Efes-Real: the Spaniards win because, in the end, it is called “Basketball”

One of the big matches of the very interesting last day of the first leg, Efes-Real, does not disappoint the expectations in terms of balance, with the guests able to impose themselves 65-73, at the end of a match in which the two attacks struggled to find continuity of achievement, albeit for very different reasons. Real threatens Barcelona’s second place, while Efes returns to lose at home after last week’s great success against the Blaugrana.

• A CHANGE OF DEFENSIVE STEP. Efes-Real sees the Turks play a not spectacular first half, especially for offensive executions, but certainly very solid. A solidity that comes from a change of pace that had already been seen against Barcelona. A change of pace born only and exclusively in defense. As Ergin Ataman himself admitted in the middle of the game, the difference is made by increased pressure on the ball, the result above all of Vasilje Micic’s newfound spirit as a great defender. Even the exits from the blocks of Real, among the best in the competition in this situation, are canceled for almost the entire duration of the match. This defense is what to start from.
• REAL SEALS THE AREA. With Anthony Randolph’s injury, Walter Tavares is exposed to more and more minutes on the pitch. This can only lead to a very clear trend in the defense of Real, almost extreme at times: the priority is to prevent easy conclusions from the iron, for the rest it shows. And in fact the presence of the long Cape Verdean alters almost all the parables and conclusions in the painting, forcing the opponents to stop and shoot or to very perimeter solutions. A doubt, however, about the defense of the pick and roll: Tavares must contain, and Pablo Laso seems to push him to contain higher than usual. Tonight, when the striker with the ball turned the corner it always ended badly. The low containment, however, exposes to long open shots with a hand from outside or shots from the dribble of the outside. How to solve the riddle?
• THE INABILITY TO PUNISH. We discussed the clear choices of the Spaniards in Efes-Real (as in every match), we come to the response provided by the Turkish attack. At half-time, on local 37-31, Ataman declared: “If we start to consistently score the many open shots from three points we can escape.” Said and done, it never happened. However, the Turkish coach’s reading is very correct. The defense of Real allows many open shots on the perimeter, especially from pick and roll situations in which Tavares is involved. Efes’ response is an amateur 7/31 from the three-point arc, with only Rodrigue Beaubois sufficiently precise. It is no coincidence that this game is called basketball and not “ball-near-the-basket”.
• MATTER OF TRANSITIONS. In Efes-Real both teams clearly struggled to attack in the middle of the field, especially Real, much more difficult than Efes in building advantages. And then the best things on an offensive level were seen in transition, the situation in which almost all the single snags that characterized the race were born. However, it must be said that not even this situation gave a constant offensive rhythm to the match, because even better than the offensive transitions were the defensive ones, careful to slow the ball, close the area and to couple with the shooters, just like you should do these. levels.
• AND IN THE END CARROLL ARRIVES. Real, without putting in large percentages, finds the target from the perimeter with a greater frequency than the opponents. However, throughout the game he fails to find the beloved solutions on the exits from the blocks, very well canceled by the defense of the hosts. But this team is full of champions, capable of punishing an opponent who played better, but missed too many open shots. Jaycee Carroll’s final two bombs, the first of which was really tough, sums up what it means to have players of this caliber on the team.