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The Game is calling

Wed, 02 May 2007 07:26:40 GMT

Boys, it's about time. I'm getting increasingly restless; I can't wait for the big show to get started. The memories of Prague are still fresh in the minds of those who love the game, capital "G" please. The Game will be the only sure winner in Athens. The Game is bigger, stronger and better than everybody else, and the team that will honor its spirit best will emerge as European champion. What are you asking for? The name of this team? Wow, now this is tough to say. So many angles to study, and the intriguing Final Four formula that leaves a lot of room for surprises and coups...

Generally speaking I would say Panathinaikos and CSKA should get 2-3 percentage points more than the other two teams if this was a best-of-five or best-of-seven playoff. But the beauty of this thing is that it's really up for grabs, and it's not a cliche. Tau played brilliant basketball all season long and it has in the past done something painful and necessary in order to to win a Final Four, i.e. to lose a Final Four (like CSKA did in the past before winning last year). Unicaja is in a very peculiar state of mind, and though I'm sure Sergio Scariolo would sell his soul to the devil for the privilege of getting Daniel Santiago back. I'm equally sure he'll have everybody else super-motivated and super-concentrated. These teams are battle-tested, experienced, deep and balanced.

Panathinaikos will definitely have homecourt advantage, but with that comes an immense pressure, and especially in the first game it will be hard to cope with. CSKA knows what this is all about. Messina, Langdon, Smodis, Holden and many others are Final Four veterans who thrive in big games, but being the defending champions they also will have an additional weight to shoulder. Mentally, I like Unicaja, offensively I like Tau, defensively I like CSKA, in terms of overall strength and balance I tend to favor Panathinaikos. So many reasons to pick any one of these four teams. I really can't decide. It's gonna come down to two or three key plays, to small things, details and preparation. The Game is as wonderful as it is cruel, especially on the big stage. You need maturity to enjoy it, and I'm sure this will be another weekend to remember, just like the one we experienced in Prague last year. Again, I can't wait to get started. The Game is calling... Enjoy the Final Four.

YOU WANT SUBPLOTS? THESE PLAYOFFS HAVE THEM!

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:34:34 GMT

All right, this is it. Playoff time, the best time of the year. Four great matchups, with a caveat: the losers don't have to automatically be looked upon as failures. A place in the top eight teams in the continent is no small feat. I also tend to think that you don't often reverse at the end of the season what you did - and did not do - throughout a whole year of basketball. This being said, let's talk a little bit about the quarterfinals.

TAU CERAMICA-OLYMPIACOS

Obviously my last reference will be put under a tough test here. If Arvydas Macijauskas comes back, and all the indications are he will, this whole series might change its complexion. The drama will revolve around him, as he knows very well the Spanish club that he propelled to the final game in 2005. Nobody can predict what his impact will be, but my theory is the first game you play coming back from a long injury is relatively easier, since your desire to play can kind of compensate in the short term for the absence of "basketball shape". After that, though, you almost invariably experience difficulties and go through a slump. I think Tau played the best offensive basketball of the Euroleague season, together with Panathinaikos, and I'm talking about the quality of what they did, not about how many points they scored. Baskonia has leadership with Pablo Prigioni and Luis Scola, a big man who is more likely stopped by his own foul trouble more than by opponents. The team went through adversities without losing too many games, so the logical pick is to install them as favorites in a pregame analysis. Still, Olympiacos has the talent to make this a wonderful series, as at least two or three players, not counting the wild card Macijauskas, can dramatically alter the outcome of a game. This showdown might really be a dandy.

CSKA MOSCOW-MACCABI

Ehi, didn't I see these two teams somewhere else in the past? Obviously things are different from last year, as Maccabi lost a Parker and a Gershon, and CSKA brings into this series the maturity of a champion who did not show any sign of complacency the following season. Game 1 should be the pivotal one, as Maccabi has little pressure to cope with after a tough season so far. Everyone expects CSKA to prevail, but the Israeli champs on paper definitely have the talent to give the defending champs some fits. I'm particuarly intrigued by the duel between Matjaz Smodis and Nikola Vujcic. These two big men might not guard each other a lot but they have in common a great deal of versatility, and many of the things coaches Ettore Messina and Neven Spahija do offensively revolve around the abilities of those big men as shooters (especially Matjaz) and passers (especially Nikola). I'd be suprised to see Maccabi winning if games are played in the 60- or 70-point range, as CSKA clearly looks like the better team in a halfcourt game. Playing a higher number of possessions though is related to defense, and this is the real question mark for the yellow-and-blue. Can they play enough defense, not their specialty so far, to force the champs into a game they don't particularly like? If the answer is yes, don't take this series for granted.

