By Panos Katsiroubas/ info@eurohoops.net
The Magnifying Glass focuses its attention on all the courts of Turkish Airlines Euroleague and each week examines through its basketball lens some of the games that stole the show in Europe’s top competition!
Bamberg, killer of giants!
After the win against Olympiacos Piraeus in Greece, Brose Baskets Bamberg prevailed over another favorite. FC Barcelona Lassa was the team that yielded against Bamberg coach Andrea Trinchieri’s excellent ensemble, which won more easily than the final result shows. Bamberg won because had the better offensive plan, more movement on offense and excellent defensive consistency throughout almost the entire game. The home team tried to force Barcelona’s defense to run and move a lot, in order to produce mismatches and open shots. This was accomplished with multiple screens from the first seconds of every attack. With initial screens at the top, often selective double-screens, Bamberg created fissures in Barcelona’s defense that gave its guards a chance to attack against slower big men. After almost every screen, Nicolo Melli stayed to function as a playmaker from that top of the key, playing high-low with another big man while also reading the possibilities from his guards running screens on either side. Barcelona had a hard time following all this movement and seemed to tire toward the ends of possessions. Darius Miller and Janis Strelnieks took complete advantage of the gaps and switches, scoring 31 points combined. A good job was done with the pick-and-roll as well, especially in the first half, with Elias Harris scoring most of 9 points in 8 minutes this way.
Aside from its great movement and constant-threat offense, Bamberg won mainly because of good defense. Just as against Olympiacos, their big men defended amazingly against Barcelona’s pick-and-roll. They shut off the lanes to the basket and defended well on switches. In all the one-on-one perimeter situations, Barcelona couldn’t create openings. The visitors got some points from Doellman‘s good shooting, which opened up the spacing and forced Bamberg’s defense to spread out a lot. After that, though, Barcelona’s offensive solutions were limited by Bamberg’s great defense. As a last resort, with the game slipping away, Xavier Pascual spread out four players on the perimeter and sent the ball to Ante Tomic or to Samardo Samuels in the post to play one-on-one. Bamberg didn’t double-team, but rather took the risk of playing man-to-man, but in so doing denied Barcelona ball circulation that could have led to better shots. There, Daniel Theis did great work, and especially in the second half was invincible. He played great individual defense, cleared all the rebounds and dominated in every area. Overall, Bamberg played with great concentration even while not shooting well compared to their normal numbers. They didn’t give up any easy points and committed few turnovers: just 2 by halftime and 8 at game’s end. Now Bamberg are well into the hunt for qualification and the Freak City fans are happy!
Fenerbahce won the battle!
In a local derby where bodies were literally falling, Fenerbahce Istanbul maintained its unbeaten run in the Top 16 by prevailing over Anadolu Efes Istanbul. The visitors prevailed even though they had 12 fewer possessions, if we consider that Efes took more offensive rebounds (12 to 6) and committed as many fewer turnovers (12 to 18). The difference was Fenerbahce’s impressive defense in the second half and the amazing Melih Mahmutoglu. In the first 20 minutes, Efes coach Dusan Ivkovic’s team was better due to the offensive outbreak of Cedi Osman, who scored 15 first-half points with shots from the weak side, following diagonal passes from Jayson Granger on pick-and-rolls and in transition. The trio of Osman, Granger and Dogus Balbay did a great job on defense, pressuring the ball well and shutting off lanes to the basket. The second half seemed to start with the same rhythm, with the visitors unfocused, committing turnovers and conceding easy points in transition without even fouling even when they could afford to do so.
The deficit even peaked at 9 points, 54-45, before a switch was flipped. Fenerbahce coach Zeljko Obradovic used his bench to its entire depth, calling on Mahmutoglu, Baris Hersek and even Berk Ugurlu. The visitors resorted to many on- and off-ball screens along the wings for Bogdan Bogdanovic and Mahmutoglu. Bad close-out defense by Efes allowed these two several open shots, and if we look only at offense, they essentially decided the game with their accuracy. Also important were some special plays with Jan Vesely and Ekpe Udoh as the main conduits, scoring easy and crucial baskets.
But the win wouldn’t have come if the Fenerbahce defense didn’t clamp down like a pair of pliers in the final 15 minutes. All the visitors pressed relentlessly on the ball, denied passes to the paint, shut off driving lantes and forced Efes to resort to bad shots. When on offense, Fenerbahce was systematically targeting Thomas Heurtel, a weak link in the Efes defense, and that Balbay was in the lineup for almost every run the home team produced. Now, with its sixth win in as many games, Fenerbahce is the firm favorite for the top spot of the group.
