Day 24 Euroleague: Unics Kazan - Anadolu Efes Istanbul

* Good things happened when Anadolu played inside. First, they found out that Unics' defence is just a facade. Each turkish screen ruined the russian defence, and left the Anadolu to score 58% from the two, which in reality looked like easy baskets in the paint. More than half of Anadolu's points in the half time came from their front line. Kazan's inability to stop the pick'n'roll also helped the turks to score three pointers. After missing their 3 first (and bad selected) three point shots, Anadolu score 50% from that range by the half time. Usually it happned thanks to a screen on top of the key (did I already mentioned that Kazan cannot defened a simple screen?), or just because the russian defence sagged in fear of receiving another dunk in the paint.

* In the second half, Kazan tried defensively to attck the pick'n'roll and to put some pressure on the opponent PG. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it ended up with a dunk. Anyway, it is better than their no-solution attitude from the first half.

* In defence, Anadolu tried to lead Langford right. They did their homework - the Euroleague's leading scorer is a left handed, and scores significantly better from the left side of the court. He also tends to finish his moves from the left side. The turkish strategy was the decrease his precentage by making him shot from places he is not used to. When he forced the ball to the left, it ended a lot of times with a turnover. As a result, Langford spent tonight much more time on the bench. As I wrote last week, it is not necessarily a bad thing.

* Kazan played many minutes with Ponkrashov as the playmaker. They tried to use his size advantage, usually unsuccesfully. Ponkrashov and Colom also played often the pick'n'roll. Just like Kazan, Anadolu's defence did not reply well to it. Luckily for the turkish teams, Parakhouski and Banic are not as athletic as Anadolu's big guys, and they were not always able to finish the nice passes with dunks. Their good moments in the third and fourth quarter were with Williams - their most athletic center - on the court, as he was able to translate the screens to points or to grab offensive boards.

* The overtime was decided by the size advantage of Anadolu. Kazan played small ball with Clarke as a PF. No matter what kind of smart (or smartass) defence Kazan played, either Brown or Dunston found themselves guarded by a much smaller player. And they took advantage of it to win the game.

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