The Sassari lose in Ludwigsburg after 40 minutes of great suffering
Riesen runs, Dinamo drags on. There is no match in Germany, where the Sassari’s adventure in the basketball Champions League starts in the worst way. In the end, 94-81 is written on the scoreboard, but the 40 minutes played on the Ludwigsburg field were a real nightmare for Demis Cavina’s team: immediately below, from 13-10 to 27-12, the Sassari proposed at least 20 minutes of disconcerting basketball (from 5 ‘to 25’), lending the flank to the opponent’s attack and plummeting up to -24 (64-20 to 23 ‘). An inadequate defense, which once again conceded over 50 points in the first half of the race, and a first cumbersome and then inaccurate attack from beyond the arc, prevented Logan and his teammates from reopening the race even when things went a bit further. in a bit better. The ephemeral -10 (88-78) arrived too late and the final -13 does not serve to mask the difficulties of a team with very short rotations: just eight men rotated, with six elements on the field for over 25 ‘, three of these abundantly over 30 ‘.
First crunches. Cavina changes the quintet, inserting Battle as guard in place of Gentile, with Clemmons play, Burnell and Bendzius as wings and Mekowulu center. The Germans are appreciated more at the level of play, Dinamo remains in the game thanks to a couple of individual plays but in defense the problems are always the same: after just over 6 minutes, at 17-10 and with Radebayugh already at 11 points, Cavina decides to call timeout. Logan and Gentile enter, but the problems have just begun: Banco immediately collects the triple of 20-10, then gets doubled again and closes a first nightmare period at 27-12.
The hailstorm. Cavina shuffles the cards, deploying the Bendzius-Treier duo close to the basket, but the bleeding does not stop: Ludwigsburg defends well against a Banco that spadella, and systematically punishes the many defensive errors: Radebaugh is unstoppable and Herzog signs the triple of 35 -17 to 7’30 “from rest. Logan tries to shake a dazed Dinamo, who struggles to overcome the half of the field, does not take a rebound even by dream (17-3) and falls to -21, 41-20, in the middle of the period. The Germans fly, the Sassari crawl, hitting -22 several times (46-24 and 51-29), before being able to mend a little before the rest.
Impotence. We go to the locker room at 53-36, then Sassari return to the field with the starting quintet and a slightly more aggressive attitude than in the first half. It is just a feeling, because the open triples of the biancoblù go to the iron, while the Germans see the very wide basket and start again with momentum: from 55-40 the Banco collects in an instant a break of 9-0: 64-40 on the bomb of Bartolo and for Bendzius and his companions it is pitch black. In the midst of so many difficulties, the Banco tries to restart from the defense and from some points of Battle, then Mekowulu puts the 64-48 basket on the board and this time it is Patrick who asks for a timeout. There is also an unsportsmanlike foul against Battle and a triple from Logan, but the defense grants four easy easy baskets and the Banco does not go beyond -15 (68-53, 72-57). At the third siren, at 77-59, there is also Mekowulu out with 4 fouls, but Treier does not go into action (81-64) and Cavina immediately sends Big Mek and Bendzius back in. The Germans seem to drop a bit, but on the other hand Dinamo sends an infinite number of open triples on the iron and the opportunity to approach the single figure of disadvantage regularly fails. Bendzius finally strikes a shot, Clemmons of robbery makes 88-78 but now it’s too late. The Germans reconnect and lock up in the carriage. Another alarm bell sounds for the Bank.