FCBARCELONA.CAT

22.09.2007 21:25

Defeat against DKV Joventut (60-83)

Sònia de Alba

AXA Barça has lost the second semi-final of the Catalan League to DKV Joventut by a margin of 23 points.

Coach Dusko Ivanovic and his team still have a lot of work to do. The game exposed plenty of shortcomings in a team that has only been together for two days since the return of the international players.

DKV Joventut dominated the semi-final right from the start. They started strongly and scored at will from the 6.25 line and soon took a 13 point lead, (10-23). Barça were incapable of reacting.

Lost balls and mistakes in the free throws

Barça suffered from the twin problems of the accuracy of the Joventut shooting and their own lack of cohesion. Too many balls lost (in total XXX), undermining any effort to fight back on the scoreboard. However, there was no lack of spirit despite the negative score line.

Jaka Lakovic led the team to a timid fight back in the second period, but a three-pointer from his own part of the court by Jagla –together with Rudy Fernández the best player in the game – made it 22-39. For Barça, Jaka Lakovic (16) and Mario Kasun (14) were top scorers. Kasan was finally eliminated.

The worse for Barça was to come after the break. With the game slipping further and further from their grasp, the Barça players failed terribly in the free throws, converting 9 out of 25.

Just before the end of the third period, the gap with Joventut widened to 30-57. In the final period, Barça managed to recover slightly to reduce the gap to 23 points.

Young players

One of the main features of the game was the presence of a number of young players in both teams. For Joventut, coach Aíto García Reneses used two young players from the youth squad, Josep Franch and Pere Tomàs. Franch scored 7 points but Tomàs failed to get off the mark. AXA Barça introduced Nihat Djedovic but the Bosnian suffered from the same problems as the rest of the team and scored just 2 points.

Training Camp

The team will now leave for a training camp in Montanyà, in the north of Catalonia, where they will have just under a week to close ranks and work hard. The Super Cup is up next weekend in Bilbao and the ACB League starts for AXA Barça on 6th October in Valladolid.

Joventut v Akasvayu

The final of the 28th Catalan League will be between Akasvayu Girona and DKV Joventut. Girona, who beat Ricoh Manresa 82-60, will be looking to keep the Cup they won against Barça last year – it would be their second title. FC Barcelona continues to dominate the competition with 12 wins.