This 41st edition of theEuroBasket He is decidedly crazy and his sideburns are falling off like flies. the Slovenia learned it the hard way vs. Poland (90-87)!
After an offensive and globally balanced first quarter (29-26), but nevertheless slightly dominated by the Polish team, the second quarter marks an important turning point in this match. Terribly clumsy in attack, especially in 3 points, and unable to make successful saves in defense, the Slovenians are drinking water.
carried by a huge Mateusz Ponitka, already in the oven and in the mill, but above all accompanied by excellent lieutenants (Michal Sokolowski, Aleksander Balcerowski, AJ Slaughter and Jaroslaw Zyskowski), Poland recites its balance. There is no wrong note in the game of the Poles, who take… 23 points ahead!
Expensive with the ball, stupid to score for five long minutes and weighed down by a Luka Doncić looks diminished physically but also at home plate in the game because too frustrated the reigning European champions rely on the only Vlatko Cancar (14 points) to exist. Or rather try to exist because, with this 29-13 in the period, the gap is obviously significant at half time (58-39).
Luka Doncic, more frustrated than ever…
Returning from the locker room, however, Slovenia found their colors in attack and the damage was felt immediately. It must be said that, at the same time, Poland accumulates failures and bad decisions offensively, never adjusting their way of playing.
More aggressive, and dragging his leg less, Luka Doncic sounds the revolt with goran dragic and his lieutenants. Which, in just a few minutes, allows Aleksander Sekulic’s men to recover all their delay. The score is definitive in this third quarter: 24-6 for Slovenia! Offering us, then, a last act of suspense (64-63)…
Very quickly, Slovenia took control going into the fourth quarter, but Poland did not disarm and that was the beginning of a real hand to hand between the two teams.
Surprisingly, and while the impulse did not play in their favour, the Poles regained the lead, in the wake of a great Mateusz Ponitka, who validated his triple-double (the third in Eurobasket history!). The icing on the cake: Luka Doncic is finally ejected for five fouls and the “killer” Ponitka (26 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and 3 steals), well assisted by AJ Slaughter, completes the defending champion!
After a slight scare at the end, Poland finally snatched the feat from him (90-87) and above all reached the semifinals of the EuroBasket for the first time since… 1971! Place in France now, starting Friday…
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Photo credit: FIBA.com
#Earthquake #Berlin #Poland #eliminates #Slovenia