FCBARCELONA.CAT

05.12.2007 22:21

Defence guarantees a comfortable win (80-58)

Sònia de Alba

A comfortable win for AXA Barça against Brose Baskets in the 7th round of the Euroleague. Barça made a breakthrough in the third quarter and ended the game with a 22-point lead.

Barça’s defensive game and a healthy respect for the opponent were the two keys to Barça’s win. However, the Germans put up a good fight in the first half.

The first quarter ended with a five-point lead for AXA FC Barcelona (16-11) but in the second quarter Brose Baskets, especially Demond Green, Garrett and Fenn, pulled the home side back into the fight. Their four three-pointers levelled the score while the Barça players lost their focus and their grip on the game.

At the halfway mark, Alex Acker led the scoring with 11 of Barça’s 37 against the home side’s 33.

Attacking talent

After a few adjustments to the defence, AXA Barça came out for the third quarter and showed some fast transitions while the Germans, coached by Dirk Bauermann, were slow to react. A partial of 18-9 broke the game in Barça’s favour.

Dusko Ivanovic then decided to give some minutes to Albert Moncasi, who played the last 8 minutes and 17 seconds of the game. The young Catalan forced an offensive foul from Hamann in his first defensive contribution, and the Brose Guard finished the game with five fouls. He also scored in his first attacking play though he failed to convert the free throw.

Turkish star Ersan Ilyasova made a self-sacrificing contribution – helping his team-mates and forcing errors from the opponents - despite only taking two points. AXA Barça easily won the final quarter 25-16.

The halfway stage

At the halfway stage of the Euroleague, AXA Barça have won five and lost two. There are still some games to be played on Thursday to complete the 7th round but Barça look well on the way to reaching the Top 16. They’ve won all their home games and lost away to Partizan and Panathinaikos. Next week they can compensate for one of these defeats when they face Partizan in the Palau Blaugrana.