It was a day of celebrations. Barça scheduled the celebrations for 50 years of basketball at the Palau for this May 1st. First thing in the morning, Barça legends signed autographs for the fans, a mapping was projected at the Palau with historical images and in the middle part, a host of former Blaugrana players and coaches came out onto the track to greet a totally dedicated crowd. It was a moment of great emotion in a Palau whose days are numbered. This was followed by an irregular game, with a forgettable first half and a second half bordering on excellence to build an 84-69 victory with a stellar Abrines (15 points).
But not even this important event motivated the team and the image of Barça, which did not have the discarded Mirotic and Exum, did not change against San Pablo Burgos in the Endesa League duel who ‘meddled’ in the quarter-final series in which the azulgranas are risking their lives with a fifth game on Tuesday against Bayern Munich to get into the Final Four.
It had to be a duel to recover the tone, the success, the clarity of ideas, but it was not like that at all. Barça continued completely thick, without success, with many losses and he was lucky, especially in the first half, that San Pablo did not have their day in attack either, so that the scoreboard, with low percentages by both teams, remained even during the first two quarters.
No change in mindset
In the first minutes it was already perceived that there was a different mentality on the track. After four minutes, only a triple by Abrines was on the scoreboard. Only the exit to the track of Laprovittola encouraged the Barça attack a bit and managed to close the first quarter with local advantage (15-13).
Nothing changed in the second quarter. The multiple mistakes caused an avalanche of rebounds where San Pablo dominated against a Barça that continued very thick in every sense. Little circulation of the ball, well-drawn plays in dribs and drabs, unthinkable mistakes… nothing worked in the Barça machinery that was shown to be without ideas.
The break was reached with a point down and a lot of work ahead to try to win against the team from Burgos whose defense caused Barça’s lack of clairvoyance (29-30).
The Barça legends enlivened the break with their presence in the center of the court and it seemed that they left good energy on the Palau’s parquet because the team’s image change was absolute
Many legends gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Palau
| David Ramirez
Barça came out of the dressing room with another intensity, putting more pressure on San Pablo to complicate their scoring options and, little by little, the team woke up from its lethargy. two triples of Abrines and Laprovittola put Barça up seven (43-36) forcing Paco Olmos to stop the duel.
Barça was encouraged and the stands were animated seeing a Alex Abrines who became the real engine of the team and completely changed the dynamics of the Barça game.
The Mallorcan infected his teammates and they all signed up for a completely different match. Barça began to run and annulled San Pablo Burgos, achieving a decisive 30-15 run. Barça scored more points in the third quarter than in the entire first half and returned to this magical game that has brought him so much success this season. With a difference of 14, the third quarter closed (59-45).
And if Barça went from mistake to success, the San Pablo, already physically diminishedcontinued with low percentages and, despite fighting until the end, allowed Jasikevicius’ men to grow more and more on the court with all his men freed from pressure, closing the game with a resounding 84-69. A very important growth for Tuesday to face the Eurliga duel against Bayern. The image of Barça in the second half seems essential to sign up for the Final Four in Belgrade.
The party had the final climax with the family photo of the 2021-22 team whose faces, after the victory, will surely improve an image for history.