Day 21 Euroleague: Baskonia - Real Madrid

* Once again Real started with Taylor as a second guard, in order to make it difficult for the opponent's guard. Randolph, who also got a place in Real´s opening five, completed an athletic defensive line up who paralyzed Baskonia. This week Taylor's target was Larkin. Mission accomplished: Larkin finished a poor game with 5 points (2/11 from the field) and a zero index rating. Baskonia was left without a playmaker (unless you count Laprovittola as one, and you really should not). Real best defensive minutes were when Taylor was on the court. Baskonia, normaly a lean mean offensive machine, had to struggle tonight for each basket.

* Baskonia was staying close to Real thank to their amazing offensive rebounding. They had 7 of those just in the first quarter and 17 in the whole game. Since Real were making automatic switches in defence, the blancos' big men was left often away from the paint, leaving Baskonia's big men to dominate the boards. So Bakonia was still in the picture the whole time, despite scoring with horrible precentage (42% from 2 and 26% from 3), and despite losing heavily in the index rating category.

* Real's offence was flourishing when Llull was on court in the first half. Since he is a great three points shooter, Baskonia could cheat against him after a screen. Usually they did help and recover, but when it comes to Llull they attacked him defensively, leaving the players who made the screen to roll freely into the paint. Llull made 7 out of Real's 11 assists in the first half.

* Baskonia finished the game with a single steal. It is a sign for lack of hustle, or lack of willingness to win the game.

* Luka Doncic just abused Baskonia´s guards. They tried to gaurd him with tall players, small players, athletic players and energetic players. Nothing helped. Doncic did in the last quarter whatever he wanted, including some moves to demonstrate who is the alpha-male on the court. And you know what? The most amazing thing is not his superior abilities, nor his high confidence, but the fact he is almost not making any mistakes. The 17 years old wonder has a decision making level of a veteran.

#Euroleague #Baskonia #RealMadrid