Real Madrid started out strong and got on transition, where they love it the most, thanks to Mirza Begic having no regard for human life in the paint.

Having the momentum on their side, Real Madrid felt like they could never miss. Rudy Fernandez actually went on to test that theory and succeeded.

 Using the virtues of not playing Josh Powell and having Kyle Hines on the court to their fullest, Olympiacos rediscovered their mojo in the second and won the quarter 27-14, cutting down the Madrid lead to four at the half. Euroleague MVP Vassilis Spanoulis looked discouragingly off throughout the first two quarters, yet Bartzokas’ team still managed to hold onto  the game somehow. Olympiacos had turned the momentum around, but Madrid still had the lead going into the locker room and managed to pull off this in the second quarter to sweeten the deal:

Vassilis Spanoulis and his beard, however, had different ideas. Greek guard hit three straight three-pointers to start the second half and almost burst into flames.

From that point on, we all knew what was coming and the game turned into a formality rather than a contest. Kyle Hines knew how to draw the attention of the crowd, as always. If you think he lacks size, think again before he starts showing off his incredible wingspan.

Reigning champs scored 50 points in the last 15 minutes of the game and were in total control. In the end, Vassilis Spanoulis claimed his Final Four MVP award in style.

First back-to-back title holders since Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005, Olympiacos’ achievement speaks for itself. Meanwhile, Vassilis Spanoulis grabbed his third Final Four MVP award, equaling Toni Kukoc’s record in a thoroughly deserved fashion.

All hail the champs.

The post Euroleague Final 2013: Olympiacos-Real Madrid, in GIF Form appeared first on EuroStep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-teDH9fnbHE

Surreal

Madrid surged into a double digit lead in the first quarter as they hit their stride and kept on going. Coach Pablo Laso described their early lead as “surreal”. Playing almost perfect team offense, they actually fed off their defense to create transition opportunities ruthlessly converted. Olympiacos went underneath screens on Sergio Llull, which was a huge mistake as he buried his first two three point shots, as Los Blancos hit five of their first six to run up a 27-10 lead after one period.

Everything clicked for Madrid, as Nikola Mirotic hit a pick and pop three then used a sublime spin move in the post to swoop in for the score. Rudy crossed over Acie Law and hit the step back three as the shot clock expired and Carlos Suarez found his place in the offense, posting up Papanikolaou. This year’s Rising Star winner replicated his baseline jam from the semi final but even that couldn’t’ spark Olympiacos back into life as they trailed 27-10 at the break.

No fears of a blowout as Reds fight back

Only those who had been living underneath a rock for the past year feared a blowout. This Olympiacos team does not give up and, seemingly, when it matters, they don’t lose. The fightback was instant as both teams sent in their second units. Hines, Antic, Sloukas and Perperoglou went to work on Reyes, Carroll, Rodriguez and Slaughter. Antic hit a three off the dribble as the clock expired, Perperoglou, one of the under-heralded signings of the summer, hit another from the corner as the legions wearing reclaimed their voices and went into deafening mode as the deficit fell to nine.

Hines showed off his passing chops with a simple dump down to Antic for the easy jam as Olympiacos went on a 12-2 run. Madrid claimed temporary respite as Reyes caught the ball off a slip screen and tossed it up to Slaughter for a monster lob dunk. There was no halting the Red tide. Law glided past Llull, took a stupid hip check and finished for the lay-in and the bonus, and by halftime, the Greeks had cut the gap to 41-37, almost mirroring the first quarter in 27-14 second. Sloukas’ defense was relentless, Antic flew around the floor and Perperoglou fired the shots that sparked the fightback. The only player in red not to have come alive was Spanoulis.

