Baskonia continues his losing streak in Belgrade
The losses of Howard and Henry condemn Joan Peñarroya’s men to their third straight defeat
MADRID, 13 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Cazoo Baskonia extended this Friday its low in results after falling (83-65) against Partizan Belgrade on matchday 19 of the Regular Phase of the Euroleague 2022-2023, to drop from the top of the table and add its third consecutive defeat in the maximum continental competition.
The team from Vitoria was not at a good level neither in defense, where it suffered due to the great foreign success of its rival, nor in attack in Belgrade, and it could not even find help in its two best players of the moment, Markus Howard and Pierria Henry, absent for physical discomfort. With this defeat, and the two harvested at home in Germany against ALBA (85-84) and Bayern (92-79), Joan Peñarroya’s men put a stop to their aspirations to gain a place in the ‘Top 4’.
The Basques did not manage to get out of the noisy Stark Arena against a Partizan that recovered from its defeat this Tuesday in Tel Aviv against Maccabi (90-81). Zeljko Obradovic’s men keep their ‘playoff’ aspirations alive with an equally positive dynamic with four consecutive victories, three at home against powerful rivals like Efes and Monaco, as well as Bayern, and an address on a difficult ground like Fenerbahce’s.
Thus, without the initial score typical of a match of this magnitude, the locals did not take long to bring out their entire offensive arsenal to overwhelm a Basque team unable to react. Joan Peñarroya’s men found themselves surpassed time and time again by the Serbian team, very effective from the line of three (5/7 in triples). The figure of Ioannis Papapetrou (10 points) was key to winning the score at the end of the first quarter (29-17).
With the same inertia as at the beginning, the locals continued with their foot on the accelerator in the second ten minutes. Zeljko Obradovic’s men smelled blood with a great outside game that continued to do a lot of damage to the Basques. Without their big stars, those from Vitoria had to cling to the success of Vanja Marinkovic (11) who, despite his efforts, failed to reduce the advantage at the end of the first half (47-36).
Somewhat more inspired in defence, those from Vitoria took advantage of the break to recharge their batteries and begin to fight. However, the reaction did not last long, when Obradovic’s men, before reaching the middle of the third quarter, took out the roller again, sentencing the game from the line of three (12/18 in triples). Those from Belgrade began to like each other on the court, with Mathias Lessort (11) in the lead, to leave with the maximum advantage (67-50).
Without giving up an iota of intensity, Obradovic’s team did the rest in a last quarter that they dominated from start to finish. With a lower scoring rate, due to the bulk of the result, the Serbs overwhelmed a Baskonia who began to throw in the towel. Tough defeat for the Basques, who close the weekly double ration with a second setback that takes them away from the head they occupied recently.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: PARTIZAN, 83 – BASKONIA, 65. (47-36, at halftime).
–TEAMS.
PARTIZÁN: Avramovic (7), Lessort (11), Papapetrou (13), Punter (12) and Trifunovic (15) –starting five–; Exum (10), Leday (2), Madar (10), Nunnally (-), Smailaigic (-) and Vukcevic (-), Andjusic (3).
CAZOO BASKONIA: Díez (6), Giedraitis (4), Kotsar (9), Thompson (8) and Marinkovic (16) –starting five–; Hommes (-), Henry, Costello (-), Kurucs (4), Sedekerskis (7), Enoch (9) and Raieste (2).
— PARTIALS: 29-17, 18-19, 20-14, 16-15.
–REFEREES: Mogulkoc, Paternico and Pitsilkas.
–PAVIL: Stark Arena.