The Czech big man played an integral role as Barcelona got back to winning ways.
Vesely enjoyed a bounce-back performance in win over Valencia
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Nothing went to plan for Jan Vesely in FC Barcelona’s 94-71 loss at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in Round 8 of the 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season on Wednesday night. Yet, just two days later, the 2018-19 EuroLeague MVP showed his true quality as Barcelona beat Valencia Basket 74-70.
At Baskonia, Vesely grabbed only 1 rebound and scored just 2 points, having gone 1-for-4 from inside the arc. It was a different story against Valencia at Palau Blaugrana, though, as he showed that his disappointing display in midweek was simply a blip.
Vesely found his groove again
On Friday night, the 33-year-old EuroLeague legend scored 9 of Barcelona’s first 13 points after going a perfect 4-of-4 from two-point range. Vesely finished the contest with a season-high 17 points, as well as 4 rebounds and 5 drawn fouls for a PIR of 20. In other words, he scored more than one fifth of his team’s 74 points.
“It was a very tough and physical game,” Vesely reflected in the post-game flash interview. “I’m happy that we fought from the beginning and we stayed in the game. We didn’t let this physicality get to us and we played very physically, too. I’m very happy that we reacted after the game at Baskonia, which I think was a very bad game for us in every aspect, so I’m happy that we reacted and we showed that that was not our [reality].”
A tough game for Barcelona
Indeed, Barcelona matched Valencia’s energy and physicality on the court throughout the game. Taking into account that head coach Alex Mumbru’s side boasted the finest defense in the competition heading into the all-Spanish clash at Palau Blaugrana, this win makes the Blaugrana’s achievement even greater.
“It’s really difficult to play against Valencia,” Barcelona head coach Roger Grimau stated after the game. “They are very physical. Sometimes we found good shots, but sometimes we collapsed a little bit. We suffered a lot in rebounding, but we defended more or less well. They had some second chances, but in the end we found the solution.”
In fact, Barcelona edged Valencia 43-39 on rebounds and its defense allowed them to score just 9 points from second chances, despite the visitors collecting as many as 15 offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, on a night where its long-range shooting was well off (5-for-30, 16.7% 3FG), Barcelona’s players didn’t give up and fought for every possession.
“Today we didn’t have the percentage [we wanted] on three-pointers, which makes this victory more important,” Alex Abrines, who made just 1-of-7 triples, noted.
“Sometimes it is hard to get good stops when you don’t score, but I think that today the team was amazing on defense against a really tough team. We wanted to win so badly, especially here at home, in order to bounce back after a tough game at Baskonia.”
Barcelona defended its home court by securing its fifth win in as many games at Palau Blaugrana. Yet, most importantly, the hosts received a huge boost in morale ahead of a tough game in Belgrade, Serbia, against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 10 next Thursday night.