Day 4 Eurocup

Alba Berlin - BC Lietuvos rytas

* Alba tried to put pressure rytas´ Guards. Sometimes teams do that not just in order to steal the ball, but also to send a message: we are here to fight on each and every ball. Coaches like to send this message not just to the opponent team, but also (and often) to their own players).

* The message was well received. Unlike last week, this time Alba´s players showed a lot of hustle. They had motivation, they took 6 offensive rebounds in the first quarter and had 3 steals. Some of them led to easy points in the fast break. Alba tried to had many of those as possible, even after the Lithuanians scored. Too bad Paul Carter cannot convert a fast break to an easy lay up.

* How bad is Alba´s defence? Despite their massive efforts in defnce, Vilnius scored 92 points in 40 minutes. Well, it would have probably looked better with their defensive star, Gaffney, who didn´t play today.

* Caki´s offensive system brings Kikanovic to make an high pick´n´roll (sometimes also a ball pick), and then to roll to the basket with or without the ball. Kikanovic performs very well, but he is the only center in Berlin who can do that. As a result, Alba is too dependent on him.

* Another order from Caki was to pass the ball inside. Alba avoided three shots – they had 1/4 from behind the arch in each of the first two quarters. Instead, they look first for the pass to the paint, in order to make two points. Alba shot 18 out of their 35 field attempts from inside the paint in the first half.

* In the second half rytas sagged in defence in order to stop Kiknovic. As a result, Alba´s guards had more freedom, and had some free look for the three. Johnson took advantage of that to make an amazing fourth quarter and keep Alba alive. He was also taking command in the crucial minutes, giving orders to his teammates on the court.

* Drew Gordon has an incredible talent for rebounding. He is one of the most underrated players in the Eurocup.

* Logan and Fisher are the key players of rytas. Both fo them almost didn´t get off the court (there were two minutes in the first quarter when they both sat on the bench. It was disastrous for Vilnius), and together they were responsible for 46 points and 42 Ranking. Pacesas admited after the game he has no other SG who can play the pick´n´roll. In the second half Gailius helped them and decreased rytas´dependency on them. He should thank Alba: His defender helped in the paint and left him free (at the beginning it made some sense, as Gailius had terrible first three quarters) to score one three point shot after another. But when Gailius cooled down, rytas stayed with no one to play with.

* Caki decided to leave his beloved Atsür, who could not handle with Logan´s athleticism, on the bench. He played the money time this time with Siva and Johnson, who won the game for him.

#Eurocup #AlbaBerlin #Lietuvosrytas