PANATHINAIKOS-DYNAMO MOSCOW

It looks like every series has a great subplot. Macijauskas coming back vs. his old team, the two finalists in 2006 being back at it and Zelimir Obradovic playing against his "basketball father" Dusan Ivkovic for a place in those Final Fours that these two coaches know oh-so-well (and have both won while working in Athens). I think Obradovic has a tremendous amount of respect for his opponent, who has won at...

A TALE OF TWO FAVORITES

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:09:30 GMT

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. It's mid-season in the Top 16, and the race for the Quarterfinal Playoffs is more exciting by the minute. Of course, teams at 0-3 look now like their seasons are done, while the unbeaten ones seem to be already advanced. Don't forget, however, the reversal of fortune Cibona and Panathinaikos had last year, when the Greens came back from an 0-3 start to make the Playoffs and the Croatian sensations were unable to capitalize on a shocking 3-0 start. This year Panathinaikos started the Top 16 a little bit better, and I was especially impressed by the win against FC Barcelona in Week 2. As for Week 3, the score that pops out immediately is the 85-64 dismantling of Olympiacos at home courtesy of defending champions CSKA. Yes, we all happen to think these two teams - Panathinaikos and CSKA - could or maybe even should play in OAKA on May 6, but it's definitely too early to jump to conclusions. It's the most educated guess now, but there is a reason why they play the games, and at least two or three other teams stand decent chances to beat these two powerhouses, especially if it comes down to a single game.

This does not diminish for a second the significance of what PAO and CSKA are doing. Last week, Panathinaikos's first half against Barcelona was as good an offensive show as you can witness on this continent. I have a play stuck in my mind: Mike Batiste gave up the ball like a water polo player from the low post, then three more laser passes over maybe 2 seconds found an open shooter in the opposite corner for a three-pointer. The stats in that game were amazing: Barcelona shot a whopping 77 % from two-point distance and still lost by 20! Pana took an unusual 29 threes (their season average is less than 20) and made 15, because those were quality shots, the natural byproduct of Barcelona's defensive strategy. I'd say Panathinaikos is doing what the incomparable Maccabi of the Jasikevicius-Parker-Vujcic era did to so many opponents. I see similarities in the way the two teams manage the shot clock, those 24 seconds that are so vital to every offense. Panathinaikos does not waste any precious time before attacking, which is not to say they shoot the ball every time they cross the mid-court line or mimic a Paul Westhead team. If you are familiar with American football, but there was a thing called “West Coast Offense” which had decent success for the San Francisco 49ers and was imitated by many teams (without ever reaching the same level of excellence). It was predicated on designing every offensive play to score a touchdown, even knowing that to do so every time was impossible. Indeed, the effect apparently became the opposite, moving the ball methodically before erupting for a big play here and there. It might be a little counterintuitive, but it makes perfect sense. To achieve success you have to put the maximum pressure on defenses as soon as possible, threatening to go all the way every time, even if you perfectly know that you'll be able to do that only once in a while. The pressure gets defenses back on their heels, forces them to commit, enables you to make reads and, finally, to take what they give you, or better, what they are forced to give you. It's the old "pick your poison" approach and it's exactly what the Greens are doing.

As soon as they get in the offensive halfcourt, the Greens put the ball in scoring position after a very quick preparation, usually with a pick-and-roll or going down low. That is not the end of the offense, but the beginning of the other's team nightmare. The defense has to react, because when Diamantidis turns the corner on a...

WATCH CLOSELY: LITERALLY EVERY BASKET COUNTS NOW!

