Nanterre trying to use the home-court advantage to beat Darussafaka
In round 7 of Eurocup, Nanterre will host Darussafaka in a match between two teams with some problems in the last games. While Darussafaka has 5 wins and 5 defeats in the last 10 games, Nanterre’s record is worst, 2-8 in all competitions.
Nanterre’s season didn’t start as expected before, with only four wins in all competitions until now. Even in the national competition, they have a real problem, where they won two and lost five games until now. They changed the entire roster in the summer, so maybe their choices weren’t so good. They needed to start building chemistry between these players, but until now that didn’t work out well. In the last game, they travelled to Spain to meet Joventut in Eurocup, but they lost by two points, 79-77, after a fourth-quarter comeback from the Spanish team. They shoot the ball well, with low percentages from the distance, but what’s interesting here is the low number of assists – 11. Main contributors were: Spencer Butterfield (16 points, 6 rebounds), Devin Oliver (14 points) and Youssou Ndoye (11 points and 10 rebounds).
Darussafaka started the season well, but in the last five games, they lost four games in all competitions. They added a new core of foreigners in the summer, but they needed some time to find their rhythm. In the national competition, they have 4 wins and 3 defeats, with a defeat in the last game against rivals Galatasaray, 78-75. Gary Browne was the top performer with 17 points and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes. Sinan Guler (14 points and 4 rebounds) and Jarrod Jones (13 points and 5 rebounds) also had important contributions, but that didn’t help too much. They have some good foreigners, but the bench is the main problem, where only 3 players can make an impact while 2 of them have 36 years-old.
Nanterre and Darussafaka have met before in the second round of Eurocup, when the Turkish side, helped by their fans, won the game 72-65 after a good defensive effort. Nanterre has 17 more attempts from the field but that didn’t help because they made only 30% of their shots. If Darussafaka continues with that top defense, they have a shot to win it away, but Nanterre should defend their home ground and stop that negative run.
Photo: ww.eurocupbasketball.com
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