Spanish master, Laboral Kutxa Baskonia!
In just seven days, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz proved that they are the dominant Spanish team in the unbelievable Group F. After winning after overtime in Barcelona, Laboral prevailed away from home again, over Real Madrid as well, and took a big step toward qualification. So what if Ioannis Bourousis was trapped by Madrid’s pressing defense and constant double-teaming? So what if Darius Adams had one of his less productive nights this season? So what if Tornike Shengelia was injured at the weekend and missing from the lineup? Velimir Perasovic‘s team is constantly bringing new faces to play leading roles in every game. Fabien Causeur and Davis Bertans had an impressive start this time, with Laboral circulating well, with good screens and movement off the ball.
In the first 15 minutes, the visitors had scored 7 three-pointers and looked in control of the game. Madrid clearly aimed not to allow Bourousis to get into a rhythm, with immediate double-teaming as soon as the Greek player got the ball. They managed to keep him at just one basket with Guillermo Hernangomez playing excellent at both ends of the court, finishing many plays in the pick-and-roll game. In all other aspects of the game, however, Laboral completely dominated. They didn’t allow Madrid to run, with very quick transition defense and smart fouls whenever needed. Against set plays, they didn’t allow Sergio Rodriguez and Sergio Llull to penetrate and threaten by either scoring or passing. They also defended Jaycee Carroll’s long-distance shots and screens well, forcing him to dribble, which is not his preference.
Tactically, Laboral struck t all of Madrid’s defensive weaknesses. Jaka Blazic attacked Carroll and scored some big shots at points when the game seemed to turn around. Adam Hanga and Kim Tillie also had great defensive games and contributed 4 offensive rebounds each, several in the final crucial minutes. Madrid essentially never found its rhythm on offense and Laboral, for yet another game, showed that their defense is a great weapon. Like we said last week, they are now the best defense in the Euroleague in defensive rating. Madrid’s 68 points was its worst offensive performance in home games this year. Indeed, in the previous nine, Madrid had scored more than 80 points every time, a number that also shows the defensive commitment Laboral had for yet another night.
Classic Olympiacos
In a very high-tempo, high-intensity game, Olympiacos Piraeus managed to make a great comeback win over Khimki Moscow Region and stay alive after three consecutive defeats. The game has to be divided in two parts. In the opening 25 minutes, Khimki dominated with its offense against a team that is a defensive terminator. With good circulation against traps, quick passes and very good spacing, the visitors forced Olympiacos to make many switches, which Khimki then struck at systematically with its excellent guards. They also produced many open shots and essentially punished Olympiacos at every opportunity. At the other end, Khimki constantly trapped Vassilis Spanoulis, even in the center of the court. They forced him to delay with the ball in his hands, unable to pass easily, and forced him into several turnovers that gave Khimki easy points.
Olympiacos was predictable on offense, with only Georgios Printezis, with his consistently good game from the post, offering solutions. After 25 minutes, Khimki had scored 58 points and had a steady lead around 10 points. At that point, the entire flow of the game changed. Olympiacos coach Giannis Sfairopoulos chose six kamikazes for more than 10 minutes, with Darius Johnson-Odom, D. J. Strawberry and Daniel Hackett in a three-guard rotation, Ioannis Papapetrou or Printezis at the ‘4’ position, and Othello Hunter at ‘5’.
With this group, he essentially unleashed an unbelievable manhunt aimed at Khimki’s guards, pressing the ball relentlessly and producing amazing defense on the weak side in the few instances in this period when Khimki circulated the ball well. On the other side of the court, Olympiacos got the ball into the post without Spanoulis, where Hackett functioned as a playmaker in the key, from the inside out. The Italian was amazing, reading all the plays, scoring too, but also serving up ready-made baskets for his teammates. Outside of Hackett, Printezis was also amazing, finishing the game with 30 points – his Euroleague career high – and 9 rebounds, while making 12 of 18 two- and three-point shots. The points that Olympiacos found in the open court starting from its very good defense were also important. Some big shots also went in and the game was turned around with a 41-19 run in the last 15 minutes, a trademark run for Olympiacos in recent years.