BarcelonaKevin Punter and Jabari Parker, two atypical Americans raised in stigmatized neighborhoods in New York and Chicago, fired the illusion of the Palau Blaugrana. The two players, who do not know how to do things by halves, entrusted their competitive nature to a Barça team that passed the first trial of the Euroleague with flying colours. The Catalan team shut out AS Monaco (86-71) and will travel to Belgrade eager to challenge Red Star for the lead of the competition.
Joan Peñarroya innovated by placing Jabari Parker, Jan Vesely and Willy Hernangómez together in the starting five. A team loaded with centimeters to mark the physical level from the first minute. The bet did not have an immediate effect, but the Barcelona team was able to open an important gap in the scoreboard in a very offensive first quarter (26-16).
Monaco lost Nick Calathes and Furkan Korkmaz, two of the players who should help make a difference. However, the Monegasque team knew how to diversify their alternative scoring sources. In addition, the defense was improving. Barça, whose percentages worsen when they cannot run, could only score 4 points in 5 minutes (30-30). A more inspired final stretch and the reappearance of Kevin Punter, who scored 13 points in 12 minutes, allowed the Catalan team to reach the break with a favorable situation (47-39).
Abrines, unheard of in the first half, had minutes at the start of a third quarter in which Barça drew oil from Laprovittola, Punter and Parker (67-49). The Argentine and the two Americans smell blood like no one else and know how to punish the minutes of weakness that any opponent who visits the Palau Blaugrana has at some point in the game. If they sense fear, they speed up. If they detect panic, they lash out (71-54).
Barça reached a 20-point advantage ten minutes from the end, when they had the feeling that the job was done (74-54). Monaco took advantage of the local deconcentration to reduce differences, but never had options to overturn the result (76-65). When the game was already decided, the constant refereeing reviews took the culers fans out of their arms.
Belgrad, nova prova
Barça will visit Estrella Roja in Belgrade on Friday. The Serbian team, which won at Fenerbahçe on Tuesday, remains unbeaten in the Euroleague (3-0).
