Playing tougher and shooting better made all the difference for Bourg in Game 1
Bourg’s 'fight' and physicality were too much for Besiktas
There is a reason they call it playoff basketball. Only one thing mattered when Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse and Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul squared off in Game 1 of their best-of-three BKT EuroCup Semifinals series on Tuesday night: victory.
Bourg achieved that victory, 86-74, and it did not care afterward whether it was pretty or not.
“We did the job at home. Now we have to turn around and go to Istanbul,” Bourg’s top performer on the night, Isiaha Mike, said after the game. “We had a pretty big gap and they cut it to I think 9 or 8 and we were on the ropes for a little bit, but as long as we continue to fight and fight and fight and fight, I think we’ll win.”
Notice the emphasis on "fight"? It’s hard to miss. And Mike was not the only one to attribute his team’s aggressiveness to the outcome.
“Bourg played very physical and my team played very soft,” Besiktas head coach Dusan Alimpijevic contended in the post-game press conference. “We can say that was one of the keys why we lost.”
Overall, the game was not pretty. There were 50 fouls called and 28 turnovers committed. The two teams combined to miss 24 free throws.
And yet, when all was said and done, it was shooting that decided the game. Both teams attempted 20 three-pointers. Bourg made 9. Besiktas made 6.
Besiktas had 10 offensive rebounds and thus shot more two-pointers. However, it converted 19 of 39 (48.7%). Bourg was 19 for 34 (55.9%). Add in that Bourg was also better from the line (67.7%-56.3%) and you have much of the game story.
Even Besiktas’s expected rebounding advantage was minimized. The visitors outrebounded Bourg 34-35 and had 4 more offensive boards. But the difference in second-chance points was just 7-10 for Besiktas.
After such a game, it’s not exactly back to the drawing board for either team.
“We played like we did all season at home in the EuroCup with our identity and our character,” Coach Frederic Fauthoux said, which is exactly what Bourg plans to do on Friday in Istanbul. However, he did admit: “We will watch [Game 1] because we need to improve on some details.”
His counterpart is banking on one very big factor making a difference in Game 2.
“In Istanbul, there will be 17,000 in the arena and we need to play much tougher,” Coach Alimpijevic said. He credited Fauthoux for Bourg’s play, too. “Bourg was very prepared for us… We need to fix our mistakes and do everything to come back,” he explained while also adding that stopping Bourg in transition is a must.
But in the end, it’s the playoffs. And Mike summed up nicely what needs to be done to come out on top: “Playing together, playing hard and playing to win.”
Bourg did that better in Game 1. And Game 2 should be even more exciting.