I’m not a big fan of the plus - minus stats specially when it comes to individual performances, I think there are many players involved in whatever happens on the court and that number can lead to misunderstandings.
Anyway in the last Baskonia - FCB we saw a chain of actions that show the value of one of the great players in our basketball, Petteri Koponen. In the beginning of the third quarter, five consecutive possessions, creating a high value for his team on both sides of the court, scoring five points himself and creating another four for Ante Tomic, plus stealing one ball on defense.
Defense, scoring, decision making, play making, to get his team going in less than four minutes.
Also, I’d like to point out one of the offensive situations FCB use during this stretch, which we can see in the video, with a big man posting playing at the elbow for a hand off situation. In this example is precisely Koponen the player who ends up executing the shot coming off Tomic's pass.
Using a shooter and getting advantages of small defensive mistakes to get easy looks for an elite shooter, FCB's playbook has really interesting options.
While we wait for the third game of the finals, let's take a look at what happened in the first two, and let's try to find out if Barcelona can find arguments to avoid the 3-0.
It's clear that Real Madrid was (one more time) a well oiled scoring machine in game 2. But, it is also true that their defensive activity was better than in the first game. You can't isolate one side of the game and consider it the only reason why a game is won or lost. But a quick first look at both games box scores show that FCB scored 40 points at halftime in game 1, and 32 in game 2. Of course we would need possession data to get better accuracy, but as a sign it is interesting.
Let's take a look at some details we saw during the first two games of the Final:
FCB found some good looks in low post for their bigs
and also for DeShaun Thomas, who is being their main option at the beginning of the games:
Here we see how he attracts the defense and finds Lampe beyond the three point line.
In the second game, Real played more aggressive to stop these options, with quick defensive reactions, with good team work collapsing the paint, more contact, and even using some fouls. Good overall defensive focus, which helped setting the tone of the game, as we can see:
I wrote about mismatch situations some weeks ago. They are becoming more and more important. In the first game we saw how both Real and Barça scored off the mismatch.
In the second, Real Madrid bled Barcelona with these situations, specially during the first two quarters. Even when they decided not to exploit the first advantage they just created, they ended up scoring (opposite side, Carroll's pull up jumper)
Also, they have been getting stops against mismatches in a regular basis during these two games. As I mentioned before, using their fouls wisely helps setting the defensive level. Another example of individual commitment and team work.
Focusing on the offensive face now, we've seen FCB scoring inside, and this will be important for the "blaugrana" team. As important or more will be to diminish Real's inside points.
Which won't be easy because Real's outside threats are huge, but FCB should try to find their way on defense. In the first two games we saw some good actions, along with some others not so good or plain bad. Real Madrid is punishing almost every single mistake (one on one, help side, defensive rebounds)
Both teams will try to find as many wide open shots as possible. As we saw in the first game and in one of the last clips from the second one, three point shots coming off offensive rebounds are a good "easy" points source:
FCB will be looking for reasons to be optimistic, one should be Doellman and Hezonja's spacing in ball screen situations. They are creating a good amount of opportunities, both players are shooting well and will probably be confident in the third game.
Let's hope to see a very good third game, and may the best team win!
Right before tonight's third game, a quick analysis about one of Olympiacos "go to" sets.
These are sets every team has and runs for different reasons. They feel comfortable when playing them, they work well for a key player, or they create problems to the defenders...
Olympiacos look for Spanoulis in many different ways, but in the last game this set was extremely productive for the reds.
A vertical hand off between a big man and the Greek star, that can be followed by a quick ball screen. As a secondary option within the same structure, they can look for the pass to the big man near the basket, but we will focus today on the Spanoulis' option.
As we will see in the video, Olympiacos scored twelve points when running this set, nine of them coming straight from Spanoulis' hands.
In my humble opinion, FCB's defensive game plan was ready to defend it. My guess is they planned to chase Spanoulis, while the big man defending the passer would make a short hedge, and the defender of the corner would collapse the paint.
But mistakes happen during a game, and Spanoulis' execution is admirable so he can score even when the defenders perform well.
For sure tonight we will see this set many times, we will see how it works! Now, let's take a look at the video.
With Real Madrid and FC Barcelona still cooling down, and although obviously this is a game that deserves deep analysis, I want to show you this clips from early in the game, with some interesting details.
First, a nice high - low action from Real Madrid. Barcelona often switch in off ball screens when guarding JC Carroll. Real responds well and finds the way to use the mismatch in low post.
Second, another defensive situation from the "madrileños": Maciulis gets on the court and guards Marcelinho Huertas. Maciulis' size and quickness allows him to protect himself from Huertas' penetrations and at the same time he is able to contest shots and switch against ball screens:
%2B17.46.04.png)
%2B21.35.48.png)