Going against the BKT EuroCup's best defense, Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse took a page from Aris Midea Thessaloniki's book and held the visitors to 65 points thanks to busy hands.
Steals leader Bourg proves it can win with defense, too
Statistik
3 Lesezeit
Regular Season
Round 7 of 18
Group B
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Faced with a visit from the BKT EuroCup's best defense through the first six rounds, Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse made its intentions clear right away against Aris Midea Thessaloniki on Tuesday.
In a battle for the upper hand in the Group B standings, Bourg literally blanked Aris for the first 5 minutes of their encounter while soaring to an 11-0 lead that eventually reached 23-4 late in the first quarter. Aris would rally in the second and take brief leads soon after halftime, but Bourg relied on its defense during the last 15 minutes to eke out a 72-65 victory and stay a perfect 4-0 at Ekinox arena so far this season.
Among the keys to the outcome was steals. Aris came into the game with the league's best points-against defense, allowing just 69.8 points per game. It also ranked first in keeping opponents to 46.3% accuracy on two-point shots and forcing the most turnovers, 17.5 per game. Bourg overcame those threats by shooting 57.9% inside the arc and, if not avoiding turnovers, at least forcing Aris into the same 18 that the hosts committed.
Bourg was credited with 13 steals among those Aris turnovers, raising its league-leading average to 10.7 per game. That's 1.4 more than the next-best team, ratiopharm Ulm, and at least 3 more steals per game better than all but five of the EuroCup's 20 teams.
And Bourg is way ahead of the pack with making at least 11 steals in five of its seven games so far. Only Aris, Ulm and two undefeated teams, Dreamland Grand Canaria and Paris Basketball, have as many as two games with 11 or more steals.
On Tuesday, Jeremy Morgan was the head thief, with 5 steals. That tied the second-highest total in the EuroCup this season and came within 1 steal of Bourg's club record in the competition. Isiaha Mike and JeQuan Lewis, playing his first EuroCup game due to injury until now, added 2 swipes each.
Mike, with 2.4 per game, and Morgan (1.9), are the only teammates ranked in the top 10 in that category this season, with Maxim Salash close behind at 1.6 on average. After their busy hands did the work on defense while holding Aris to just 65 points, Mike was encouraged that Bourg can keep building on its 5-2 record in Group B and get even better going forward.
"We went on a little bit of a skid, but we're glad to be back in the winning column now," Mike said post-game. "I think that's been a theme for us; not being able to maintain a high level throughout 40 minutes. We're still trying to work out the kinks, but I feel like the more we play together, the more we get back to the film room, the sky's the limit for us."