A dream is not enough. The excitement, the desire, the will. This is all very well. But the Euroleague are big words, especially as the competition progresses. At the gates of a Final Four, right where Spar Girona has never arrived but where it is eager to one day stand, a tournament of this magnitude does not understand any assumptions. Theory is fine, but what counts is practice. What happens above the track. The casualties of the Perfumerías Avenida had been talked about again and again. A staff full of stars, but with a potential, theoretically, diminished due to absences. This is all straw. Hypothesis. You have to play and that’s when it’s clear what all this is about. Eager to take the first step to where it has never arrived, the Uni was planted in the Wurzburg pavilion. And it came out scalded. Clear and fair defeat (77-63), to complicate and force the tie. But not everything is given and blessed. Next Wednesday, second ration in Fontajau. If history repeats itself, it will be the ultimate. If Alfred Julbe and his players sharpen their aim, especially in the outside shot, and polish some aspects, maybe the quarterfinals will be a little longer.
For now, what is clear is that the advantage is now for Salamanca. No discussion. Roberto Íñiguez did not have all his weapons, but the local coach is an old cat and he knew how to strengthen his strengths and exploit the weaknesses of Uni, which suffered, especially in the first two quarters, and did not know it. fix in the next two. On the one hand, he conceded 48 points, at the same time as he went to the break without scoring a single triple after trying eight times. Kennedy Burke, a differential player with a huge range of offensive arguments did not appear. She missed her team, and in what way. The Avenida started the crusher just starting and there was no stopping until 48-33 of the break. Things improved in the third quarter until a new push from home. No one imagined that the comeback would be possible.
Denied from the triple
Reisingerova and Eldebrink. The only ones who defied logic and scored from the three-point line. A triple each, there was no need to go around. And already in the last quarter. More than half an hour and a good bunch of attempts later, the Spar Girona made up some scary numbers, the outside shot. Two shots in nineteen attempts. Winning this way may not be impossible, but it does make it a titanic venture. The Avenue, like many rivals, knows the difficulties of the Uni in the external launching. Yesterday, Íñiguez and his players exploited this weakness. The success was for those at home. They scored mostly on the outside, but also on the inside. In the first quarter, a warning. Partial 10-0 and Alfred Julbe who decided to ask for time out, when the score was 15-4. Soon to draw conclusions, but enough time had passed for him to realize which of the two teams had come out more plugged. Push the Wurzburg, which can become a pressure cooker, but the Uni was not there. He was expected, though he did not show up.
Julbe saw that things were not getting better, that the differences were widening. And he stopped the game again. Then with 35-19. The rotations had already started and the sidewalk of the Avenue was bearing fruit. Leo Rodriguez or the Greek Fasoula did wrong. Points were accumulating and there was no way to react. To round it off, Karlie Samuelson scored her third triple of three attempts. Until she was injured and with nine points in the basket, she went to the bench. It was not a turning point, because Salamanca’s scoring ability was still on and at full power. They were 48 points in the first two periods. A difficult slab to lift. Julbe’s had no ability to react. Only inside did they come out on top, with Reisingerova and Labuckiene, who between the two would end up signing 24 of their team’s 63 points. More than a third. At the break, it all didn’t look good.
Come back? No thankyou
The 9-14 to start the return of the locker rooms was a mirage. The current score was not ideal, because no one likes to lose by 57-47, but the barrier of ten points difference was caught again and this is always good news, considering where it was sold. Reinforced the effort in defense, the points had been falling in favor. Nothing considerable, but a little light in the face of so much misfortune. It was a seen and unseen. The joy did not last long, because Salamanca finished the job and left everything ready with another partial demolition. A 12-2 to end the third quarter with 66-49. Not even the most optimistic expected an apotheotic outcome. Everything was already given and blessed.
No matter how much Binta and Burke (who only scored 4 points) put up 66-53, the opponent always had an overly forceful response ready. On this occasion, by Maite Cazorla and Copper. 70-53. It was time to think about something else. To focus on the next goal because in Wurzburg there was nothing left to do. Well, yes, at least I didn’t go down without explaining myself first. That was when Reisingerova, first, and then Eldebrink, scored their pertinent triples. The only two of the Uni all night. Defeat was a fact. The quarters get complicated but the story doesn’t end here. Next Wednesday, at a quarter past nine and in Fontajau, the second chapter will be written.
