This time, ASVEL did not crack in the "money-time."
Beaten six times in their first seven matches of the season in the Euroleague, and during their last three European outings, the Villeurbanne crunched Barça this Friday, on the occasion of the 11th day (80-68).
17 points for David Lighty, 14 for Norris Cole.
Allerik Freeman (12 pts) and Charles Kahudi (10 pts) also finished with a double-digit total.
Speaking of numbers, here are two that largely explain this result: 13/21 three-pointers and 17/17 on free throws.
A shock of extremes
A real feat for the players of TJ Parker, facing a huge continental displacement.
Moreover, Nikola Mirotic (14 pts, 9 rbs), Nick Calathes (12 pts) and Barça remained on seven wins in a row in the Euroleague before coming to the Astroballe.
A clash of extremes between the leader and the red lantern.
And it is the red lantern who won (80-68).
It is necessary to believe that the warning shot of President Parker had effect in the locker room of the Green Team ... Although, the quadruple NBA champion was probably not hoping so much against a cador of this stature.
“It was important, notes Kahudi, on
RMC Sport
.
In the team, there was a little lack of clarity, of hierarchy.
There are a lot of people, a lot of egos, a lot of talent.
All of this has to be cleared up to find solutions and our strengths.
We did it tonight.
We must continue. ”
First win vs Barcelona on home court since 1996 ...
David Lighty put in a performance to be proud for @ LDLCASVELpic.twitter.com / xRvKudtpVe
- Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) November 27, 2020
It started strong from the outset by making its own throws and three points, with Bako and Cole doing very good things, Freeman also with his nine points at the break.
But it is above all the Villeurbanne collective that shone against the Blaugrana and this allowed them to enter the locker room at +9 (45-36 MT).
We could expect a big reaction from Barca to the recovery, but Lighty and company, if they still struggled to score with two points, continued their festival from afar and were up to 16 lengths ahead (65 -53 end of 3rd QT).
After having let slip big advances in recent weeks, Fall and others had nothing to show off.
But this time, they did.
Where we least expected them.
Cole held his rank.
Lighty too.
Everyone does.
The defense was fierce.
The triples were falling.
And Barça fell (80-68).
"A lot of solidarity, a lot of heart and a lot of courage"
Charles Kahudi
“We needed it,” Kahudi said of this unexpected success.
We put a lot of solidarity, a lot of heart and a lot of courage into it to raise our heads after a series of defeats like that.
The difference between today's performance and the previous ones?
It can be explained by the details, the confidence, we set the shoots open, we lost the ball less and we were therefore able to develop more play. From there, by controlling the tempo more, we found more solutions. easily.
And everyone contributed, there was a very big defense.
We will continue to work to gradually move up this ranking. ”
In this case, ASVEL grabs a place and climbs to the penultimate rank.
“Vitoria was historic.
There is very good.
We are going to celebrate, but there is a game on Tuesday. "
A late match, again at the Astroballe, and against Panathinaikos Athens.
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