super-copa

[ziv]

i'll just start by saying i'm kinda dissapointed of spanish presence here - espcially after the huge succes in the WC. i'll give you a chance by starting this topic and i (personally and i know i'm not alone on this one) realy hope to have some more disscussion regarding the ACB in the future as well - hopefuly fans from all over spain will join us.
so the super copa is played in malaga (where are the champs fans?!) first semis will have host team v. badalona. the czech duo of burton and welsch who just led his NT to the EC (again, in spain next year) will meet. i somewhat feel that the second was better in the nt. interesting to see malaga new squad and to check how it's getting along together.
second semi finals - tau v. barcelona, the second just lost to girona in the catalanian league finals (intersting to hear about that one as well). they too have a whole new team, interesting to see vasquez and kasun together, though they are both big-men who realy need a good passer. tau too has a new roster, planinic, rakocevic, peker - how do they play? who starts? is prigioni still the leading pg and rekocevic plays second guard? what is planinic role? a play-maker, a sf? where does erdogan fits in this team?
i realy want some new spaniards (nothing wrong with those already writing here...) to join and post on this one.

[wardjdim]

Dates?

[ziv]

this weekend. friday and saturday. 22 and 23.

[ziv]

well then, i see that the spaniards came to celebrate their title and left afterwards. what a pitty...

[chez-martin]

I'm sorry but we are only a few spanish forumers here. We have our own forums in acb.com visited for all the spanish basketball fans so it is easier for us to talk about spanish basketball there.

In addition the Supercopa is only important for the team who win it, so...

[wardjdim]

Well, for anyone that wants to follow spanish posters, then foros.acb.com sounds great, but people like me (i dont speak spanish), a translator is always necessary

[ziv]

yep, i know the acb.com foro's i visit there myself and like wardjim i use some assistant inorder to do so.
but still i was hoping that there some spaniards who do wish to disscuss basketball with forigners, i post mainly on some israeli forums but obviously there some things which i prefer "going to the source" and talking with locals.
this tournment for itself is not that interested but as i said - it's an oppertunity to start disscussing some spanish issues with spanish members here.

[chez-martin]

I understand what you say and I hope other spanish forumers join us

[Genjuro]

Ok, some thoughts from the games:

F.C.Barcelona

Horrible game for them, and it's the third in a row. It's looking ugly so far. The problems with the roster structure are arising badly. This team lacks precisely team attitude. There are no distributing point guards and there are no bigs capable of creating any game. So what you have is a bunch of guards playing for themselves (Lakovic, Ukic or Navarro) and a bunch of bigs who need to receive the ball in favourable situations but don't (Kakiouzis, Vázquez, Kasun, Marconato). It's a mess. Ivanovic used to have very well-built teams in Vitoria, with good point guards (Bennett, Prigioni, Calderón) and skilled bigs (Oberto, Tomasevic, Scola, Splitter, David); he's not used to deal with Barça's kind of roster, and I fear that he might be lossing the confidence of his players.

Tau Vitoria

Extremely solid game for them. Excellent defense, pressuring the ball, the court, showing intensity. Reliable offense, particularly regarding Prigioni/Planinic - Splitter connection. With Scola out due injury, the Brazilian emerged as a totally key player to give finish or just give continuity to the PGs creative effort. When he was on the bench, the offense suffered. The signing of Planinic has solved all the problems that Tau had whenever Prigioni needed to rest in the bench, as the Croatian is a very good distributing PG. Erdogan couldn't play, so we saw Rakocevic and House a lot. These guys might never completely fit in the offensive flow of the game, but Rakocevic is a guy capable of creating his shots, which will help to take pressure off the PG-big pick and roll (go-to) play, while House is a hard-working guy on defense. Teletovic, Peker and Fajardo did a nice complementary work. I think Peker will gain importance as he gains understanding with the PGs.

Unicaja Málaga

Solid game and excellent squad again this year for this team. Marcus Brown and Gulyas didn't play. Regardless the presence of the Hungarian, I think they still have a hole in the middle, at the center position. Otherwise, it's a deep and very talented team. Welsch, Vasiliadis and Lorbek showed their excellent level, althought still with some inconsistency. Good defense, smart offense, these guys are going to battle for the ACB title again this year.

DKV Joventut

Also a solid game for them, they put Unicaja in troubles playing in Málaga. Rudy Fernández seems to have stepped up taking more offensive responsibilities, although sometimes forcing situations. Lubos Barton played a great game; with Mumbru going to Real Madrid, he's now the only pure SF in the team, and his displaying will be crucial. But he's an excellent player at both ends of the court. Huertas didn't play; instead, Ricky Rubio enjoyed a lot of action at both guard positions, with mixed results (actually impressive results if we think that he's only 15 years old), but it seems that coach Reneses is going to play him. Gaines looked ok, playing without the ball, showing his athleticism and strength. This team is going to be very solid again, playing good and intense defense thanks to the rotations, althought with limited potential due to the budget limitations.

[rikhardur]

Things seem to be quite messy for Barcelona and I also think they're lacking in attitude, since they have good players. Ivanović seems to have much work ahead of him...
I think Tau will win it.

[rchos7]

i an really happy that vasiliadis started good with unicaja this year!the last 2 years in paok he wasn't training properly and that was obvious in his play!he is pure gold according his talent and now in a team that will help him improve because of the good work he can become a scoring machine!the good vasiliadis is the missing part in greek nt!and i think unicaja is perfect for his improvment!

as for the teams it's obvious that barca will have to try really hard to become a team!not the same with tau and malaga!i guess they will do great this year in acb and in eurleague!

[Minotavros]

Good to see Vasiliadis play well. If he continues like that, he will be the new starting shooting guard in the Greek NT.

[wardjdim]

Tau Vitoria

Extremely solid game for them. Excellent defense, pressuring the ball, the court, showing intensity. Reliable offense, particularly regarding Prigioni/Planinic - Splitter connection. With Scola out due injury, the Brazilian emerged as a totally key player to give finish or just give continuity to the PGs creative effort. When he was on the bench, the offense suffered. The signing of Planinic has solved all the problems that Tau had whenever Prigioni needed to rest in the bench, as the Croatian is a very good distributing PG. Erdogan couldn't play, so we saw Rakocevic and House a lot. These guys might never completely fit in the offensive flow of the game, but Rakocevic is a guy capable of creating his shots, which will help to take pressure off the PG-big pick and roll (go-to) play, while House is a hard-working guy on defense. Teletovic, Peker and Fajardo did a nice complementary work. I think Peker will gain importance as he gains understanding with the PGs.

It is really interesting to notice the stability, or even the progress of a guy who spent such a long period of time in the bench, like Planinic. It is also great to have the feeling that, if he manages to contribute and distribute with the ball in his hands and given Tau's splendid frontline, the season will be a winning one. There is no doubt (at least in my eyes) that the offensive flow of Tau's game will be heavily depending on Planinic and the more experienced Prigioni. And given the Argentinean's experience and last year's amazing season, I would say that Planinic is the guy to watch this year. The year will be bright if he is creative in a nightly basis.
Btw, nice to see that House is a defensive contributor from day 1. Guys like him will be needed for the rotation's continuity.

[ziv]

Ok, some thoughts from the games:
...

thanks for this info - that's exactlly what i was looking for, hope to here some thought about the second day as well.

[wardjdim]

We are still waiting about Luis' (Genjuro's) thoughts on today's game...
Tau won btw.