Kill Bill

That didn’t last long. The MVP gave Olympiacos their first lead at 45-43 with a massive three that sent the fans into delirium. The noise went through all recordable levels when Mirotic took the ball in transition, raced towards the rim only for Hines to meet him at the summit and cannon his dunk attempt back up the floor, where Acie Law calmly faked out the defense to lay it in at the other end. 52-46 the score, a ridiculous 42-19 run since the start of the second period. Spanoulis’ first three triples transformed the game, his final two won it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3B_2bE_e8k

Olympiacos had uglied up the game and it didn’t look like Madrid had the collective resourcefulness to withstand. Not so. Carroll finally drained a trademark catch and shoot triple after his missing his first three attempts, and as Reyes became a menace on the offensive glass, Madrid fought back. A clever pass from Llull in transition to a trailing Rudy at the top of the key set up the three pointer and Madrid were back in the lead, 56-55.

If the middle period of the game belonged to Olympiacos, at the time it was far from clear who would ultimately prevail. The deciding passage of play in the final period came as the teams traded threes. First Spanoulis took a dribble handoff and drained the triple to put the Reds up 70-62. Carroll answered shorly after to make it a three point game but Perperoglou drove the first nail into the coffin from the right corner. Shermadini took a perfect pick and roll feed to dive home and take the foul, and when Spanoulis put the champions up 90-79 with little over a minute left, the celebrations could begin.

Character and soul

The final quarter was littered with interference from the officials, with three technical fouls handed out including a pair to Marcus Slaughter, but by the end, that was a mere sidenote. Madrid hung in until the end but as time ran out and the clock wound down on the victory, the Red party had long since begun in the stands. A typically guarded Bartzokas, nearly even cracking a smile in the post-game press conference, summed up his championship team:

“We do not panic.  We have players  who have character. They have soul.”

Of course it helps to have Acie Law running a destructive fastbreak and Sloukas pouring in 11 points in 15 minutes while playing will-sapping defense. Character and soul explain why these players can apply their strengths even in the darkest times, in the highest pressure. Bartzokas may be modest, but chemistry filters down from the coach, and his share of the glory is undisputable.

Most Valuable in Piraeus

Spanoulis won MVP, and although Hines’ two-way impact and Perperoglou’s three-point barrage wrenched the game back from the brink, in the end, the money shots all came from the hands of #7. Regular Season MVP, back to back Final MVP, double Euroleague champion. How can he not come back next year?

The post Back to Back: Olympiacos Repeat as Euroleague Champions appeared first on EuroStep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzi0s8RzfXE

Abalde, Assalit and Agusti

In a team stacked with individual talent, Alberto Abalde (SF, 1.98m) led all scorers with 18 points on 7-for-11 from two-point range, 1-for-3 from behind the arc, nine rebounds and a 23 ranking. Agusti Sans (SG, 1.94m, 1995) had 14 points, Jose Nogues (PF, 2.02m) dropped 13. For Barcelona, Marc Garcia (SF, 1.97m) once again showed off his smooth-as-butter shooting stroke, draining 4-of-7 from three-point range and also gliding to the rim and finishing through contact for his 18 points.

Abalde began the tournament by hitting outside shots, but in the final he used his 1.98m frame to show off the kind of forward skills that project him as a poweful inside/out small forward. Showing tenacity and power in his post up moves, a great ability to get inside position for putbacks, but with a deft and delicate touch around the rim, as well as more than solid handle for his position. It really was a complete performance by the Spanish national team player, one of six on this ridiculously talented roster. He gets Euro Step’s vote for Tournament MVP.

The other standout this week has been point guard Xavier Assalit (PG, 1.88m). Ridiculously quick in transition, he showed great court vision and a mature ability to make the right pass with great timing in the pick and roll. All week he has bothered opposing point guards with his persistent on-ball defense and great instincts for stealing the ball. A team with this kind of five-man team offense couldn’t function without a superior point guard and he filled that role perfectly. Not only able to attack the rim, he has a pretty good jumpshot, showing great understanding of when to attack the defense.

Badalona ran the most sophisticated offense of any team here, reminiscent of last year’s Lietuvos Rytas, but with more individual talent. They benefitted immensely from having multiple players comfortable handling the ball, not least shooting guard Agusti Sans. He consistently showed the ability to read the defense’s decision to switch or not on ball screens, hesitating and then pouncing on the split-second opportunity to attack the space on offer. A great passer, fizzing the ball to the right spot from the post as well as off the drive, he had his best overall game in the final.