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 10:35:35 GMT

The Top 16 has started: long live the Top 16! You might say there was not too much drama in this first week, but experience teaches that on such a stage, literally every basket counts. You never know if your final fate will depend on point difference, and whether apparently insignificant baskets traded in the last two minutes of a blowout will eventually become the difference between being in the playoffs or not. The three road wins that Dynamo, Olympiacos and Tau earned will also come at a premium in such a short "season." Particularly impressive was Tau's win in Tel Aviv. Nokia Arena is in my opinion the best place to play basketball in Europe, but at the same time the most difficult to win at, despite the fans being simply very passionate and almost never rude at all. Tau won with authority despite having it tough the previous weekend in the Spanish Cup, despite still being without Planinic, a player very difficult to replace given his uniqueness, and despite the absence of head coach Velimir Perasovic, who was hospitalized with heart trouble a day before the game. (Best wishes to Coach Perasovic!) Tau started the game with a key 13-4 run sparked by Igor Rakocevic, who scored 16 points in a torrid first quarter and then bided his time until hitting the final dagger, a three in the last two minutes of the game. Perasovic's absence surely played a little role psychologically. It's not the first time players are very motivated by paying a homage to the head coach who cannot be on the bench while trying to make an assistant - usually well-liked by everybody, as in Ignacio Lezcano's case - happy. Now, don't ask me how you can go from a 30-point first quarter to an eight-point, sputtering second quarter like Tau did. Also, don't ask me how you can be as good a passer as Vujcic is (2 assists shy of another triple double!) or how Will Bynum, very impressive in the early stages of the season, can turn himself into a -1 player in terms of ranking. The two teams shot a combined 25 for 44 on "free" throws, less than 57%. Lior Eliyahu was fantastic: I really think he's gonna be a star, but he would have been completely unstoppable had he gone better than 3 for 8 from the charity stripe. Same goes for Kaya Peker, who shot the same on foul shots. Considering the level that scouting has reached nowadays, a bad free throw shooter will always be exposed in the fourth quarter, and his overall offensive efficiency will be hampered big-time. Tau shot 12-for-25 from three-point distance (48 percent) and 54 percent on freebies, which apparently doesn't make any sense. In a close game, this apparently easy chore, making free throws, makes a whole lot of difference, as Aris - who shot 11-for-20, or 55 %, vs. Dynamo Moscow, who converted 27 out of 33 shots, or 82 % - could very well tell you.

Maccabi's defeat puts an added importance on its game in Rome next week. If Lottomatica can hold serve again on its homecourt after convincingly beating Pau, going 2-0 to start the Top 16 would be a great boost for a team that was out of the Top 16 until Pepe Sanchez of Unicaja hit his miracle shot against Partizan in Belgrade. Both Maccabi and Lottomatica have had their highs and lows throughout this season, one that started with high expectations. The two coaches, originating from the same country, Croatia,...

'NO TOMORROW' IS ALREADY HERE

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:54:10 GMT

They're coming... The hot games are coming at us, and it couldn't get any better. The Top 16 and the Quarterfinal Playoffs will bring excitement, but these games with no tomorrow are already being played in an arena near you. An example was Unicaja's win at the buzzer vs. a very valiant Lottomatica team on Wednesday. It was not a high-scoring game, nor one for lovers of effortless ball movement. But the defenses played like they were in Athens and it was May 6 already. There was indeed a kind of final atmosphere in Malaga. The outcome was decided by Pepe Sanchez's pass to Florent Pietrus, who made a reverse layup at the buzzer - his only basket of the game - to give Unicaja a two-point win. I have already heard a lot of opinions about Pepe's eighth and final assist in that game. Some say it was a normal pass, and the product of a very passive defense on Rome's side (which is, of course partially, true). My own take - since opinions are like noses and everybody has one - is that Pepe's pass was a magnificent play, another stroke of genius by one of the five best pure passers in the world today. (I only rank Nash and Jasikevicius in his class, but I might be a little biased, because I really love watching this guy play).

