Two of the most exciting teams to watch in Group B will lock horns on Wednesday evening (19:00 CET) when Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv takes on Gran Canaria. Their first meeting was already a thriller in which Gran Canaria won at home 85-83 in Round 5.
In that game, Hapoel erased a 17-point second-quarter deficit to lead by as many as 8 in the fourth. The hosts scored the game’s final 10 points and J’Covan Brown missed a three to win it at the buzzer. John Shurna led five Gran Canaria scorers in double figures with 18 points and Xavier Munford scored 24 for Hapoel.
Since then, the two teams have been among the best in the competition; Gran Canaria has won seven straight games and Hapoel is unbeaten in five. Coach Danny Franco's side leads the 7DAYS EuroCup in scoring (87.6 ppg.), defensive rebounds (29.7 drpg.), assists (21.2 apg.) and PIR (105.3) while keeping opponents to the second-lowest PIR (79.4) and the second-lowest two-point shooting success rate (48.8%).
Gran Canaria is second in the EuroCup in assists (20.7 apg.) and third in scoring (85.9 ppg.), two-point shooting (58.5%) PIR (97.2), while allowing the fewest rebounds (30.8 rpg.) and offensive rebounds (7.4 orpg.).
Plug in all the numbers and what we might find is that despite all the stars on the perimeter, such as Brown, Munford and Jordan McRae for the hosts and A.J. Slaughter, Andrew Albicy and Ferran Bassas for the visitors, the play in the paint could be the decisive factor in this game.
Who will control the rebounds? And can Hapoel slow down Gran Canaria’s bigs? The answers to those questions will be crucial.