Jose Nogues showed terrific quickness up and down the floor, and was another skilled, balanced forward with a nice touch around the rim. As the game drifted into garbage time midway through the third quarter with Joventut leading by thirty points, the intensity level never dropped, with disciplined role players like Gerard Gomila (G/F, 1.89m) and David Iriarte (PF, 2.05m) fitting perfectly around the talent of Assalit, Abalde and Sans.

Hezonja Disappoints, Garcia the star for Barça

For Barcelona, the big ticket name was Mario Hezonja, but he had another ineffective, lifeless outing that left most people wondering if this was just a bad week for a frustrated and injured player. His jumper has been flat and off-target all week, and when that wasn’t working, aside from a baseline drive and dunk early in the second half with his team down 16, he showed no real inclination to do any dirty work or vary his game. Not exactly unathletic, but without elite jumping ability, he will have to show more ability to adapt his play to help his team. This Barcelona team was not super-talented, but Mario played with his head down, only looking to score or make the final pass. The talent is obvious but its application was not.

By far the most impressive Barcelona player, again, was Marc Garcia. He was probably the best pure shooter of the week, with great height for a small forward and also an impressive sense of when to pull the trigger or attack the  close out and pull up or pass, only his shooting kept Barcelona from further embarrassment. Their big men were a mixed bag, just as they had been all week. Brazilian Fernando Andrade (C, 2.05m) battled well inside, but it wasn’t clear at all how Milovan Draskovic (C, 2.11m) made this Barcelona roster, other than his size.

No team even limited Joventut to a single digit victory in four games this week, and the gulf in class in each one was evident. Only Crvena Zvezda gave them serious competition, in probably the best game of the week. Nobody could live with their combination of individual talent and team chemistry. Abalde, Assalit and Sans already look ready to contribute to high level teams in the next couple of years.

Roundup of the Rest

Credit to Team England for grabbing the win over OKK Spars yesterday after the heartbreak of an overtime loss to INSEP. English/British basketball is too full of oh-so-close stories of failure in recent years, but after worries of being blown out in every game, they lost by 12 to one of the finalists and were an overtime loss away from going 2-1. Luke Nelson (SG, 1.90m) showed he belonged with this class of player, which makes it all the more difficult to understand why he’ll be playing for UC Irvine for the next four years. His handle, ability to hang in the air and get his jumper off over bigger defenders was immediately apparent.

Crvena Zvezda were the second best team and suffered from being placed with Joventut. Nikola Rebic (PG, 1.88m) probably hogged the ball too much but generally showed nice creativity in flashes. The two big men who dominated the first day, Dusan Ristic (C, 2.11m) of Crvena Zvezda, and Doko Salic (C, 2.10m) faded, particularly the Bosnian. He has a developed body and physical strength, but struggled to be effective when he couldn’t get good post position, not showing much range or decision making when doubled, although he did drain an off-balance turnaround jumper on Friday that suggested 15-foot range may be within his ability if he works on his jumper. Ristic is already a skilled offensive player, but needs to bulk up and work harder to finish strong at the rim. He showed great understanding of when to pass to cutters, and the physical stuff can be worked out later.

Euro Step All-Tournament Team

C Dusan Ristic – Crvena Zvezda
F Marc Garcia – FC Barcelona
F Alberto Abalde – Joventut Badalona
G Agusti Sans – Joventut Badalona
G Xavier Assalit – Joventut Badalona

Honourable mentions: Luke Nelson (England), Nikola Rebic (Crvena Zvezda) Jose Nogues (Joventut Badalona)

Euro Step Tournament MVP: Alberto Abalde – Joventut Badalona

The post NIJT Final: “Força Penya” as Joventut Cruise to Victory appeared first on EuroStep.

Both squads are led by coaches in their first Final Fours, perhaps taking advantage of the temporary interregnum as giants like Obradovic and Ivkovic spent the winter recharging their batteries in the sun. Both like to play an uptempo game, but can also go down and dirty in a halfcourt siege (yes, even Madrid). These are two finely balanced teams, with shorter, mobile big men and aggressive guards. They are certainly the two best, and most deserving teams over the entirety of the season, when the sharp end matters so much more than racking up impressive statistics on the way.

