This Barça is another story. It is no longer a team that pales in hot moments or that shivers in the face of compromised situations, a team that exudes confidence and that dispatches its rivals with good basketball or craftsmanship, which does not matter if it adds another victory, eight out of nine with the last trigger against Madrid. And in Lyon, against an Asvel who was presumed to be rickety but who at times seemed like Hercules, he knew how to endure the situation and even suffer and then mature the match and seal it when it was time, in a strong last quarter
Although it is difficult for him to pick up the pace and get into combustion, although sometimes the rival surpasses him, Xavi Pascual’s Barcelona never disconnects from the games, a demand from the sports area after the repeated disappointments that have occurred in recent years. Also an obligation imposed by the coach, who since he entered the locker room, they say, . And that happened at the beginning against Asvel, who stood on the pitch as if they had forgotten the problems that have shaken them in the course, bottom in Europe and fourth in their domestic league, threatened with sanctions by the Euroleague for not having met the minimum budget for player salaries, now without Nando de Colo, signed by Fenerbahçe a couple of weeks ago. Thus, driven by Watson and his mid-range shots, and then peppered by the appearance of Braian Angola — who recently left Gran Canaria to move to Lyon — the French team rose in the first quarter (26-22).
But Barça, without any noise, with moments of lucidity from Satoransky from the periphery and with Punter handing out candy, in addition to filling the dolls with points, also with Shengelia’s dancing of feet and waist, knew how to stay standing. And that the electric Watson – who accumulated 17 points at the intermission – tried the opposite, a show with skates on the court that found Eboua’s complicity. That and the tepidness in the defensive rebounds, put Barça, a team to a certain extent unrecognizable in defense, in a difficult position. But in the rival ring he was still in tune and it was enough for him to reach the break in hand (49-47), with a single basket difference.
After a sure blow from Pascual, Barça applied itself in defense so that Asvel would not find such easy shots, a contact game because the referees allowed it. The base for the foundations and the chili of Shengelia, who broke waists to find the ramp to the basket, and especially of Punter, who wanted to challenge Watson as if from a playground It was a New Yorker, a mountebank with a sharp eye and a defiant gaze. A challenge that Barça joined, with 10 of 15 triples before the last chapter, already with 70-74 to close the event.
And as it happened in times past, at the beginning led by a Laprovittola who is gaining color after the string of injuries, also with the incombustible Senghelia and, of course, with a Punter who when he does pop there is no stop. The leader spoke and his henchmen supported him, exercising with his work overalls, by trade, and something else, now that the Cup is just around the corner.
For its part, Baskonia continues its plummet in Europe after falling against a rival as powerful as Fenerbahçe (84-71) after a chaotic third quarter. With eight wins and 16 losses in the Euroleague and lost at the bottom of the table, it is extremely difficult for them to think about overcoming the phase.
