Joventut suffers a blackout in Madrid after the break

The company of winning in Madrid required a titanic effort from Joventut. It seemed that seeing the first half (45-50) he could be able to stand up to the current League champion. But all the good things that happened before the break changed completely in the second half. Chus Mateo’s team took a step forward in defense, closing the spaces to a rival that did not show, not even remotely, the success it had had before. The final result was conclusive: 96-79 for the whites remain undefeated at the top of the Endesa League standings with the surprising Lenovo Tenerife.

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La Penya felt comfortable in the exchange of baskets with which the game began, especially his new slugger, Kyle Guy. In the coming and going from one hoop to another no one was up for the task of defending. Madrid seemed to think that it was only a matter of time before La Penya lowered his guard. He took the lead 21-16 (with 11 points from Yabusele), but from then on he fell to a 2-14 run between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second. The Badalonese kept up the type in that second period with a solid collective effort, with a maximum advantage of 41-50 50 seconds from the break. But the last play before going to the locker room was already premonitory of the verdinegro collapse. Two wasted attacking options and five seconds for Deck to cross the court and make it 45-50.

“A piece of shit last quarter”

From there, a full-fledged blackout of the Penya. If he had scored 50 points, he added only 29 in the second half, and conceded 51. Madrid was much fiercer behind and at the same time viciously attacked the rival rim. The Joventut was undoing in a resounding way without finding a remedy. Carles Duran, the Penya coach, tried everything and nothing worked for him. His frustration was such that at the end of the game he was emphatic on Movistar’s microphones: “We’ve done shit in the last quarter and that’s impossible against Madrid.”