso, following a disappointing run in the current EuroLeague campaign and a 7 – 21 record.
Under Pesic, Heurtel, the acting floor-general of the squad, has been flourishing. His feats in the recent Copa Del Rey, where he averaged 13.6 points, 10 assists, and 3.6 rebounds to lead Barcelona in the title for the first time since 2013 while winning MVP honors in the process, are a shining example of how well he clicked with his new coach.
“He gave me more freedom,” Heurtel said about Pesic “More confidence. He really trusts me. On offense but also on defense. I think I make a great effort on defense. Everybody can see that. I try to learn from him and do what I have to do. I think that I’ve improved a lot and hopefully, I will continue getting better and better.”
The “Pesic effect” has been proven to be so effective, that you can’t help but wonder if things for Barcelona in EuroLeague would be any different if he came on board earlier. The players of the team appear to believe that this is the case indeed.
“Actually, we were speaking about this at the bench tonight. I think if he (Pesic) arrived (in the team) earlier, we would finish in the Top 8,” Thomas Heurtel said.