The Spanish side now has time to work with its new head coach.
Barcelona outlasts ASVEL, gets important first win under Coach Pascual
Informes de partidos
3 Min lectura
Regular Season
Round 13 of 38
Regular Season
FC BarcelonaBAR
8878
LDLC ASVEL VilleurbanneASV
Overview
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It was harder than expected but FC Barcelona fought past LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Wednesday night, winning 88-78 to give Xavi Pascual his first victory since returning as head coach. And it was a good boost of confidence as the team has the national team break to work with the play-caller.
After a back-and-forth game with 17 lead changes and 13 ties in the first three quarters, Barcelona finally putting the game away at the start of the fourth quarter as it improved to an 8-5 record.
“It was a very difficult but super important game for us,” Pascual said. “I think it’s one of the key games of the season in terms of the first half [of the season]. It cost us a lot, but we won the game with the help of the whole arena, the packed arena, and people helping us and pushing us in difficult moments.”
The key to the win for Kevin Punter was staying aggressive offensively.
“As a team we are always aggressive offensively as a collective group – always staying in attack mode. So we were able to open up a lead,” said Punter, who led the way with 24 points and 7 assists. “We have to keep building. It’s a long season. Once we find our groove and get rolling, it will look even better. But right now we just have to continue to try and find our rhythm.”
Punter’s output, with his 24 points all coming in the final three quarters, was just three points off his season high of 27 points in Round 3 against Valencia Basket.
Dario Brizuela chipped in 12 points, including seven points in the decisive run to start the fourth quarter. And the guard said the team is still trying to figure out how Pascual wants it to play.
“It’s hard to know a coach after 10 days and to be able to play 100% how he wants, but we are getting there,” he said.
The national team break comes at a very opportune time for Barcelona, so the team and Pascual can really work together and get in tuned with one another.
“We have seven or eight days without games during the window to practice with him. So that will be a good week to practice and get closer to how he wants. So it’s important for us to go into that week with this win,” said Brizuela.
“We know in the EuroLeague we will have wins and defeats, but if you can win some games in a row you have more confidence. On offense we are still not that effective, especially from the three-point line. In general we are sharing the ball well. Defensively we are far away from the level we have to be if we want to do something great in this competition. But we are making steps. Hopefully in the near future, we will play better on both sides of the court,” Pascual added.
ASVEL, for its part, bounced back in solid fashion from its disappointing 52-84 home loss in Round 12 against AS Monaco. ASVEL continued its road woes with a 0-7 record away from home and 3-10 overall, which sees it sitting in last place in the standings
“I’m proud of the guys overall. We fought with what we had. We did our best. We competed for at least 32, 33 minutes. At the end of the game we were not good enough. But we will keep working and try to compete even more next time,” said ASVEL coach Pierric Poupet.
ASVEL did have good news in the game as leader Nando De Colo made a strong comeback from the hamstring injury that kept him out since Round 8. The 38-year-old poured in 22 points – including making 12 of 12 free throws – while dishing out a season-high 9 assists and grabbing 2 rebounds and 2 steals for a season-best PIR of 34.
