The interim head coach replaced Joan Penarroya on Sunday. How did he help the team in Munich?
Barcelona turns things around under Coach Orellana
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 10 of 38
Regular Season
FC Bayern MunichBAY
7475
FC BarcelonaBAR
Overview
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Time will tell if this was Oscar Orellana's only game leading FC Barcelona.
The 45-year-old, who was named interim head coach last Sunday after his former boss Joan Penarroya was fired, insisted ahead of Wednesday's game against FC Bayern Munich at SAP Garden that his job was to make his players look forward.
"We have talked and what we asked is to focus on winning the game against Bayern Munich tomorrow," Coach Orellana said the day before the game. "This is what we asked the team, not to think about anything else but preparing the game really well yesterday and today to beat Bayern. We have to think about beating Bayern in Munich without thinking about anything else."
Orellana got the job done as Barca left Munich with a morale-boosting 74-75 victory. Rather than focusing on the end of the game and how close it was, let's take a look at the things he changed and how he managed to make the team more effective in such a short period of time.
Defensively, Barca managed to be very effective against a team that entered this game on a three-game winning streak, a run that had seen the German side average 87.3 points per game. One of the Blaugrana's main tasks was to stop Andreas Obst.
Last season, in Barca's last visit to SAP Garden, Obst set an all-time EuroLeague record by burying 11 three-pointers to lead Bayern to a 100-78 victory on November 22, 2024. Tomas Satoransky was his designated defender on Wednesday night, a player with enough size, quickness and experience to limit him, denying him the ball as much as possible. Obst finished the game with 3 points on 1-of-8 shooting and a PIR of -6.
Coach Orellana relied on Willy Hernangomez, giving him an offensive specialist role. In his 16 minutes on the floor, Hernangomez was often his team's first option on offense, getting 10 points. In his previous five games, Hernangomez averaged just 2.6 points and never played more than 15 minutes. A new situation could make one of the best scoring centers in the EuroLeague bounce back and look more efficient.
By focusing on getting Hernangomez and Jan Vesely involved on offense, Barca got many more paint touches, looking to score around the basket. Before this game, Barca averaged 26.8 three-point shots per game. It took 17 in this game, and just 6 in the first half as it built a double-digit lead, 32-43. Another stellar halftime stat that spoke wonders about Barca's defense was the fact that Bayern had just 2 assists at the break. The hosts averaged 18.0 assists before the game and they ended up having 14, but also 14 turnovers.
With Obst out of the game due to Satoransky's defense, Spencer Dinwiddie kept the hosts in the contest with 16 first-half points. He went scoreless throughout the second half until he drew a foul at 73-75 with 1.2 seconds left. Dinwiddie missed his second attempt, allowing Barca to head back to Spain with the win.
In short, Barca took fewer three-pointers, looked for a more balanced offense by getting its big men involved, and was really smart on defense, trying to stop the players that could potentially hurt its chances to win. Satoransky led the way with 13 points and a PIR of 22, Will Clyburn added 12 while Toko Shengelia joined Hernangomez on 10 points.
"Before I talk about the game, I didn't really have a chance publicly to say thank you to coach Joan Penarroya," Shengelia said after the game. "And I want to use this opportunity and say thank you on behalf of the team as well for everything that he has done for us this year.
"Also, congratulations to coach Oscar [Orellana] and the staff. They did an amazing job preparing the game. These are the type of situations that either break you or make you, so this brought us together. And it tells you about the family spirit we have inside the locker room. We played as a unit, both offensively and defensively, and it also showed on the court. I'm really happy for my team that we got a win down today."
After the game, Satoransky went back to Coach Orellana's words before the game. The focus was on Bayern, and Barca got the job done.
"I feel excited and relieved. I think it was a well-fought victory. In the EuroLeague, you have to fight until the end, so that what's happened," Satoransky said. "I think we stayed together. This situation is obviously not the best right now, but we are trying to stay together, show it on the court and move forward. And I think that's the most important what we did. We just focused on beating Bayern. That's what we did. And now let's see if we can continue and to find some stability into that."
Barca returns home to face Virtus Bologna, Shengelia's former team, on Friday night.
