Andorra disappointing in Eurocup against a bunch of Turkish kids
When I wrote this week about the stunning win of Tofas Bursa against Bursaspor in the domestic league at Turkey, nobody could imagine that Andorra will be the next victim. Especially because Tofas is affected by a couple of injuries of their most experienced players like Sammy Mejia, Matt Lojeski and D.J. White. Actually, they rely only on 2 Americans, Tarik Phillip and Devin Williams and a bunch of local players, most of them very young.
In these circumstances, few would have given them a chance in front of the powerful MoraBanc Andorra, a team that has one of the largest rosters in Europe. But Andorra mercenaries couldn’t stop the enthusiasm and the courage of the Turkish kids. Propelled by a good defense that reduced MoraBanc Andorra to only 63 points, Tofas stole an important win against the Spanish team. The hosts disappointed a lot, playing extremely poor in offense, looking like a team without brain, coach and any strategy. Maybe the strategy was to be ridiculous in front of your own fans and to lose in a shameless manner.
After a 0-2 start in the Eurocup Top16, MoraBanc Andorra has no chance to advance in the playoffs of the European competition, but at least they could play some basketball, instead of this chaotical run and gun. The lack of appetite of the Spanish squad was visible on many chapters like superior turnovers (15-10), fewer rebounds (31-27) and only 1 steal during the whole game compared with 6 made by Tofas’ players. In the end, the home team finished with an embarrassing index rate, registering only 49 at this category, while the visitors had 79. It is so incredible how Andorra succeed the impossible: to make a shitty game against a young team plagued by injuries, that normally shouldn’t have any chance. Instead of winning by more than 20 points margin, Andorra will remain in the history of European basketball like the most unambitious team!
Photo: Eurocup
Gratian Cormos
