Olimpia Milano’s horrible strategy allows Gran Canaria to tie
Olimpia Milano’s horrible strategy allows Gran Canaria to tie
With 11 seconds remaining from the Euroleague game at Gran Canaria, Olimpia Milano was ahead with 3 points. The Spanish team had the last possesion of the ball trying to tie the game. And this is exactly what they did with a lucky 3 pointer scored by Marcus Eriksson with 2 seconds left.
Nobody who understands basketball could agree with Milano strategy in this case. This is a fundamental thing for every team: you make foul in order to prevent a 3 pointer and giving the opponents just 2 free throws. And then you have the ball for a new possession and the opponents have to foul you back for the free-throws etcetera. It is not a possible decision, it’s the only decision that a coach can teach his team. One more thing: Milano has lost during the game Arturas Gudaitis (injury) and Mike James (5th foul), so entering the overtime was the worst option for them.
You have 3 points advantage in the last seconds, you don’t stay and pray like a stupid sheep in front of the disaster. You act and make foul quickly in the best moment. There is no other way! There is no other philosophy!
Below, I will give you the link of a classic basketball game in Euroleague from the season 2009-2010. Here you will see the Serbian mentality working. The game is tied at 91. There are 15 seconds left and Efes has the possession. The host team Partizan lead by the coach Duško Vujošević made a foul exactly to send Efes to the free-throws. This was their strategy. Efes Bootsy Thornton scored just 1 free-throw and then Partizan had the last possession. The Serbians eventually won the game with the smooth shot made by Dusan Kecman.
Asked by the journalist why did he choose to foul, instead of a normal defense, Partizan coach Duško Vujošević said that his team had to have the last possession in order to control the game. I recommend Simone Pianigiani to learn some basketball fundamentals. It’s his only chance to become a real coach one day.
Gratian Cormos, info@brainbasketball.net
