Barça falls against a sumptuous Malaga

Barça down in game 2 against a simply perfect Malaga. Now we go to Carpena with a 1-1 draw for the third match on Sunday.

In a great night of European basketball that developed from Catalunya to Milan, as from Istanbul to Bonn, Barça comes to terms with the toughest playoffs in Europe.

The second episode of the series came after a two-faced game 1: the Catalans ahead very well in the first part, highly confirmed Andalusian resilience and a thrilling finish right up to the last possession, when a steal by Mirotic denied Ibon Navarro’s men the possible triple of the draw.

There was no shortage of the now customary refereeing controversies, especially relating to Kendrick Perry’s 5 fouls, but here we want to reiterate it and it is valid at all latitudes, whether it is Spain, Greece, Italy or Turkey: that’s it, that’s it!

Basketball is a beautiful game that is played at an incredible pace, real athletics played, and officiating it is very complicated, much more so than most other sports. Referee mistakes come and are inevitable, but if you think they are always children of a plan, then it’s better not to follow it.

And insiders it would also be good if they calmed down, because the warning level is largely exceeded. If one day we hear one of them declare that he has won a tender thanks to mistakes in his favour, then we would listen to those who instead live on complaints and excuses without almost ever admitting their mistakes, with that culture of “compliments to them though…”.

Back to the field, which is far and away much better, the Palau scoreboard reads 79-88 and then it is 1-1 in the series that moves to the Martin Carpena for episode 3 scheduled for Sunday at 1830. And we can already imagine the atmosphere of the hottest arena in Spain as unforgettable.

THE RACE

Shock departure for the Catalans who are 1-14 down, putting the first field goal on the scoresheet only after 5 ‘.

Everything is already clear there is a connected team and one that instead only goes in fits and starts. 18-25 after 10′, 37-40 at the long break. Even when the Blaugrana close in and overtake, the impression is that the Andalusians have the fate of the match in hand. And those moments come only for flares signed by Kalinic and Laprovittola.

First Tyson Carter, an angel’s face in the spirit of a ruthless killer, then Melvin Ejim and finally the definitive shoulder comes from David Kravish, extraordinary in the partial that closes the match.

Malaga also touches +18, after which it is only a moment of pure academia that brings Barça back to an acceptable distance in form but certainly not in substance.

THE KEYS

The rebounds, 36-30 for the guests, the 14 lost by Jasi’s men and the inability to keep them in a 1vs1, seemed inconsistent for at least 30′ out of 40′.

Mirotic, 1/10 from the field, Satoransky and Vesely, or the axis that should drag the team, play an incredibly negative match, absent mentally and technically first.

Coach Navarro’s team is present in all the most complicated phases and knows how to find different protagonists proving to be on the spot as indeed already noted in race 1.

MVP

easy to say Tyson Carter19 with 7/14 shooting, but it can’t be overlooked Melvin Ejimauthor of a triple key and crucial rebounder (9), as well as that David Kravish who closes the match in the last period and scores 13+8 with only two shooting errors.

Little, very little to report among the Catalans, if not the already mentioned Kalinic and Laprovittola. Still very little stuff.

???? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? and his quality flashes to break the game ???? @FCBbasket

1⃣9⃣ points with a lot of magic#PlayoffLigaEndesa | @unicajaCB | @Tyson23Carter pic.twitter.com/vz5bT9uZm2

— Endesa League (@ACBCOM) June 10, 2023

PRESSROOM

Jasi has very clear ideas: «We were inconsistent for almost the entire race, we’ve only played a few acceptable flashes. It’s time to know how to suffer, that’s how it is in the Playoffs».

Ibon Navarro, perhaps the Coach of the Year in all of Europe, is as radiant as he is determined: “It’s all part of the plan, we don’t have to change anything. Let’s go home and continue playing our basketball».

That’s right, Martin Carpena will sing the classic “Ibon has a plan” and Barça will have to change gears because otherwise a curtain that is very difficult to remove could fall.

???? LIVE | PR @fcbbasket – Unicaja

???????? #YoSoyDelUnicaja #UnicajaLive #PlayoffLigaEndesa https://t.co/BcIlhKTUlK

— UnicajaCB (@unicajaCB) June 9, 2023