Pace and perimeter the key

A fast pace will probably favour Olympiacos, as Madrid have settled into playing more slowly, in a more controlled way, as long as Sergio Rodriguez plays in such a masterful way as he did in the semi final. His control of the tempo allows Llull to do what he does best and patrol the weak side as a secondary ball handler, taking catch and shoot threes or attacking the close out.

This game is likely to be won on the perimeter. Sergio Rodriguez smothered Juan Carlos Navarro in the second half of Friday’s semi final, and it seems logical that he will be tasked with doing the same on Vassilis Spanoulis. Kostas Sloukas and Dimitrios Katsivelis will have to cover for Spanoulis’ defensive shortcomings. The latter could be crucial if Llull or Carroll start bombing threes.

Real’s guards can guard

Carlos Suarez will join Chacho and Rudy in the starting lineup, forcing Acie Law to match up with Rudy. As the game goes on though, and Rodriguez and Carroll join the backcourt, Kostas Papanikolaou’s likely duel with Fernandez should be fascinating. Madrid are known for their offensive talent, but talking to reporters yesterday, Carroll was adamant that it was defense, not offense, that won the game versus Barcelona. “What people don’t recognise about our team is that those guards can defend. Rudy Fernandez can flat out guard a guy. Sergi Llull can flat out guard.” Papanikolaou will put that to the test, especially if he attacks the baseline and throws down like he did. At the other end, Rudy may take too many fadeaway NBA threes, but his craftiness and persistence in driving with the ball will test the young Greek’s ability to keep him in front like nobody else he has faced this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aDCR6RgFxA

Felipe Reyes eclipsed Nikola Mirotic in the semi final, giving an offensive rebounding and sneaky finishing masterclass, and the second units of both teams will be vital. Kyle Hines plays mostly with Pero Antic, which could force Madrid to pair Slaughter more with Mirotic than Reyes. Giorgi Shermadini may have pushed Josh Powell out of the main rotation, if not the starting lineup. Both teams only have one traditional centre, and Shermadini is much more likely to be involved in the offense, with Begic purely a defensive role player. The prospect of the pair of ex-Bamberg sluggers Slaughter and Hines going up against each other positively demands our undivided attention. Antic as ever is a wildcard, and if Madrid leave him open on the weak side as they could afford to do with Erazem Lorbek, he could make them pay.

Too Close to Call

This game is so close to call – nobody in the international assortment of media around the o2 is willing to call either one the favourite. No estimation of the winner’s chances goes up above 55%. After a season’s worth of ups, downs, overreactions, under reactions, dissection and analysis, the Euroleague title comes down to this game. It seems fitting that at the conclusion of this open, uncertain season, nobody has a clue who is going to win.

The post Euroleague Final Preview appeared first on EuroStep.

After the early evening’s shock and awe, this was first crossfire, then open warfare en masse, only decided in the final seconds. Felipe Reyes distilled everything he can give to a team into his 18:53, finishing with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting, five rebounds of which four were crucial offensive grabs, six fouls drawn and a ranking of 23. Sergio Llull sank 3-for-6 from behind the arc, two in an explosive mini-duel with Navarro in the second quarter.

Madrid Hit Back, Hit Hardest

Madrid finished the game on an incredible 17-2 run after Barcelona hit 10 unanswered to go up 61-52, their biggest lead of the game on a nonchalant Ingles step back three from way behind the arc. Madrid’s offense was stagnant at that point, with Jaycee Carroll unable to get free for catch and shoot chances and Rudy Fernandez sinking into a rut of ineffective fadeaways.

Led by Reyes’ tenacity on the boards, some sneaky defense by Rudy and committed defensive pressure on Huertas by Carroll, Madrid climbed back in. After Huertas and Saras had danced around the perimeter and hit runners, floaters and in the Brazilian’s case a ludicrous banked three off one foot, it was Sergio Rodriguez who controlled the tempo. Probing the defense like an expert for nine assists and zero turnovers in 22 minutes, he led his team back into the game in a way that would have been unthinkable only a couple of seasons ago.

