Before the match between Barcelona and Milano ended (81-94 for the Italians), the person in charge of the Barça basketball area, Josep Cubells, left the box with a grim look on his face. In his head was a chaotic third quarter that had torn the team apart along with the referee’s decisions, because since they signaled a technique to the rival coach, they no longer penalized Milano more than once, for the 19 points they did sign from that moment the Italians with free throws. It was, however, another slap in the face for Barça, who almost won the same as they lost, capable of the best and the worst, tangled in Europe – eighth classified with nine wins and seven losses after beating Fenerbahçe this Tuesday (90-63 ) on the last day—and who also does not find his way in the ACB, also eighth with six wins and five mistakes, his participation in the Cup is in question. The group disconnections, the lack of understanding of the style, Injuries and weakness in the interior game have led to a weak Barcelona. “When everyone returns, we will regain stability and win as we did at the beginning of the season,” they say from the Palau offices, while confirming the coach, Joan Peñarroya.
Trust in Peñarroya. In the summer, Barça dispensed with Roger Grimau because he had not won over the locker room and because the players did not pay attention to him, to the point that Willy Hernangómez came to belittle him during a match —“Don’t bite my ear, you have two news programs left” , he released. The dressing room ate to the technician. That is why they chose Peñarroya, “a strong coach” who, they say, has earned the respect of the squad. “We are happy with him because of how he has corrected certain attitudes and how the team plays,” they say, while justifying the qualifying problems in Europe because they do not have a budget. topat least compared to Greek and Turkish teams, even Madrid. Another thing is in the ACB, where they demand that the locker room face all the games with the same intensity, as it is as important to travel to Breogán or Zaragoza as it is to travel to Paris or Athens.
Disconnections and wake-up calls. After the duel with Milano, Peñarroya’s reprimand to the group was morrocotuda, also accompanied by reproaches from the sports management. The message was clear, as they demanded that the locker room be compact, that they play as a team from start to finish and, incidentally, that they play the same thing. It was not, however, the first call of attention to the dressing room and the coach, because when Obst – from Bayern Munich – autographed 11 triples against the Blaugrana (a record in the competition), smoke came out of the halls of the Palau, since he did not They were able to understand why it had not been stopped. “The players go out on the court with energy, but suddenly, they go into a short circuit, a black hole, and the team becomes disorganized and completely deflates,” accepts an authoritative voice from the entity. Satoransky was explicit at the end of the match against Milano: “It was a shame. As has happened throughout this season, we don’t do things together, we don’t help each other. It seems like we are playing tennis. We have to change the mentality now.” From the club they point out: “It cannot be that one wants to play in one way, another in another…”.
NBA plus ACB. Peñarroya likes to run, fast transitions, immediate shooting. But he also wants strong defense and sacrifice. And for now only the first part of the deal is fulfilled, which makes the mess worse when the pitches don’t go in. “There are free verses in the team,” they accept at Barça. They are Punter and Parker, who when they catch the ball look at the hoop, very American. “Parker is the best player we have had in years and his commitment is total,” they defend from the Palau offices; “and Punter is outstanding.” But not everyone believes in that proposal, at least without the necessary pause, without opening the range of systems. As with Vesely. One of the data that explains this gibberish is offensive rebounds, where Barça is the last classified in the ACB. More than anything because he shoots so quickly that there is no time to reach the fight for the ball, in the same way that Vesely is not an ace in that statistic nor do Metu and Hernangómez stand out. From Barça, however, they wonder: “Paris is the team that takes the least time to shoot and is first in the Euroleague. Why not us?” The answer, you know, is because on the Parisian team everyone plays the same thing.
The setbacks of nursing. The worst news came when Laprovittola broke his knee, leaving him out for the entire season. Then Parra, Brizuela and Metu joined, who was the revelation of the year, also the glue of the team. “They are not just anyone. Metu could play 4-5 and solved many of our problems. And Laprovittola was key because he carried the game in his hands and in his head, he defined matches and made everyone happy,” they say from the Palau. His replacement was Neto, who had been inactive for a long time due to a knee injury, but who made his debut in Barça-Madrid to score a triple and a layup before also entering the rebound. “We didn’t expect it because he arrived like a bull and because it has nothing to do with the past injury,” they say from the club, convinced that when he returns several of the setbacks will be alleviated, since he is a pure point guard and driver of the game, even though he’s not much of a scorer. They also say about Neto that he can solve the loss of Barça identity, since he is a player who was in the NBA and knows the European and ACB game well. And that is precisely what Barça needs. That and more inner game, the one that Metu contributed.
Hernangómez does not measure up. The club believes that the only player who needs to improve is Willy Hernangómez, the one who earns the most (about 4.5 million per year) and the one who detracts the most from the team. He didn’t have many minutes with Grimau and he has even less with Peñarroya, who is losing patience with a player who takes refuge in individual and not collective statistics, since he doesn’t work defensively. “The teams attack him because they know that they will score points there,” they lament from the entity, already open to a transfer if someone pays enough and, above all, the center accepts it. That’s why Peñarroya put Metu as five when Vesely wasn’t playing. But without one or the other, Willy does not respond and neither does Fall, a center brought in as a complement and with a modest salary because that is how the player wanted to wear Barça. “It is difficult for him to acclimatize to the mechanics of the team, but when he has the day, it is difficult for his rivals to score points because the layups, against such a tall guy, do not go in,” they point out from the Palau. But from the club, the sports and technical areas think the same: “With all the personnel it has been seen that we can play beautiful and effective basketball. When we get people back, we are convinced that the stability of the beginning of the season will return.”
