BC Kyiv vs. Kapfenberg – such a battle in the 2nd leg of the BasketballCL qualifiers
After a 66-66 draw in the first match, Kyiv Basket and Kapfenberg will provide us with another balanced encounter in the second leg of Basketball Champions League pre-qualifier round. In the first match, there were a lot of leader changes and Kapfenberg managed to have the biggest advantage on the scoreboard, 43-35 in the third quarter. However, they didn’t protect that lead so, in the end, the score was even, giving to Kyiv the first chance to qualify.
Both teams have mixed squads with foreign and national players. Kapfenberg has three American players, one from Serbia and one from Croatia. On the other hand, Kyiv also has 3 American players and one from the Virgin Islands. In the first match, the Americans from Kapfenberg have an awful night, finishing with 4 shots made out of 21 attempts! That was a huge step back for the Austrian team and when we see the final score we can imagine that only one more basket would have been enough to win the game. Bogic Vujosevic saved the day with a huge performance, finishing with 31 points and 5 rebounds. In order to have a chance in the second leg, Kapfenberg players must choose more wisely their shots, especially the American guys. You simply can`t win a game with 31% shots made.
For Kyiv every player shots decent so they managed to have a 46% shooting at the end of the match. Only the free-throws kept Kapfenberg alive in that match. They need to continue to defend well and also try to lower the number of turnovers, because in the first match they made 18, double than their opponent. Also, the three-point shooting didn`t work so well, but in the paint, they won the battle. They should focus on getting the ball more often in the paint and get some points from there because this is their main strength.
As a prediction, I expect Kapfenberg to win the tie in the end, but only after a fierce and hard battle in Kyiv. There are some ups and downs for both teams, but now after this first match they should pay more attention to their mistakes and the game should bring us many points.
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