Barcelona out of ideas

Madrid broke the game open and then ran away in the fourth, but Barcelona still had a chance inside the final minute. Two plays summed up the way their offense fell apart, in a manner reminiscent of games two and three of their playoff series with Panathinaikos. Down 69-65 as the final minute approached, Huertas drove without forethought and had to dump the ball off to Lorbek,  who bricked a panicked three at the end of the shot clock. After a timeout, with 39 seconds on the clock, the only play Barcelona could run was for Huertas to dribble around and miss a tough runner.

Mirotic grabbed the rebound from Marcelinho’s miss, and the game was nearly over. Rodriguez split a pair at the line but Rudy put a cherry on top of his defensive contribution and stole the outlet pass at midcourt. Madrid’s fans, a sizeable contingent amongst the larger crowd inside the o2, went into delirium.

Tomic’s Fading Light

Ante Tomic was always going to be a tough matchup for Mirza Begic and Marcus Slaughter, and the big Croatian hit six of his first seven shots, the same mark from the free throw line, to 18 in the game’s first 26 minutes. He didn’t score after that, taken out of the game by a combination of great denial defense from Marcus Slaughter, and poor decision making from Barcelona’s guards. Xavi Pascual admitted after the game that the key to the crucial final quarter was the fact they entered the penalty so early, which affected their one-on-one defense. Perhaps six minutes knowing any trangression would result in two free throws did affect Pascual’s players, but where Barcelona really lost was their inability to find Tomic or Navarro for the kind of shots they were getting in the first half.

Euro Step asked Laso after the game if Tomic’s fading influence was a surprise. He explained:

“Sometimes when you face a team with Tomic, Navarro, Jasekevicius, Huertas, it’s hard to defend all of them. Tomic got most of his points on continuations, when we sent extra help to stop other guys. But I’m happy for him, he’s a player who played for me last year, I’m happy that he played a good game, and of course he showed he is a very important offensive threat.”

Madrid managed to stop helping so aggressively because their individual defense was so strong, preventing Huertas, Navarro or Jasikevicius from entering even simple entry passes. Tomic had to take a breather for less than two minutes in the fourth, which forced Pascual to send in a clearly injured Nate Jawai. The big Aussie gutted it out like a warrior, but committed a travel and let Rudy blow by him before Tomic could check back in. It would be difficult to underestimate how much Barcelona missed him in this game.

Now, Madrid can believe

What has really changed over the last twelve months with this Madrid team is their ability to avoid hitting the panic button, even when faced with a steep deficit. Laso claimed after the game that his team “always thinks they can win any game.” It’s becoming hard to disagree. Sunday’s final is the one that European basketball deserved, and this London event, wobbling on the brink of failure, needs.

The post King Felipe Takes Madrid to the Final appeared first on EuroStep.

The Reds were relentless, CSKA were listless. Kyle Hines and Pero Antic led the victors with 13 points each. Only Sonny Weems with 13 and Viktor Khryapa with 11 crept into double digits for the Russians, who have now lost in very contrasting circumstances to Olympiacos in back to back Final Fours.

Empty Seats, Full Hearts

In front of a crowd that was as dominated by Greeks as the final score, the o2 arena only “filled” to a generous estimate of sixty percent capacity near halftime. Reports of over-zealous security delaying the red hordes from the stands explained some of the thousands of empty seats at tip, but even when the full complement from Piraeus were present, the atmosphere was strange, with very few opposing fans to incite any reaction.

Maybe that threw the CSKA players off their game – there is no logical reason why players of such talent and experience would come to the Final Four and offer so little. The game opened at a frantic pace, which Kyle Hines had suggested yesterday was one of the ways they could overcome CSKA’s superior size in the frontcourt. What Hines wouldn’t have said publicly, but may have suspected all along, was that Nenad Krstic had neither the inclination or the ability to put forth the effort needed to match up with Europe’s most undersized and over-talented big man.

