Tenerife, Brose and Virtus sacrificing domestic league to prepare the 2nd leg of BCL quarterfinals
Iberostar Tenerife, Brose Bamberg and Virtus Bologna lost their domestic matches before the 2nd leg of the Basketball Champions League quarterfinals.
Let`s see how these three teams managed their domestic leagues’ games after the battles from Champions League.
First I will take Tenerife. In the first leg of Champions League quarterfinals, they lost at Hapoel Jerusalem 75-73. There was only a half quarter left and the Spanish team lead the score with 69-64. But they didn`t manage to hold the lead and lost the game. But the result it`s not a bad one, the two points deficit can be easily overcome in Tenerife. In domestic league, they faced giant Real Madrid and lost the game 91-82. Main reasons for loss are:
- Fatigue – Spanish team had to travel a long way from Jerusalem back home and after a big clash with Hapoel, they faced the 2nd seeded team in Spain.
- Rotation – In the match with Real Madrid, several starters from Hapoel clash have seen their minutes dropped with 5 minutes. Also in the rotation, there were introduced two new players that did not play in Israel. They kept their best players to limited minutes, to rest and prepare them for the Wednesday clash with Hapoel Jerusalem.
Second, let`s take a look at Virtus Bologna. In the first leg, in France, they were beaten by Nanterre 83-75 in a match where the Italian team managed to score only 4 baskets from the 3-point line. Also, they have done a lot of personal errors, 32 in 40 minutes. In the domestic league, after just 3 days, they played against Sassari away and lost with 90-72. At half time the score was equal 38-38, but the second half was a disaster for Virtus. Main reasons for the loss:
- Fatigue – After only 3 days, Virtus faced a team that is in the race for Italian playoffs. The fatigue took over the players in the second half when were outscored 52-34.
- Rotation – Bologna did not have a big rotation and the players that had big numbers in France also had in this match. As examples Punter played 31 and 30 minutes in both games. Also, Aradori played 29 and 25 in both games. From the second unit, only Kravic played a bigger role with 24 minutes in comparison with the game from France when he played 10 minutes.
And third, we have the German squad, Brose Baskets. In the first leg of Champions League, they managed to get a good victory against the reigning champions, AEK Athens, 71-67. The second leg will present a big show for all basketball fans. In the domestic league, Brose was beaten at home by Alba Berlin after a very close game, 69-66. It was a disappointing result, taking into consideration that after the first quarter Brose lead by 11 points. Main reasons for the loss:
- Rotation – Brose rotated a lot the squad, letting their star players play fewer minutes in order to be ready for the big clash in Athens. Zizis played only 15 minutes while in AEK`s clash he played 26 minutes.
- Second quarter – They were outscored 24-13 and have seen their first-quarter lead disappear.
Bogdan Vasile Tirc, info@brainbasketball.net
