The American base added 28 points, 12 of them in extra time, in a game that was difficult for Spain for many minutes. He now has to wait for Croatia or Finland (they play this Sunday) in the quarterfinals.
The first experience of The gang, this rejuvenated version of The family, is this eurobasketball in which they break predictions game by game. He warned before measuring himself with Lithuania Scariolo that “we don’t have more centimeters, more kilos or more talent than we had when we arrived, but we do have better chemistry. Now everyone knows their role and assumes it when they go out on the track”. And that perfectly portrays what happened in the game: a team limited in talent and physique, but impeccable in attitude that fights until exhaustion without giving up. And that led him, along with Brown’s swing, which justified the right choice, to get into the quarterfinals.
Of start, Scariolo opted for a recognizable quintet with Pradilla Y willy inside, the swing of Lo Brown, and work on the perimeter with Jaime Fernandez Y Lopez-Arostegui. He started the match with an attacking foul by Valanciunas on Pradilla and an assist from the young Spanish player in the game between posts to Willy, who punished Sabonis. The eldest of Hernangomez he scored the first six points and had good feet to force personnel.
Meanwhile, the Lithuanian points were put Grigonis, taking advantage of the excess of aggressiveness of the Spanish foreigners. The appearance of the Lithuanian centers gave them the first advantage (9-11), but the Spanish rotation and the appearance of Rudy allowed Scariolo’s men to maintain consistency. Garuba sent Valanciunas to the bench with two fouls before the end of the first quarter. Alberto Diaz was added to Rudy with another triple, but at the end of the first quarter the Lithuanian outsiders were in charge (19-20).
the second unit
The second Spanish unit breathed energy with a partial 8-0 thanks to Dario Brizuela and the defensive inspiration of Alberto Díaz. Juancho He took the baton up front and Garuba kept up the din behind, with Willy taking third from Valanciunas. But then Kuzminskas and Sabonis made the defenders dance outside and that hurt a Spain (34-38) misguided in the outside shot. The excess of defensive zeal quickly put Scariolo’s men in the bonus, giving away easy points. at rest, Lithuania dominated at the pace of Kuzminskas (45-40).
TO FIGHT in the second part, #The family‼️
? eighths @EuroBasket
????? (BEST | 40-45)
? @MBArenaBerlin
? @four#ModeEurope #The family #We are a team pic.twitter.com/iK0EIQREOd– Basketball Spain (@BaloncestoESP) September 10, 2022
Spain began the resumption with naive fouls and defensive imbalances that made him swim against the current. Brown good shots were made, but he failed in the execution and the Lithuanians opened the gap. those of Scariolo They were going through the worst moment of the game (47-58) both in terms of sensations and on the scoreboard. They did not condition from the defense and in attack they did not dominate the paint nor were they successful from the perimeter. With Kuzminskas on fire and Brown, missing comfortable shots, the Lithuanians asserted their favoritism. Faced with this situation, Scariolo resorted again to the second unit, compliant as always and with a Juancho brave (13 points). a colossal Garuba and a triple of Rudy they put Spain back into the game at the end of the third quarter (63-68).
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The errors in the launches continued to weigh down the Spanish. There was a lack of determination to go for the rival hoop, when Rudy he rescued the team with his character. Spain made the rubber on the scoreboard, while Scariolo I was looking for solutions on the bench. Only the Spanish resilience invited optimism and that attitude caused the last rush to get to one (74-75) with 3:25 remaining. With Brown leading the charge intelligently and Garuba Y Willy fighting inside, a basket arrived in the first points of Lopez-Arostegui to overtake the Spanish (80-78) with a minute to go. After a Lithuanian triple, Garuba tapped his umpteenth offensive rebound to make it 82-81 at 16 seconds. To a defense of quarters… And Alberto Díaz took another free kick in attack! However, a free kick from Willy was answered by a Lithuanian patter that miraculously took the game to extra time.
brown moment
And so Brown monopolized the offensive game with 12 points in overtime. Smart once again, Scariolo perfectly planned the extra time: winning defense and Brown’s swing. Spain qualifies for the quarterfinals leaving out a favorite Lithuania (102-94). The gang continues to grow.