2022 will end much better for Alimerka Oviedo than was expected just a month ago, when they lost (90-60) to Estudiantes, giving the feeling of being a team that was below the level required by this category. And that on Thursday they lost again, but this time only by one point (68-69) and against a very tough rival like HLA Alicante. A duel with which the OCB says goodbye to 2022 in Pumarín before finally closing it with a very difficult visit to Andorra, against whom they will play on Thursday at 8:00 p.m.
But it is that in the last month many things have changed in the OCB, a team that began losing by 46 points at the Albacete stadium, which accumulated seven straight defeats and that now, as it has been recovering players (seven were injured of the first template at the same time) and assembled the pieces, it looks like another even when it loses. The impotence of those first matches has been transformed into the rage that flooded Pumarín when on Thursday Sean McDonnell, former OCB player, slapped a rebound to give victory to HLA Alicante with 11 tenths of a second from time.
The defeat also came in one of the most complete matches that the OCB has played so far this season, with no downturns as pronounced as those it had had in previous matches –including the four it won–, defending almost all the time at a high level and showing themselves to be a well-worked team that knows what it wants to play. This team now seems capable of competing. Despite everything, some problems continue to plague Trifón Poch’s men, especially when they face teams like Alicante or Valladolid, well worked and with a lot of talent in their squads.
One of the aspects that is weighing down the blue team the most is its inefficiency in shooting. The OCB is the team with the worst success rate in the sum of shots of two and three (41%). A percentage that against Alicante was even lower (39%). The mistake from the triple line is being especially worrying, being the team that has the worst record in the LEB Oro (27.4%) with a lot of difference with the next one, which is Albacete (30.4%). Poch’s team moved in those numbers on Thursday against Alicante, with a 27% success rate (6 triples in 22 attempts).
Another problem that was also very present on Thursday was the difficulty they are having to get strong on the rebound. The OCB, despite its low percentages (which means there are more rebounds available), is the worst offensive rebounding team in the LEB Oro, with an average of 7.5 per game, and the second worst in the total number of games. rebounds, with an average of 29.6. The rebound ended up being definitive in the defeat against Alicante, which is also one of the best in the competition in that facet.
In this regard, one of those who should help solve the problem is Clevon Brown, who was at a good level against Alicante and who, due to his physique, should lead the OCB in that regard. The other day he grabbed seven rebounds and contributed on defense, showing that he is called to be that interior that intimidates rivals when they approach the basket. A well-traced path to complete the transformation of an OCB that now really sells its defeats.
Trifón Poch: “Sometimes we sin with anxiety”
Trifón Poch, Alimerka Oviedo’s coach, gave a positive assessment of his team’s game despite losing (68-69) against Alicante: “The team has competed well against a play-off team, we have shown our faces, the only thing that What remains is to continue working to improve in aspects in which we have not been so good”. One of them, the rebound, was definitive in the defeat: “The rebound is being a deficit and it’s something we’re going to have to work on and improve.” Also, considers the Cordovan coach, they could have sinned with youth: “We are young and sometimes we sin with anxiety in those situations, in which we have not been ordered; but despite that I am happy, we have been competing until the end.” Quite the opposite of Alicante: “They are an expert team, more veteran than us, it has been noticed in important actions.”