If you have not seen the play, Lottomatica took its last shot with David Hawkins making a one-on-one isolation attempt that missed. Unicaja rebounded with 7 seconds to play and got the bll to Sanchez. This is the key moment and the reason why this play was sooooooo special. I'd say that 99.9999% of the human race in this same predicament would advance the ball as fast as possible to squeeze every split second of the opportunity from the clock. But Sanchez, inexplicably at first ...slowed his dribble! It looked bizarre, but it gave him time to seize the moment - and it literally froze the defense. One second later he picked up his pace, "told" Pietrus somehow to cut to the basket and let go a perfect bounce pass off the dribble, sending his teammate for an easy layup alone. I mean, the pass in itself is not exceptional, but the time, the situation, the importance of the game and the unusual way it unfolded made it an original masterpiece in my view. (Yes, I have too many opinions for my own good, but it's just for the sake of talking basketball.) Should that game be reduced to this last sequence? Of course not. Is Pepe Sanchez the absolute truth? Again, no: he's maybe too cerebral a player for a lot of teammates, a very reluctant shooter and somewhat of a defensive liability when guarding quick players (even if his anticipation as a halfcourt defender is also great). But if we talk passing, especially from the dribble, with both hands, and watching the whole court, we are in the neighborhood of one of the greats of the game.

A couple things from Pepe's bio. First, he was born on May 8, the same day some 26 years after Mike D'Antoni was born. If you saw Mike play the point guard position with Milan in countless Euroleague games (also winning the very first Final Four in Ghent), you know what I mean about this connection. The Phoenix Suns coach was a real team leader, and even if I doubt Sanchez saw too many of D'Antoni's games in Bahia Blanca, Goethe's "Elective Affinities" apply here, and the coincidence is striking. Did I say Bahia Blanca? I wanna ask you this: what are the chances that two skinny lefties from Bahia Blanca, born less than a kilometer apart, not the best players of their age in Argentina's juniors championships, later find themselves competing head-to-head in a Euroleague Final (Bologna 2002), sharing Olympic podium with gold medals around their necks and reaching as far as the NBA?...

BETTER TO LOSE ONCE?

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 17:47:55 GMT

Is Panathinaikos ever going to lose a game? I think it's a legit question after they beat Union Olimpija despite shooting a horrible 23 percent from three-point distance. They won the game by 9 because they connected on two-pointers at a spectacular 79% clip. To me, this shows that Panathinaikos does not depend that much on long distance efficiency, which is obviously something you cannot take for granted. And way too many teams nowadays rely on those bombs going in way too much...

So, we go back to the first question. These guys can win with scores in the 70s or in the 90s, can win at home and on the road, can win, period. What's more, they added Milos Vujanic to the mix, an incredible luxury. I have some qualms about Vujanic being able to carry the whole load of a team, even if a Fortitudo team he quarterbacked went all the way to the Final in 2004. But if he can be a "change-of-pace" kind of guard (he’s not necessarily confined to the point) and does not have to be THE guy, well, he may be awfully helpful, especially after the team lost Spanoulis and Lakovic since last year.

OK, for the second time, back to the original question. Are they gonna lose one sooner or later? Of course I don’t know, but history says that being the prohibitive favorite and getting to the final round without one defeat or two is dangerous. Think about CSKA in 2005: they were virtually unbeaten (lost only a not very significant game to Barcelona) entering the semifinal, were playing at home, everybody thought that ,well, no way are they gonna lose that very game and …. poof ! Does that mean history always repeats itself ? Not at all. That Panathinaikos should lose a couple games on purpose? God forbid, it would be unethical and absurd, because if you tell or show your players you want to lose a game (it doesn’t matter how meaningful) you’re done forever, you will get no respect anymore. Also, this season is very long, and many things will happen from now to May (much to our delight, I can’t wait for the Top 16 to get started). So, there is no practical way to do something about it. But it still is my belief that to get to the top you almost invariably need to go through a crisis, or at least a critical juncture in your season (like CSKA starting 0-2 and losing David Andersen last year). And I’m pretty sure this issue is in the back of Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic’s mind, also because that CSKA team was coached by Dusan Ivkovic, and the two of them might have talked a couple times about that...

At the same time, the other contenders are quietly rooting for the Greens to keep on winning, because the pressure card is always an important one to put on the table come Final Four time. Don’t you remember the relaxed smile Ettore Messina sported at the Prague pre-semifinals press conference last year? Just like saying: "We are here just to enjoy the games, it’s not a must-win for us..." Well, remember who lifted the trophy...