Kyle the Destroyer

Ettore Messina benched the All-Euroleague selection midway through the season for his lack of intensity, and his replacement Sasha Kaun began the game strongly. Krstic checked in and Hines, also coming off the bench, immediately went to work. Although the first battle went to the Serb as he blocked a Hines driving layup, after that it was a one sided war. CSKA chose to try and win the physical matchups but Sloukas aggressively fronted Weems and Hines forced Krstic into a travel as he tried to post him up, Hines grabbed an offensive board and earned a three point play with a spectacular spin, and so on it went.

Olympiacos constantly clogged up the paint and forced CSKA into taking bad shots, which they punished ruthlessly in transition. In the post-game press conference, a disconsolate Ettore Messina attributed his team abject offense to bad passing. “When we passed the ball across the court, our passes were slow and off-target. This gave the chance for them to recover.” There was a sense of the calm before the storm in his demeanour. Surely few of this core of Krstic, Teodosic or even Khryapa will survive the summer in Moscow.

The Reds led 40-28 at the half after a Sloukas three, and it took until 7:41 left in the fourth for CSKA to make a second half field goal. Only eight free throws in the third quarter added to their measly 28 from the first two periods. Olympiacos were making all the little plays, that collectively build into a dominant game. Law stripped Kaun under the basket saving a certain dunk. Hines made a long jumper from way outside his normal range as his team’s offense stagnated briefly. Hines blocked Krstic at the rim. Pero Antic made his second three to put the Reds up 52-36 and it was game over, as the Greek fans’ noise covered up every empty seat in the building.

Reds Control the Tempo, Calmly Advance

Olympiacos calmly milked the clock as time ran down, even when they missed shots, they came with low single digits on the 24-second clock. Messina admitted his team could not control the tempo, but that was only one aspect of the game over which Bartzokas’ men imposed their will.

As Spanoulis was subbed out to take an ovation in the final minute, Hines wasn’t yet ready to party. Diving on the floor to save the ball with his team up 18, inside the final minute, he was everything CSKA were not. The Euroleague MVP had a poor shooting night, finishing with eight points and 0-of-6 from behind the arc, but he never forced anything or took the team out of its flow.

This Olympiacos team is not over-achieving, they are just achieving. It looks like it will take quite an achievement from Real Madrid or Barcelona to stop them retaining their Euroleague crown.

The post Part 2: The Destruction – Olympiacos Back for More appeared first on EuroStep.

Countdown to London #10: Ante Tomic’s Defense

Countdown to London #9: Theo Papaloukas’ Presence

Countdown to London #8: CSKA’s Big Lineup

Countdown to London #7: Sergio Rodriguez’s Beard

Countdown to London #6: Vassilis Spanoulis’ Passing

Countdown to London #5: Huertas’ Orchestration

Countdown to London #4: Papanikolaou’s Offense

Countdown to London #3: Battle at the Three

Countdown to London #2: Rudy’s Dilemma

Number of losses Sarunas Jasikevicius had in Final Four games in his career: 1

For the past decade, Sarunas Jasikevicius has been pretty good at basketball. He won domestic titles with European powerhouses such as Barcelona, Maccabi and Panathinaikos countless times. He won the Eurobasket in 2003, claiming the MVP honors. Following a decision that doesn’t come as much of a surprise, Saras was named as one of the “50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors” in 2008, making his mark in history of basketball in the continent for the rest of eternity.

Saras’ impact on the game in our continent was even more evident to the eye. He forced his audience to allocate a special section in their brains conditioned to Saras making something magical happen on the court, week in week out. For the past fifteen years or so in European basketball, only a handful of things have been certain. Teams going bankrupt, stars leaving for the NBA, Zeljko Obradovic screaming at the refs and Sarunas Jasikevicius making things no one thought was possible before happen on the court, as often as effortlessly.

One thing, though, separated Saras from the others. Unlike many other pleasing-to-the-eye talent we’ve had the pleasure to watch playing basketball, Saras knew how to win. He had that poise, “swag” if you may, without which you could easily claim a player like him soft. But no, that wasn’t Saras, he was nowhere near soft. In fact, his cold-blooded demeanor both on and off the court made him a master of the dark arts. He could turn cotton candy into steel when he had chance. He never shied from the opportunity to get his hands dirty — even bloody at times.

