Barça: Satoransky (12), Brizuela (24), Kalinic (8), Parker (18) Vesely (8) -starting five-; Hernangómez (8), Jokubaitis (5), Parra (2), Da Silva (2) , Paulí (4), Jakucionis (2) and Sarr. Coach: Roger Grimau. Zalgiris: Evans (14), Sumner (15), Ulanovas (7), Smits (5), Birutis (9) -starting five-; Dimsa (2), Manek (10), Hayes (2), Lekavicius (3) and Hollins (6). Coach: Andrea Trinchieri. Partial results: 26-12 / 18-25 / 24-20 / 23-16 Referees: Carmelo Paternico, Igor Dragojevic and Hugues Thepenier. Deleted: None. Pavilion: Palau Blaugrana. 6,655 spectators.
The five consecutive games played at home have put a smile on the face of Roger Grimau’s Barça. The Blaugrana team used a victory against Zalgiris (91-73) to underpin their reaction and remain in second place in the property classification. The game of the Catalan team still suffers from a lot of irregularity, but their conviction has improved.
“In the first and last quarter we defended very well. We had a good second half,” analyzed Grimau. The coach, who had the absences of Nico Laprovittola (muscular discomfort), Àlex Abrines (pubalgia) and James Nnaji (viral process), used a very short rotation, of only nine players.
Darío Brizuela, who starred in his best game in the Barça shirt, and Jabari Parker, who has become the hero of the fans, were the most outstanding players. The Basque escort scored 24 points in less than 28 minutes. The American power forward finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds.
Zalgiris came late to the game. The Lithuanian team took four and a half minutes to score their first shot and Barça took advantage of the situation to open an initial gap of 13 points (13-0). The good effectiveness of the Blaugrana team, which only missed 4 shots in 10 minutes, allowed the locals to dominate with authority a first quarter that ended with a 14-point lead (26-12).
Hit percentages were a slab for many minutes for Zalgiris, who struggled to find their usual positions. The visiting reaction came from the defense. The team coached by Trinchieri only allowed Barça to score two points in five minutes (28-22). The match changed tone. From the offensive exuberance of the first minutes, there was an obvious anxiety to score points. A painful 4-20 partial overturned the score (30-32). The Culer team mustered up the courage to bring the situation back before the break (44-37).
Distracted by the referees and having problems defending Keenan Evans, Barça struggled to keep the game under control (54-51). Zalgiris got plenty of second chances thanks to offensive rebounding. The verticality of Parker and the triples of Brizuela oxygenated the attack of the local team, which was able to reach the last ten minutes with the pan by the handle (68-57).
Barça managed to close the match with a decisive last quarter in which Zalgiris ran out of resources. Grimau allowed himself the luxury of giving minutes to Dame Sarr and Kasparas Jakucionis, two 17-year-olds.
Massive presence of Lithuanians
The match was marked by the massive presence of Zalgiris supporters in the stands. Beyond the area reserved for rival fans, the Lithuanian fans let themselves be seen and heard in all areas of the Palau Blaugrana. Barça’s control mechanisms failed again. In the last quarter, security members expelled two people who did not behave appropriately from their locations.
2024-01-12 21:38:10
#Roger #Grimaus #retort #criticism
