Day 4 Euroleague

Zalgiris Kaunas - Maccabi Tel Aviv

* After receiving an average of 93.3 points per game in the first three games, Maccabi's defence kept Zalgiris on just 74 points. But let's no celebrate yet Maccabi's defensive metamorphosis. Kaunas finished the game with 57.5% from the two point range. Tel Aviv sent them two the line just once (1/2 FT in 40 minutes!). This is a clear sign of a soft defence. Maccabi still has too many players who simply cannot handle a basic one-on-one defence. Their opponents still can penetrate easily to the rim.

* So what did Rami Hadar do? Maccabi's defence sagged heavily, and blocked the paint with 5 men. As a result, Kaunas players were for free 3pt shots one possession after another. A better team would have nailed Maccabi. Zalgiris made their first succesful 3 pointer 15 minutes in to the game, after missing 10 consecutive shots. They finished the first half with a disgraceful 11% behing the arch.

* Jasikevicius and his players fell in the trap. They made almost the same amount of three points shots as they made from the two points range. But from the two points range they scored with much, much better precentage (57.5% in compare to 27.3%).

* Some things were good in Maccabi's defence. DJ Seeley had a great defensive game. Earlier this year I mentioned that would be his bread and butter this year. He played toady 31 minutes due to his good defensive performance (Only Weems played more). Zirbes also helped others in the paint in post up positions, something he didn't do against Madrid. In addition, Maccabi's heavy sagging helped them still passes and run to fast breakes.

* In the beginning of the game Maccabi was feeding Zirbes and Iverson in the paint. Hadar is definately using his big men more efficiently than Edelstein, who played with them too far from the rim. Hadar's plays were successful. However, as the pressure built up, Maccabi's guards/forwards went back to their old habits, AKA playing one on one. Maccabi had just 14 assists. Spanoulis passed yesterday more assists than all of Tel Aviv's players.

* Zalgiris had 17 offensive rebounds, Maccabi had just 20 defesive rebounds. It means that after missing a shot, Zalgiris had a 45% of getting a second chance. How did they managed to lose this game?

#Euroleague #MaccabiTelAviv #ZalgirisKaunas #MaikZirbes #DJSeeley