BarcelonaBarça will arrive at the end of the Endesa League with less confidence than they had imagined a few weeks ago. Defeats in the Catalan League and the Super Cup have rarefied the optimism surrounding the project led by Sarunas Jasikevicius.
“After an exciting year of new dynamics and a new coach, during which the team grew, this had to be the season of consolidation. The two lost finals have cooled the mood. Against Baxi Manresa the team had no intensity, and against Real Madrid it got rid of after a very solid start. The Endesa Super Cup leaves doubts and the feeling that there is a lot of work to be done “, comments Ferran Laviña, RAC1 analyst. The former player is satisfied with the squad designed by the club, but emphasizes three key aspects: “The first is the rotation of the bases. Last year the team had a really bad time without Calathes and it’s clear he can’t go around the world just with a game director. The contribution of Laprovittola and Jakubaitis will be decisive. The second determining aspect is the administration. The loss of Hanga and Claver is significant because they were two players who helped you plug a lot of holes and were always willing to do work for the good of the team. Who will do this function now? The third important point is the role of Mirotic, which so far has been too erratic. The pivot winger must take the helm and, together with Calathes and Higgins, he must be the reference ”.
“This season Jasikevicius has set up a squad to his liking. The coach has chosen players over whom he has great ancestry. Once the template, the score, the playbook (game systems) of teams, is always the same. The only thing that sets them apart is the method of fitting and integrating the pieces. For some coaches, the collective is non-negotiable and the block comes first. Jasikevisius is a diesel coach who always prioritizes team play, and this is in danger of not weighing the result. Other coaches, on the other hand, are clear about the players to whom the specific weight must be delegated and make the team revolve around them “, argues Carme Lluveras, an analyst at Catalunya Ràdio.
The coach i general manager it is missing some specific piece. “Barça has a balanced and linear squad, but it lacks precisely the rebellious player, the free soul, the one who decides matches breaking the whole system”, adds Lluveras. The team was not able to manage a 19-point advantage in the final of the Endesa Super Cup. “With the game in full control, Barça let Madrid speed up possession, a scenario in which Sergi Llull is king and in which Laso takes control. Barça’s defensive balance was non-existent “, he said.
Lluveras considers that Barça has problems for Mirotic to be a differentiating player when the decisive moments arrive. “At the beginning of the third quarter he felt very comfortable, but when he returned to the court six minutes before the end only two balls were played. The team, as at other times last season, prioritized other solutions with outside players. It’s nothing new. Stars like Mike James, Vasilije Micic, Shane Larkin or even Cory Higgins themselves usually have the ball in their hands and can decide what to do with it. Win or lose matches, they can always decide. On the other hand, a pivot winger like Mirotic depends on the game distributors sending him the ball, ”he said.
Àlex Abrines, injured
Barça reported that Àlex Abrines has an injury to his left knee. The Mallorcan winger will undergo medical tests to find out the extent of the problem. The club will provide more information about the former NBA player’s status when the results of the scans are available.
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