Unicaja Malaga – Iberostar Tenerife, the clash of the week in Liga Endesa
In the second round of Liga Endesa, we have a very interesting between Unicaja Malaga and Iberostar Tenerife. In the first round, both teams lost the games too much weaker opponents and now they have the chance to come back to the winning ways. Let`s see some stats about the last games.
Unicaja lost the game away at Manresa 69-79 in a game where their only lead was at the beginning of the game 5-3. What drags them down in this game was the 3-point shooting. Out of 29 attempts, they have made only 8 shots, finishing with 27,6% shooting percentage. They have 12 steals in the game, but they didn`t use those extra chances to take the lead in the game. Josh Adams was the main scorer for Unicaja and the only player worth to be mentioned from that game, as he finished with 20 points.
Tenerife lost the game at home against Bilbao 67-81. Here there are more negative points in the Tenerife`s team. First of all, the shooting percentage was very poor overall. At the 3-point line, they made only 5 attempts out of 28 shots. Second, they beat Bilbao in the rebounds battle 43-26, with 14 more offensive rebounds, but that didn`t count at all when we look at the shooting percentage. Third, Tenerife spends a lot in bringing new players this summer, changing the roster almost completely. Despite that all the players from the bench scored only 6 points, finishing the game with 0-11 from distance. Shermandini with 23 points, 6 rebounds and Marcelino Huertas with 21 points and 6 assists were the main contributors for the team.
Looking at those facts, I expect a very tough match. Both teams made a lot of changes during the summer and that is not good for the chemistry. They will have some problems with that in the first games, so I expect more poor shooting percentages until some in-court relations are established. They have a very good roster, but both coaches must find some ways to help them build solid chemistry with the right tactics.
Photo: cbcanarias.net
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