I mentioned Fortitudo reaching the final game in 2004. In the new millennium this team was always a factor, regularly feared by opponents for its home-court advantage and drive to succeed. Fast forward to Thursday's game, and the scenario is pretty different. Dynamo...

PLAYING STYLES (AND HARD WORK!) MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 12:22:48 GMT

Ten games decided by 8 points or less. Week 7 was not one for people with heart problems, that’s for sure. Close games are always entertaining, even in the case those games are not played that well. It’s another reason why basketball is such a beautiful thing, provided you are not on the losing side of one of those heartbreakers. Maccabi tried hard to get out of a mini slump and played the Greens at home to the very end, getting a couple tenths of a second short of an overtime. Vujcic's full court pass to Jasaitis was a real stroke of genius, it’s a shame it will never make it to the official scoresheet because Jasaitis didn't have enough time to make it an assist. I’m pretty sure Maccabi fans had a flashback when they saw that, the Shelef-to-Sharp masterpiece will be remembered forever.

Even if they did not get the happy ending, the Israeli champions battled valiantly, after getting rid of Rodney Buford, a player that didn’t adjust to Neven Spahija’s system. I think the same went for Eldo, a winner in Treviso coming from behind right after waiving Tierre Brown. There is probably a blueprint here. Both Brown and Buford are very, very talented players, who can get a shot (or two) off against virtually any defense. Neither of them puts defense close to the top of their priority list. Neither of them plays the percentages and relies on instinct and talent much. Both are better off with a reduced playbook that enables them to get a lot of “isos” (one on one situations with time and room to operate) than with a “European” playbook, predicated on executing continuation plays, moving the ball and findind the open man. You may like either one of these systems, the debate is open. I personally like a good mix of these two “schools”, but this is not the matter. The matter here is that it’s tough to get a player with Tierre Brown or Rodney Buford background to play within a different system. These guys tried hard their whole careers to find a stable place in an NBA roster, and their way to fame and glory was playing in the minors (CBA, NBDL, whatever) and looking better than the next guy. It’s perfectly clear, there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s the American system at his best. They had their chances, but did not find the right place at the right time, for a whole lot of reasons. Now, when they cross the ocean, there is absolutely no way they will press a button and convert into different players, it’s just a culture thing. Yes, they could be more flexible, but at the same time you can’t expect a smooth and easy transition, and trying to coax them into doing what you think it’s right tends to backfire, to say the least. So, I don’t see this as someone’s failure, nor do I think Eldo, Brown, Buford or Maccabi were wrong. I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Tierre Brown ends up becoming a great scorer somewhere else in the future. It’s just, as we say in Italy, that trying to mix water and oil it’s not easy at all...

In the seventies and eighties, golden or not, the game used to be played inside out. You hammered the ball down low, forced the defense to react and then opened up possibilities for your outside guys. That’s why having a low post threat was really making the difference. It’s a little different now. Well, more than a little actually. Watching Prokom beat Climamio, I realized one more time it’s exactly the other way around nowadays, the game is played outside in. Check the boxscore, Masiulis, Wojcik and Besok changed the complexion of the game with their 3-pointers. And when Climamio was forced to play a smaller formation to counter that, they “counter-countered”, posting up the versatile Wojcik and using Michael...

SERIOUS CONTENDERS, FUTURE STARS, LEGENDS SPOTTED!

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:57:27 GMT

I was in Vitoria for the Tau-Climamio game. Some quick points:

Don't judge a game by the score or the stats. As great as it is getting hooked on Euroleague.net right after the games (and it IS great), it only tells a portion of the tale. If you did not see the game, you might guess Fortitudo played it pretty even, which was not the case at all. There are games where the better team does not feel challenged and controls the score and the effort. Well, this was one of those, with no offense intended toward a shorthanded Climamio, playing under a new coach just arrived (the morning of the game, one practice under his belt) and in a little disarray, waiting for more changes.
I like a lot what I saw from Tau. To me, the key player - also based on their Spanish League win last Sunday over Girona - is Zoran Planinic. This guy is a prototypical player of the new millennium: as tall as 1.98, maybe more, part point guard, part small forward, creative off the dribble and strongly built. When they have him, Prigioni and Rakocevic on the court at the same time, they remind me a lot of last year's Panathinaikos team, with Diamantidis-Lakovic-Spanoulis. With three facilitators like them who can pass, dribble and shoot, it's really a triple threat, and defenders have little or no choice. If they don't help, someone gets beaten and scored on. If they do, there's a quick dish or kickout passensues that virtually guarantees an open shot. Tough cover, really.
Nobody can conceivably predict what's going to happen in the future, but I would not be surprised to see Tau compete to the very end. They have experience, motivation and relatively less pressure than, say, the two teams from Athens and CSKA. Also they have Scola, the best big guy in the Euroleague right now, along with Mike Batiste of Panathinaikos.
Speaking of which, it's pretty interesting to note that coach Perasovic is not starting Scola and Prigioni, clearly the heart and soul of his team. My guess is one of the reasons for doing so to avoid the foul trouble that plagued Scola in the past (remember the EL Final in Moscow). It may go well (as it did in Girona) or just so-so (Climamio was the best team the first 5 minutes) but usually you don't lose or win a game in the first 5 minutes. Just the same, such a strategy might backfire in big games, where everything is magnified.

I also was able to catch the Eldo-Pau game, a nail-biter that might change their respective seasons. I noticed a lot of moving screens and as many screens moved by the defense. I think screening is a very touchy part of the game, and also that players on both ends of the floor are having way too much freedom in this regard. The offensive player should not be moving at all. If he's moving, it's a foul: easy as that. I see players moving at the very last moment, and that's absolutely illegal, an unfair advantage that should be taken away (as in the NBA, where, not by coincidence, a lot of players coming from Europe have problems adjusting). At the same time, never ever should a defensive player be allowed to grab a screener before he moves or, even worse, push a screener from behind to move him further from the basket, thereby virtually negating the rolling action. It's not about one team getting advantage or some refs being better than others. To me, calling these illegal actions consistently is something every ref should do, provided their instructors agree with this point of view and coaches are informed about the guidelines. It's not that difficul a call, some of those fouls are really blatant. Let's get it straight, I think our game would be better.

Finish line thoughts: after the incredible Rubio, who directs the team on the court like he's 36 and not 16 (that is sixteen!), now it's the amazing Batum. This 2.03-meter guy from Le Mans has a chance to become a great, great player, and his game last week vs....

DEVOTION FOR ITS OWN SAKE!

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 18:26:44 GMT

Living and working in Italy, I hear a lot of discontent nowadays about how our teams are performing so far in the Euroleague. Yes, it's going to be a pretty much a long season if someone only cares about Italian teams winning, because they are not going to win at a pace comparable with the past. It's just a matter of talent, and there's nothing you can do about that. At the same time, however, it's a little more complex. Life and basketball go in cycles, and it's simply our turn to be a little down. The new millennium started with Italy being represented almost invariably by two teams in the Final Four, and the popularity of basketball in the country was not that much different from today. Plus, if you count Gallinari, Belinelli, Datome among some younger talents alongside Bargnani, you see a paradox, because we have never had so many youngsters with NBA potential. I do not mean the fans should be happy to see their teams losing. But I think they could and should discover a new perspective on the competition, following the best basketball in Europe just for the sake of watching it. It also means that these lows will probably be followed by some highs when the young guns mature a little bit and get seasoned: stay tuned.

"I watched some of the Pau win vs. CSKA. It was moving to see the Pau players and fans celebrating like crazy at the end - and deservedly so. I know Ettore Messina will still be a little steamed about the loss, but I'm sure at the same time he realizes what that celebration means. When people go bananas about a regular season win, it shows that they think they did something special, in this case beating the best. When you are the champion, you always start the next season understanding the concept that you are the hunted now, not the hunter, and that everybody wants to beat the best. But only seeing is believing, and now Messina's players saw and will very possibly believe. If they don't, I'm pretty positive someone will remind them on a regular basis...

