The Palau Blaugrana loses its armor
Barça suffers a painful defeat against Zalgiris
BarcelonaA painful defeat for a Barça that lacks consistency in its competition. The Blaugrana team lost to a Zalgiris team that displayed more collective play than individual talent (73-88). The Catalan team suffered from the lack of concentration they showed in the first and third quarters on the day the Palau Blaugrana, which was celebrating its 54th anniversary, once again lost its armor.
The poor offensive production of key players like Will Clyburn and Kevin Punter limited the scoring of a Barça team that needs to score a lot of points to be a competitive team. Juan Peñarroya was without Darío Brizuela and was still without Nico Laprovittola.
Led by Maodo Lo and well-coached by Tomas Masiulis, a former assistant to Sarunas Jasikevicius who went unnoticed during his time at Can Barça, Zalgiris started the match strong at the Palau Blaugrana (20-38). The Blaugrana team clung to the energy of Joel Parra to regain their momentum and reach the break with a less depressing scenario (39-52).
Incomprehensibly, Barça's performance was once again poor and the visitors' deficit grew to 25 points (48-73). Some Barça fans lost patience and took their handkerchiefs out of their pockets. Without any solid interior options, Peñarroya gave minutes to the young Sayon Keita.
Disturbed by the officiating, Barça sought a comeback that never quite materialized against a much more ambitious opponent. Their poor shooting accuracy proved a hindrance to their recovery against a Zalgiris side that earned their fourth win in six matches.