Barcelona plays in the ACB playoffs to save its season. They defend the title they won last year and are looking for great success to cling to after losing in the Super Cup and the Cup, in both cases against Real Madrid, and being eliminated on the verge of the Euroleague Final Four by Olympiacos . With an obvious and inevitable bad taste in the mouth because, after completing a very good regular phase, they started with a home court factor in a series that was resolved in the fifth game. Barça was the second team in the entire history of the competition that, with the current format, was eliminated in fifth place in its pavilion. And it was not the first by minutes: Monaco lost shortly before against Fenerbahçe.
So now the Barça club is looking for good news in the League. In the quarterfinals they beat Lenovo Tenerife without needing a third game (2-0) but with difficulties in the two in which they won, especially in the second, which was resolved in the final moments. Satoransky (28 rating), Laprovittola (16) and Jokubaitis (15) were the driving forces from the outside. Inside, the best was Jabari Parker (18) because Jan Vesely, Barça’s best player this season, has been in the tie below his best level and has shown signs of fatigue. Partly because the Czech (who turned 34 in April) has had a very demanding load of minutes when the climax of the season has arrived. And that is due, in large part, to the lack of presence on the court of Willy Hernangómez, Barça’s big signing for this season.
In the match played in the Canary Islands yesterday, Willy was only on the court for five minutes and seven seconds. In the first of the series, at the Palau, he finished in 08:28. In total, less than 14 minutes in two games (even and very important) for a player who, at full maturity (29 years old), should make a difference in his first season back in Europe after seven years in the NBA. But his prominence is diminishing. If in the first half of the season he played with continuity although less than expected and often without presence in the tight finishes, now his role is even less with the minutes on the court increasingly reduced. In the back room of this situation that occurred in the quarterfinals, his words after the elimination against Olympiacos, a message that seemed clearly intended for the coach, a Roger Grimau with whom it has been rumored for some time that he does not have the best possible relationship.
“We are a very large team, with a lot of talent and we have not known how to take advantage of that. We have not known how to take advantage of all the talent that this squad has,” said Willy in the very tough hangover of the elimination in the Euroleague quarterfinals. In the fifth game, at the Palau, the Madrid center only played 12 minutes. In them, he was at a good level and contributed in attack, the big problem for a Barça team that was very trapped by the Olympiacos defense. But in the last quarter, with a place in the Final Four at stake, Grimau opted for a very unsuccessful Vesely.
In the Euroleague, Willy has only played 16 minutes and 14 seconds on average (11 points, 4.8 rebounds and 12.7 efficiency), very little for a player called to be important and largely fill the gap he left. in terms of production and leadership, Niko Mirotic. In the ACB, his numbers have not been much better: 18:30 on the court, 12.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 15.2 efficiency.
Now, the semifinals arrive against Real Madrid, which was his team before moving to the United States in 2016. Willy, who personally has always been happy with his decision to move to Barcelona, will try to have more presence in the game inside a Barça that will visit its eternal rival next Wednesday, just three days after the day on which the final and the match for third and fourth place in the Final Four are played. A great opportunity to change a narrative that is becoming increasingly complicated… or, perhaps, the definitive fuse for Willy’s case. His continuity, given the size of his contract, seems certain. Grimau’s… not so much, especially if things go wrong in the semi-finals. So, for both of us, very important days are coming. For all of Barça, actually.
Follow the Diario AS channel on WhatsAppwhere you will find all the sport in a single space: the current news of the day, the agenda with the latest news of the most important sporting events, the most outstanding images, the opinion of the best AS brands, reports, videos, and some humor from time to time.
2024-05-24 08:36:51
#critical #moment #Willy