In Pau's victory, I think the biggest factor was quickness, in particular on defense. It's funny, but usually when you think about basketball values such as quickness, athleticism, unselfishness, you tend to exclusively think offense. But it's on defense that those things make as much or more difference. I remember talking with Joe Dumars a long time ago at a basketball camp in Italy. Dumars is not one to talk much, so when he does, it's usually for a good reason. He told me: "If you want to judge the unity of a team, don't look at assists or passes, because a lot of players like to pass the ball. Look at what happens on defense, because helping a teammate requires a mental and physical sacrifice." His Pistons played that way, and Pau used the same concept on Wednesday against CSKA, with athletic players moving their feet (whether in zone or man-to-man defense) and putting themselves in postion to help each other and recover in time. That is also another reason why mobile big men come at a premium nowadays. When such a great deal of your defense is predicated on covering a large space in a little time, and when teams get involved in so many pick-and-rolls that draw big men far from the basket, quickness is often much more important than size.

In the mad scientist...

COUNT ME IN!

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 18:25:23 GMT
I read Jeff Nordgaard's blog, and I have to admit the DEE-VOOO-TIOOON theme pumps me up as well. At first, as usual, I was hypercritical about the thing, thinking it was not exactly Bach revisited. But getting used to it, as usual, I was proved wrong, You have to admit it really sounds like the Euroleague. So, long life to DEE-VOOO-TION!!

I'm a broadcaster, working for SKY Italy. Well, that's my job. When I'm not thinking about basketball for a living, I do the same thing for the one simple reason: I couldn't live without it. Yes, my Euroleague theme would be OB-SES-SION. I happen to think basketball can very well be considered a form of culture and art, as much as music or painting, and the cerebral part of the sport is what makes me really go crazy about it. When I got started in journalism, my point of reference was Mr. Aldo Giordani, a broadcaster who literally invented this profession in Italy. He used to say that basketball was "played athletics", a definition that a French runner coined in the past. I think it's a great way to express the beauty of this sport. But basketball is also a game of chess with moving pieces, and not necessarily at a slow pace. That's why I try to be a student of the game as much as I can. Not that I'm a very brilliant one, but I really believe that trying to understand the subtle nuances of the game is what really makes basketball unique. It's a visual and mental experience, what else could you ask for?

A long debate could follow about the brand of basketball that is played in the Euroleague. Before one can say it's good or bad, he should define what's good and bad, but it would take too long and it would be too boring. I'd like to focus on something specific, the pick-and-roll. It's clearly the most popular play in European basketball, and the one everybody knows (all right, everyone this side of Coach K ….). The great thing about it, in my opinion, is that teams like CSKA and Panathinaikos are elevating the pick-and-roll to an art form, something close to those divine interpretations that Sarunas Jasikevicius showed us in Tel Aviv. What these teams are doing is involving ALL FIVE players in a pick-and-roll situation, thus making the play, when well executed, almost impossible to defend. Look closely next time that you see Papaloukas or Diamantidis (by the way, I thought Greece was the home of philosophers, not pick-and-roll magicians ….). The play starts with them using the screen, but those other three players will not be standing still, waiting for the ball to be rotated to them. They will move, looking for openings and punishing aggressive defenses that send another defender to stop the ball. And the dribblers will find them, meaning they can survey four teammates at a time. It's not uncommon to see two or three passes in as many seconds, finding the open man either cutting to the basket or on the perimeter, one step ahead of the defensive rotations. It's poetry in motion, pure and simple.

Players and situations I noticed in Week 1: Pau Orthez made life tough for Barcelona, Joventut played Panathinaikos to the very end and dominated the first half, Eldo gave CSKA fits and stayed in the game despite shooting 2 for 20 from three-point distance, Efes had a tough one against Prokom: as usual, no easy games here. In the first Euroleague game for Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, he had 11 points in 19 minutes as Aris won. Look for this guy to turn heads. He's not young (37), he's not fresh and has some limitations. But his basketball wisdom is unreal, and if coach Andrea Mazzon can use him in short spurts, he'll be hell for many opponents. It was the first Euroleague game also for Pau's Ian Mahinmi, with 9 points and 5 rebounds against Barça. This guy in considered in San Antonio, Texas, as having virtually unlimited potential. Not many teams shared or share the Spurs' opinion, but I wouldn't bet against him. The Spurs have a thing...