Caja Laboral One Win Away From Historic Upset
Well, we did predict a sweep in this series.... Caja Laboral is up 2-0 on FC Barcelona in the best-of-five ACB Finals series in the Spanish League. Not hyperbole to say this is a stunning development.
As the road team, Caja Laboral won Game 1, 63-58, and held on for a 70-69 win in Game 2. Barcelona had not lost a game at home since January. January of 2009. An ACB title would have solidified Barcelona's standing as one of the best European teams ever. Now Barca's dream season is circling the drain.
The series shifts to Vitoria, where Caja has two chances at home to pull off the improbable upset. Game 3 is slated for 2:30 est on Tuesday, Game 4 on Thursday, if necessary, both available online through ACB.com.
Barca came into this series winning 36 of its 39 ACB games this season (Barca beat Unicaja 3-0 in the semis after sweeping Gran Canaria in the quarters). Barca finished their Euroleague campaign with a 20-2 record.
Barca was such an overwhelming fave that Caja just winning one game was unlikely. It's not just that Barcelona was a combined 56-5 before the finals, it was the fact they dominated their competition throughout Europe all year--basically outscoring their opponents by an average of +15 ppg.
The main reason the script is flipped in this series has to be Caja's defensive play. Barca's pick/roll action has been smothered, the help and recovery has been textbook and it seems as if every shot by Barca has been contested. Also, they've done a nice job defending JC Navarro off the phalanx of screens run for him. They're doing the same things they did in the semis vs. Real Madrid. Just surprised the defense is having the same effect on Barca.
Barca has shot only 38% from the floor in both games. Barca averaged 80 ppg on 50% during the ACB regular season. Also, Barca is struggling from long range partly because of Caja's close-out ability. Only 13-for-47 (28%) from deep after hitting 38% of their 3PA in the reg. season.
In both games, Barca had a lead of at least seven points late in the 3rd, but Caja's strong defense never let Barca pull away. And Caja's offense found ways to execute down the stretch, while Barca came up empty. Barca really rushed things on offense in both games ending up with costly TOs or forced shots. You wonder if Barca reacted poorly because they are not used to having to pull games out in the final minutes.
In Game 2, Tiago Splitter was not much of a factor on the offensive end (4 pts) but once again was a deterrent defensively. Changed plenty of Barca shots and was terrific on pick/rolls as usual. Tiago was strong in Game 1 with 14 pts and a few nice post moves.
In Game 2, Brad Oleson did a great job getting around screens to cut off Navarro's space all game. Caja would jump hard on Navarro ball screens with a big, then would scurry to help the helper. Caja has done a tremendous job making Navarro work extremely hard to get open looks in both games. Navarro only managed to get up four shots in Game 2 to finish with four points. Navarro put up 17 pts in Game 1 but did it on 5-for-15 shooting.
Ricky Rubio's pattern of uneven play this season has continued in this series. Ricky was a total non-factor in Game 1. Only has two assists total in both games and is 1-for-7 from the 3pt. arc. Actually liked Rubio's aggression on offense in Game 2--seemed to be visibly amped up from the start. Made three tough, determined drives to score his six points. Ricky has tried to push the ball but Caja's transition defense has been superb.
Rubio can't consistently probe the defense because of Splitter's presence, not to mention Marcelinho Huertas' relentless ball pressure. Huertas' active on-ball defense has been effective, like it was in the semis vs. Real.
Huertas usually looks to get his teammates the ball before looking for his own shot, but he has been providing a key scoring pop in this series. Huertas put up 11 pts in Game 1 and 13 pts in Game 2. Also, in both games, Huertas hit huge pull-up 3pters. late in the 4th that gave Caja two-possession leads.
Fernando San Emeterio has helped with some big baskets of his own (10 pts in Game 1, 19 pts in Game 2). The Caja SF has provided scoring on post-ups, drives and jumpers. Hit a couple big 3pts. in the 2nd half in Game 2 and converted a crucial drive off a high pick/roll to give Caja the lead for good with 3:40 remaining.
We understand Celts-Lakers takes priority for many in our audience on Tuesday. But if you have some free time before Game 6, check out Game 3 of the ACB Finals on acb.com live (2:30 est) or on replay (revivelo).
21 Comments:
Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this website needs much more consideration. I’ll probably be again to read much more, thanks for that info.
Click Here
Myfolio.com
Free Classifieds
Free Classifieds in UK
فوركس
اعلانات مبوبة
عقارات
حواء
This really answered my problem, thank you!
Click Here
Visit Web
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
Click Here
Visit Web
Oh my goodness! an amazing article dude. Thank you However I am experiencing issue with ur rss. Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anyone getting identical rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
Cplusplus.com
Information
Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this website needs much more consideration. I’ll probably be again to read much more, thanks for that info.
Visit Web
Gapyear.com
Information
After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think.
Click Here
Visit Web
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
Visit Web
Civicclubebrasil.com.br
Information
I discovered your blog site on google and check a few of your early posts. Continue to keep up the very good operate. I just additional up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking forward to reading more from you later on!…
Thingiverse.com
Information
Click Here
This really answered my problem, thank you!
Visit Web
Sites.google.com
Information
yeezy boost
balenciaga shoes
yeezy
supreme outlet
cheap jordans
yeezy boost 350 v2
yeezy boost 350 v2
supreme clothing
yeezy 380
yeezy shoes
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
Information
Click Here
Visit Web
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more popular because you definitely have the gift.
Experiment.com
Information
Click Here
I’d have to check with you here. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
Click Here
Visit Web
Support.advancedcustomfields.com
You made some decent points there. I looked on the internet for the issue and found most individuals will go along with with your website.
Dailyjobglobal.com
Information
Click Here
Visit Web
An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!
Instabio.cc
Information
Click Here
Visit Web
I discovered your blog site on google and check a few of your early posts. Continue to keep up the very good operate. I just additional up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking forward to reading more from you later on!…
Fxug.net
Information
Click Here
Visit Web
There are certainly a lot of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to bring up. I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your job is clearly identified as a fair game. Both boys and girls feel the impact of just a moment’s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.
Dribbble.com
Information
Click Here
Visit Web
There are certainly a lot of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to bring up. I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your job is clearly identified as a fair game. Both boys and girls feel the impact of just a moment’s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.
Vfrhub.com
Information
Click Here
Visit Web
Great information!!! Thanks for your wonderful informative blog.
Village Talkies a top-quality professional corporate video production company in Bangalore and also best explainer video company in Bangalore & animation video makers in Bangalore, Chennai, India & Maryland, Baltimore, USA provides Corporate & Brand films, Promotional, Marketing videos & Training videos, Product demo videos, Employee videos, Product video explainers, eLearning videos, 2d Animation, 3d Animation, Motion Graphics, Whiteboard Explainer videos Client Testimonial Videos, Video Presentation and more for all start-ups, industries, and corporate companies. From scripting to corporate video production services, explainer & 3d, 2d animation video production , our solutions are customized to your budget, timeline, and to meet the company goals and objectives.
As a best video production company in Bangalore, we produce quality and creative videos to our clients.
Post a Comment
<< Home