Useless fighting exercise for Betis Baloncesto. The green and white team accumulated their second consecutive defeat in a crucial phase of the championship and put their ninth place in danger after losing against Forza Lleida 73-74. Joaquín Rodríguez, once again the team’s decisive player, missed the last two attempts at the Ilerda basket and the possibility of winning escaped.
The fighting spirit of Bruno Savignani’s squad was maximum, they rebelled against a rival that was superior despite the absence of their star, Hasbrouck, due to some physical problem, but paradoxically they wasted in the end an excellent opportunity to achieve a heroic victory . Joaquín Rodríguez had it twice, he decisively entered the rival basket, but on both occasions his penetrations ended up touching the rim so that the ball was spit out.
In this way, the option of a victory that would have been heroic disappeared, since the visitors had a ten-point advantage at the start of the last quarter (51-61), but then an unorthodox 1-3-1 zone ordered by Brazilian coach of Betis Baloncesto simply removed a Forza Lleida team from the game, which until then seemed to have the situation more than under control.
Step by step, with decisive triples from Kuksiks, the local team got closer on the scoreboard until they were 73-74 with a dunk from De Bisschop in a spectacular assist from Joaquín Rodríguez. The option to win was there, but the Uruguayan made a mistake after recovering the ball and then did not take advantage of a gift from the Ilerdenses, who gave the ball to Betis Baloncesto again with seven seconds left. Repetition of the play, Joaquín Rodríguez plays it in penetration and the cross came out again.
Perhaps the physical fatigue of so many accumulated minutes was decisive. It may be, but the truth is that Betis Baloncesto let another victory slip away and it seems increasingly difficult to qualify for that ninth place for the final qualifying rounds. The players and the coaching staff would not deserve that final outcome, since they put all their heart into the games, but what emerges from the ownership is different, whoever it is at the moment, since it is no longer known if it is the Mexicans or everyone. has returned to the hands of Real Betis Balompié.
Competitive first half
The first half could not have been more competitive. Both Betis Baloncesto and Forza Lleida fought from the first ball to the last and it was not strange that the maximum advantage for both sides never exceeded the initial 4-0 margin with the first two baskets by Polanco and Joaquín Rodríguez.
In addition, it was also striking that the distribution of roles was quite broad in both squads. There was no dominant player at the time of scoring and only Polanco reached 10 points when the game reached halftime. The rest of the protagonists, with an acceptable performance in general and not excessively burdened with errors, were below that ten.
Also striking, because it was basically unusual, was the disqualification of Doménech in a rather controversial action that occurred in the 13th minute. The Catalan center, who had come out just two minutes earlier and was able to score a good basket by outspeeding Krutwig had previously received a clearly unsportsmanlike foul when he was about to leave a layup. The referees played the Swedish game there and what was a clear basket was a 1/2 in the free throws.
They did not observe in the same way an attempt to cut off a counterattack by Doménech himself after an error by Kuksiks in the throw. The Betis center expressed his frustration with a gesture of protest and received a technical, to add to the free throws and ball for unsportsmanlike behavior. The subsequent disqualification was more strange, since it was not observed that the complaints worsened, but the reality is that Savignani was left with one less element in the rotation.
As if the scarcity of resources were not enough, one less. Later they also punished the Brazilian with another technique for protesting in a very clear demonstration of how comfortable the Seville court currently is for the referee trio. But even then there was no greater advantage than the four points previously mentioned for Forza Lleida. Everything was still heading towards the final tie that would be recorded at halftime despite the fact that the Green and Whites were also left without center De Bisschop with a blow to the head with the support of the backboard that even caused an injury.
At 34-34 all the protagonists said goodbye to go to intermission. Sensations? Well, Forza Lleida had more bench depth, although their top scorer, Hasbrouck, must have had some physical problem, since he had not been used by Gerard Memo.
Ilrdense advantage
The third quarter seemed like it was going to be decisive for the victory of Forza Lleida, which went up to a ten-point lead thanks to the fact that its men seemed much more physically sound. The visitors also took advantage of referee errors, almost always towards the same side.
But this Betis Baloncesto is not a team that easily gives in. The zone ordered by Savignani, that 1-3-1 in which everyone went everywhere, tightened the score despite the fact that the defensive rebounds escaped more times than desirable and that the center Kuath crushed time and again with advantage.
But the final outcome was exciting and the coin fell on the wrong side. It was a cross on this occasion, Joaquín Rodríguez could not score any of the two baskets he had and all of Betis Baloncesto’s fight was in vain.
2024-04-10 20:40:54
#Joaquín #Rodríguez #Betis #Baloncestos #fight
