Facundo Campazzo was once again everything Hapoel Tel Aviv simply isn\u2019t in this series. The veteran point guard came out again and delivered a masterclass of precision and efficiency, a display of individual skill and team intelligence, a concert of composure and winning mentality. Statistically, that meant 23 points on 5\/5 from two and 4\/7 from three, along with 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals against just one turnover, for an efficiency rating of 30 in under 26 minutes. Campazzo isn\u2019t a big guy, but at 179 cm he proved for the second time in just over 48 hours in Madrid that he\u2019s simply too much for Hapoel Tel Aviv, at least until proven otherwise in Sofia after a dominant 102\u201375 win that puts Madrid up 2\u20130 in the series.<\/p>\n
Game 1, especially its closing minutes, left the Reds with hope that they could steal home-court advantage if only a few more open shots had fallen. But on the floor, Real Madrid were better even without being at their best, even without Edy Tavares, even with a \u201cnot fully locked-in\u201d Mario Hezonja.<\/p>\n
The sense that Hapoel was close to a win on Wednesday led Dimitrios Itoudis to stick with the same formula he\u2019s relied on all season and that\u2019s a mistake that could cost them the series. He needed to pull out something new, because right now he\u2019s staring at a fourth straight loss to Los Blancos.<\/p>\n
For those who haven\u2019t read similar breakdowns elsewhere, let\u2019s clarify again: Itoudis\u2019 offensive formula, which has brought 23 EuroLeague wins so far, isn\u2019t complicated. It starts with a high pick-and-roll and almost always ends in one of two ways: if the defense doesn\u2019t switch, the ball moves quickly inside (either to the big man or via a guard drive). If there is a switch, the ball slows down and the offense becomes isolation either exploiting the size of Oturu\/Odiase in the post or the guards\u2019 speed off the dribble.<\/p>\n
Sergio Scariolo didn\u2019t change much on his end either. Tavares out? Alex Len in. That was a gift to Dan Oturu, who feasted early in the pick-and-roll against slower bigs. Madrid\u2019s best stretches, like in Game 1, came when Campazzo both ran the offense and scored punishing any defender who dared go under screens with three-pointers. Occasionally Hezonja demanded his share, and Hapoel didn\u2019t mind as long as the ball wasn\u2019t in Campazzo\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
Hapoel went up by six late in the first quarter but again lost focus, allowing a 9\u20130 Madrid run in the final two minutes. The trend continued early in the second quarter, when Itoudis put out a very strange lineup: two players who don\u2019t defend (Micic and Jones), two who don\u2019t score (Malcolm and Edwards), and one Odiase who contributed almost nothing on either end. Ironically, that\u2019s when Scariolo handed a gift back by giving Sergio Llull his usual minutes. Itoudis responded, and the veteran Spaniard got both the honor and the defensive assignment of Antonio Blakeney. It worked for Hapoel, who came back from down seven to lead by two at halftime, once again with hope they could repeat the comeback and get a different result.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Madrid stopped giving gifts. Llull didn\u2019t return in the second half and neither did Hapoel. Scariolo brought in Garuba and switched on pick-and-rolls. Hapoel\u2019s guards fell into the trap, launching 3\u2019s (0\/6) instead of feeding Oturu inside (just three attempts in the half). On the other end, Madrid moved the ball until they found Hapoel\u2019s weakest defender. Feliz and Campazzo attacked Micic until he was benched, and Garuba went straight at Oturu, who played cautiously until picking up his third foul. If not for Garuba needing rest allowing Malcolm to score 9 quick points against Len\u2019s slow feet, the game would\u2019ve been over in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Instead, it ended early in the fourth. Micic\u2019s poor performance culminated in a loss of composure and a technical foul that sent him to the bench right after converting an and-one. Blakeney tried to go solo and got blocked, Bryant tried and missed, then turned it over. Hapoel\u2019s isolation-heavy offense played right into Madrid\u2019s hands, as they kept targeting defensive weaknesses. On a terrible night from Odiase, and with Motley not even considered by Itoudis, Oturu stayed on the floor and was hunted repeatedly by Feliz and Campazzo, who either shot over him or drove past him. Even when they missed, Garuba cleaned up with five offensive rebounds. Within two minutes, the gap doubled from 10 to 20, and both teams began thinking about Game 3.<\/p>\n
As enjoyable as it is to watch Campazzo, and as much as I\u2019d like to give more credit to Hapoel, the truth is Real Madrid didn\u2019t do anything extraordinary to win and to win comfortably. And that\u2019s fine. The burden of proof isn\u2019t on the most decorated club in the competition it\u2019s on the team trying to upset a stronger, more experienced, and more cohesive opponent.<\/p>\n
Itoudis\u2019 rigidity, same game management, same rotations hurt yet again. To quote the (excellent) parody of Eli Gutman from \u201cBouba Shel Layla\u201d: \u201cwe saw it in the second half\u201d\u201462 points conceded, while Hapoel scored just 33 with a miserable 5 assists. His logic (the same one that got Hapoel to sixth place, to be fair) in completely removing Yam Madar and Jonathan Motley from the rotation didn\u2019t hold up. That same logic led him to stick with Micic and Jones despite poor performances, giving them unlimited freedom to dribble into traffic because they knew there were no alternatives. It also forced Oturu into foul trouble early, because everyone from Madrid to Timbuktu knows Hapoel has no bench alternative.<\/p>\n
Two games into the series, Hapoel Tel Aviv is still three wins away from the Final Four but also one loss away from heading to Mediterranean beaches (in European terms). Game 3 will take place in Bulgaria. I don\u2019t expect many changes from the Spanish side: Campazzo will be brilliant, Hezonja will keep shooting without hesitation, Alex Len will keep searching for himself, and Sergio Llull will keep getting his second-quarter minutes. Real Madrid will keep being Real Madrid.<\/p>\n
The big question is: who will Hapoel Tel Aviv be? A team playing for its entire season, one that must show qualities we haven\u2019t seen from it all year. Itoudis has to change something, because Hapoel\u2019s current formula doesn\u2019t work against Campazzo and Real Madrid. Hapoel\u2019s basketball has lost to Madrid\u2019s basketball not once, not twice but four times. And you know what they say about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Facundo Campazzo was once again everything Hapoel Tel Aviv simply isn\u2019t in this series. The veteran point guard came out again and delivered a masterclass of precision and efficiency, a display of individual skill and team intelligence, a concert of composure and winning mentality. Statistically, that meant 23 points on 5\/5 from two and 4\/7 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":177773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1655,97],"class_list":["post-177769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-facundo-campazzo","tag-hapoel-tel-aviv","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n