The heavy defeat conceded to Saint-Quentin on Tuesday (71-91) should serve as a warning to Asvel, which began its Euroleague campaign on Thursday evening on the floor of Red Star Belgrade. The Serbian public, delighted, in fact witnessed the prolongation of the Villeurbanne setbacks on the floors.
TJ Parker’s men, weighed down by a very complicated start to the game, lost heavily (73-94), and will absolutely have to win next week at home against the other team from Belgrade, Partizan, in order to launch their European epic, which they dream of concluding with participation in the play-offs.
A defense that is too crumbly
A final phase which seemed particularly distant in the first minutes of the match played at the Stark Arena: despite good offensive intentions, materialized by the excellent match of Joffrey Lauvergne (18 points, 6 rebounds), the Rhone residents bowed down on their first defenses, conceding six baskets in the first six possessions of the locals, including five three-point baskets (17-7, 4th).
Untenable in long distance shooting (17 out of 34 in the end), often helped by huge oversights, Dusko Ivanovic’s men took off at the end of the first quarter (29-18, 10th), and confirmed their total control over the game at the break (52-31, 20th). The opportunity for Shabazz Napier (21 points) or even Rokas Giedraitis (17 points), newcomers to the team, to stand out.
Returning from the locker room, the Lyonnais certainly came back with better intentions – like Mike Scott (13 points) -, even reducing the gap to 14 units at the end of the third act (55-69, 29th), but this proved insufficient against a team that was otherwise omnipresent in rebounding (17 offensive shots) and which managed its possessions rather well (10 lost balls against 16 in total).
In such a context, it is impossible for Asvel to get out of what looks like a mini-crisis in results: three consecutive defeats, in all competitions.
A series started by the setback conceded to the Astroballe against Monaco last weekend. Before the reception of Partizan next Thursday, the relaunch will involve a success at home, Sunday (2:30 p.m.), against Nancy.
