By Panos Katsiroubas/ info@eurohoops.net
After focusing in the big game of Novgorod and the Istanbul Derby, it is time for the Magnifying Glass to concentrate on the key parts of the rest 6 games for the 7th week of the TOP 16.
The key of the victory of Real Madrid in Kaunas was the defensive stops they took in the 2nd half. Big part of the defensive pie of Real Madrid belongs to K.C. Rivers. He played great defense against James Anderson who scored only 5 points with 1/8 FG and 1 assist in 33 minutes
Rudy Fernandez finally seems to find offensive rhythm. He was the main purpose of the offensive explosions of the Spanish team in the 3rd period. He scored 11 quick points with big shots from the perimeter giving his team double digit leads.
3pt execution from Barca! The Catalans shot the same amount of 2pt and 3pt shots and performed better behind the 6.75 arc. 16/32 with 50%. That was the result of the defense of Galatasaray that risked the shoots from distance and also played zone for parts of the game.
Ante Tomic: playmaker from the paint! Everyone knew that Ante Tomic can pass the ball well, extremely well! The fact is that in the last 4 games averages 4 assists, creating after pick n roll from mid-range, either for perimeter execution or for baseline cuts from the guards and forwards. He also have some good looks from the post.
Huge win for Alba Berlin in Tel Aviv. The key was again the perimeter defense. The guards of Maccabi didn’t found open routes for the German basket and the transition game was limited. This is the main weapon of Alba in the TOP 16. They have one of the best defenses averaging 71.2 points.
Jamel Mclean was huge again for Alba again. He manage to be competitive in defense against Sofoklis, he defended well against the pick n roll plays that Maccabi tried to play with Tyus and he had many winning battles in both ends of the floor. In a close game he contributed 18 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
From the beginning until the end Maccabi never find rhythm against Alba. It was the 1st time in the top 16 that they were looking so trapped. Only Devin Smith and Schortsanitis scored with intensity, with Pargo having a very bad day.
The absence of Causeur was obvious in Istanbul. In his comeback against Malaga he did everything for Baskonia that stayed alive in the battle of qualification. Combined with Darius Adams they scored 32 points and drained 9 assists!
CSKA returned to their usual offensive performance in Moscow. With Teodosic, De Colo and Fridzon in big offensive day they faced problems only in the beginning of the 3rd quarter where Olimpia Milano had a run of 0-13. The sum of them was 50 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists.
Diamantidis was huge against Red Star. 10 of the 17 assists came from his hands, he added 11 points, most of them in crucial parts of the game and 4 steals giving wonderful double team helps in defense.
Marjanovic couldn’t create easily from the post. The majority of his points came after penetrations in moments where defense was unbalanced. Panathinaikos gave good helps in the beginning of his dribble with the athleticism of Gist being a fact. The American forward finished the game with 6 steals and great defensive helps.