Barcelona evaporates against Asvel

After some matches in which he had recovered his color and put the pieces together, encouraged by the players who left the rebound and by the succession of results – he had six consecutive victories in Europe and reached the Copa del Rey on the horn -, the Barcelona returned to its old ways. Although a final rush led by Punter could have changed history, the Barça team was left wanting, penalized by its slovenly defense, caffeine-free attack and finally blushing because it did not understand that individualities cannot cope with the collective, slapped by a more energetic, physical and accurate Asvel with his shot, especially from the fabulous Maledon.

Barcelona started at a slow pace, without rhythm in the pass and sluggish in the transitions, lacking ideas in attack and with holes on the other side of the net by a Maledon that evoked recent ghosts, since the Barça team has a hard time drying up the rival leaders on this course, systematic tare until Punter blurred Nunn (Panathinaikos) last week. The problem, in any case, focused more on the direction of the team, because every ball that Parker or Punter caught – the first being sharp and the second being wrong at the start – meant a shot, with little commitment to the collective game. Satoransky did not function as orchestra director and Peñarroya’s words were echoed, since a few days ago he demanded a point guard to close the squad, since Laprovittola will miss the season due to injury, Núñez has become uneasy with the passing of the games – he was left out of the team in France – and Neto, who arrived as a patch, left as he came. The solution at the LDLC Arena was Brizuela, who acted as a pacemaker and also as a stinger, triple and layups to put Barcelona back up, 23-21 at the end of the prologue.

It was difficult for Barça to get the pulse of the duel, dwarfed by the opposing physical power and by the sprained wrist in the outside game, close as it was with the triples. Not so the rival, with Maledon, Lee, De Colo, Lighty… An incessant drip that choked the Blaugrana, even though Metu, who is worth a fortune because he has centimeters, a waist and points on his hands, protested with baskets and that very plastic game that he has. But one cannot against a team – as had already been confirmed before with the individualities of Parker and Punter – and this is how Asvel explained it, which in a choral way put the ground in between (39-28) under the leadership, of course, of Maledon. Moment in which Barça changed its chip, as if it needed a scare to activate, finally intense in defense and generous with the best positioned teammate, Parker already in combustion. A boost that reduced the gap (48-42) at the close of the event.

But the rest did not sit well with Barça, once again distraught on the hardwood. Deficiency that Asvel penalized badly, with successful shots from outside the radius. None like Roberson, who chained two triples and eight points from a run, which delighted fans who were already feeling the Spanish triplet, since Real Madrid and Baskonia already fell on the field this year. Although when Maledon sat down (when they were 13 points up), Barça broke free, a small fight seasoned with unsportsmanlike behavior and several losses by the rival that put the stakes with a hair’s breadth of suspense (76-68). That’s what Barça insisted on, starting the fourth with ferocity. Metu asked for the ball again, Punter explained again that there are few players who shiver less than him in hot moments and Parra contributed his part to get within three points (80-77). The give and take came, now you – great Roberson and Sako – and then me, shots and baskets everywhere. Until Sako and Roberson put the finishing touch, until Asvel said that’s it.