Sarunas Jasikevicius was part of five Final Four organizations in the past ten years, from 2002-03 to 2011-12 — not to mention that he didn’t even challenge for it in 2006 and 2007 when he left for the NBA. In four of those appearances on Europe’s biggest stage, Jasikevicius’ team won the trophy. Until his Panathinaikos team lost to CSKA Moscow in last year’s semi-final matchup, Saras’ record in the stage was a perfect 8-0. It took 9 games and more than a decade for someone to beat Sarunas Jasikevicius in the Euroleague Final Four. He was that special.

At the age 37 as a member of Barcelona, the club where he won his first Euroleague title back in 2003, Jasikevicius is not the dominant floor general he was back in the day, but the playoff series against Panathinaikos proved that the Lithuanian has still got it and provide within certain time limitations. Tonight against Real Madrid in Clasico, Saras will try his best to prove that him losing last year was just a one-time fluke which can’t possibly repeat.

Going into a game where Real Madrid are favored by the most, he could very well lose again in the Final Four. In his defense, he convinced every one of us already that he is invincible.

The post Countdown to London #1: Sarunas Jasikevicius, Divinity in Disguise appeared first on EuroStep.

Countdown to London #10: Ante Tomic’s Defense

Countdown to London #9: Theo Papaloukas’ Presence

Countdown to London #8: CSKA’s Big Lineup

Countdown to London #7: Sergio Rodriguez’s Beard

Countdown to London #6: Vassilis Spanoulis’ Passing

Countdown to London #5: Huertas’ Orchestration

Countdown to London #4: Papanikolaou’s Offense

Countdown to London #3: Battle at the Three

Number of three-pointers Rudy Fernandez made per game in the playoffs: 2.0 

In three games against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Rudy Fernandez made 6 three-pointers. This alone is a completely fine looking stat, but when the fact that it took Rudy 23 tries to get there is brought into the equation, it isn’t hard to figure that Rudy’s shot selection has been a complete mess this season.

For some reason, Rudy Fernandez is in love with the step-back jumper that brought him nothing but misery in return through his career, from Portland to Denver and Madrid. Rudy took a little under 4 2-point attempts a game this season, while jacking up from beyond the arc for more than 5 times a game, which is completely unacceptable. He is a good shooter in catch-and-shoot situations if not great, but Rudy’s insistence to play hero ball quite often could be the end of Real Madrid in London if not approached carefully by coach Pablo Laso.

In terms of shot selection, Rudy Fernandez’s first full season back in Euroleague looked a lot like Dimitris Diamantidis’s. Rudy took a lot of mid and long range jumpers and his number of 2.2 attempts per game at the rim ranks 18th among all small forwards in the Euroleague this season. Despite having a top-10 finishing rate of a whopping 77% near the rim, Rudy has hardly bothered going there all season, for a reason nobody can fully grasp, not to mention that he only shot 33% from deep in 27 games.

For Real Madrid to realize their potential and become the great team they are an inch away from, Rudy Fernandez has to stop jacking step-back and fade-away jumpers from range. This season has proved that Rudy has a dilemma between settling for jumpers and going hard to the rim, but in terms of correct shot selection, there is no room for duality here as the correct choice is obvious.

The post Countdown to London #2: Rudy Fernandez’s Dilemma appeared first on EuroStep.

Countdown to London Series

Longing for Pete Mickeal

Essentially, Clasico today comes down to one determining factor: The small forward position. Barcelona have been trying to adjust to the life without Pete Mickeal, who announced his retirement in the previous weeks due to pulmonary embolism and the 3 position is not exactly Real Madrid’s strong suit among their starting lineup with Carlos Suarez occupying the starter spot on most nights.

