Ronen Ginzburg’s side has now won three of its last four games.
Timely Prometey timeout shattered Hamburg’s comeback
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3 Mins read
Prometey Slobozhanske seemed to have its BKT EuroCup Round 10 game against Veolia Towers Hamburg totally under control when it entered the fourth quarter. The Ukrainian team led 54-74 at that moment and even had a 20-point margin, 66-86, with less than 6 minutes remaining.
Ronen Ginzburg’s side had showed much more power than its opponent to that point, as Hamburg had only enjoyed one short lead, 5-6, early in the game. From then on, Prometey encountered very few difficulties along the way as it opened a double-digit lead, even above the 20 point-mark in the second half (43-66 after 26 minutes).
“Compared to the previous game we played against them, we didn’t let them run on the fastbreak as much,” said Prometey center Ondrej Balvin after the game when asked his team’s superiority in the first part of the contest. “In the first game [in Round 1] we had big problems against that, but this time we able to manage it and we also covered our defensive rebounds better.”
A late Hamburg comeback
But, when it seemed the outcome was sealed, the home team reacted, switching its defenses from man-to-man to zone, slowing Prometey down and punishing its opponent with a 15-2 run that made it a new game, 81-88, with 3 minutes left.
“I think we relaxed for a little bit,” Balvin explained. “They started making shots and good plays. We just needed to rest and get back in the game. And in the moment when Coach [Ginzburg] took the timeout, he spoke to us and we managed to handle it.”
It was a turning point, as Balvin revealed, because after the timeout Hamburg could not score a single field goal. What’s more, the hosts ended up giving up a triple and a couple of buckets to Rob Gray, as well as a pair of free throws to Ronald March, which all but finished the job.
“We just lost focus on defense and on offense. We made mistakes, too many turnovers,” commented Coach Ginzburg. “On offense we were a little bit shaky, we let them three-point shots. I just calmed them down and, you know, tried to organize the game. And we did it.”