However, despite all this, both teams have plenty of firepower to attack the opponent from the small forward. How so? Going small is the answer. Barcelona lengthened their usage of a three guard lineups involving Jasikevicius, Huertas and eventually Navarro at the three meanwhile Pablo Laso likes to use Rudy Fernandez at the small forward position for extended minutes. Xavi Pascual opted to start Ingles in Mickeal’s absence, as well as handing out additional minutes to youngster Alex Abrines. We will most definitely see a starting matchup of Ingles versus Suarez at the decisive position, but we will probably not see those two finishing the game.

Real Madrid will be attacking Barcelona’s former strong hand ruthlessly while Barcelona will be trying to defend the most vulnerable area on their roster. Who could have thought it would be like this a month ago?

The post Countdown to London #3: Battle at the Three appeared first on EuroStep.

IJT Fiatc Joventut Badalona 77 – 65 IJT Lietuvos Rytas

IJT Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 86 – 61 Team China

IJT OKK Spars Sarajevo 76 – 57 IJT INSEP 

IJT FC Barcelona Regal  69 – 58 Team England

Day One of the 2013 NIJT is in the books and while the unfamiliar conditions in an indoor football venue probably messed with shooting percentages, there were still some good takeaways and things to look out for as the teams play more games.

Balkan Big Men

Stat line of the day goes to Crvena Zvezda centre Dusan Ristic (2.12m, 1995) who collected 18 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists in 30 minutes in an easy win over China. The Chinese dressed only seven players and none of them had the height or physical power to stop Ristic. What really stood out was his nice passing touch, dropping off a neat touch pass out of a double team on the first play of the game, and generally showing great awareness of his teammates. He earned MVP honours at the qualifying tournament in Belgrade, but it will be good to see him tested against worthy opponents over the next few days. Whilst his fundamentals of gaining position, sealing and going up were more than solid, he wasn’t troubled at all by a non-existent China frontcourt.

That matchup might come in the final, as most people Euro Step talked to agreed that OKK Spars are the Serbians’ most likely opponents on Sunday. Centre Doko Salic (2.10m, 1995) put up 26 points and 15 rebounds in a much more intensely played second game on Court One against INSEP. Again he had a physical advantage, appearing far older than his 17 years. We’re not suggesting any shenanigans, just to say that he already looks like an athlete ready to play against men, rather than a junior still growing into his frame. Salic showed great finishing ability on a Spars team that moved the ball crisper and quicker than a lot of the other squads on show.

Nelson Standing Alone

FC Barcelona Regal easily overcame the hosts, with Mario Hezonja (2.00m, 1995) the obvious player to watch. Super Mario had a quiet night, finishing with 6 points on 2-of-9 shooting, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 20 minutes. The Catalans ended this one in a 27-7 second quarter and England had 31 turnovers to 22 made field goals. However, after trailing 60-35 in the third, they reclaimed some pride with a  23-9 finish, led by guard Luke Nelson (1.90m, 1995). The UC Irvine recruit was light years ahead of his teammates in terms of fundamentals, court vision and basketball IQ. His line wasn’t that sharp – 11 points, 1-of-7 from behind the arc – but it was the five assists that caught the eye. That number would have been seven or eight if some of his teammates had converted the looks he made for them. Not exactly a point guard, but showing great court vision, a quick burst off the dribble and one smooth catch and shoot three, he was the only England player who showed potential to play at a much higher level. His second half performance warranted inclusion in anyone’s Day One highlights.

Best of the Rest

Joventut wing Alberto Abalde (2.00m, 1995) showed off a smooth jumper in dropping 21 points on Lietuvos Rytas in the day’s opening game. Joventut’s length gave the Lithuanians problems all day – this is nowhere near the team that won this tournament last year, even if they did have star player Edvinas Seskus available. Rytas point guard Augustas Suliauskas (1.80m, 1995) was fundamentally very solid, driving and dishing with accuracy on the way to seven assists, but he struggled against the bigger Joventut guards and fouled out in 26 minutes.

Tomorrow’s Game to Watch

OKK Spars take on Barcelona at 13:15, in a game that should see Hezonja much more involved against far stronger opposition. Salic will go up against 2.11m centre Milovan Draskovic and Hezonja against Nedium Buza (2.03m, 1995) should be worth watching.

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