Clash of underdogs: can Andorra stop blazing hot Frutti Extra Bursaspor? / News - Basketnews.com
Credit IMAGO/Nordphoto, ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix "Underdogs? I don’t care. We are not just some dogs. We are Pitbulls, hrr," would have saidJohn Holland, the late signing of Frutti Extra Bursaspor guard, if he gets to see this headline.
3-pointers this season
37%9,3Points made:9,3Accuracy:37,1%Place in standings:9Record max:14Record min:4Most made 3FGs:Clevin HannahTeamEuroCupStatisticsScheduleWell, he is not without a point.
In their only second-ever campaign in EuroCup,Frutti Extra Bursaspordefied all the odds to reach the semi-final stage after coming overPartizanandCedevita Olympiain away games in the knockout rounds: an unimaginable dream up until now.
"We are like Circus Colorado," coach Dusan Alimpijevic admits. "We come to a city, play in front of a full capacity crowd on the court, win and then take on the next city."
The team from Bursa struggled in the first part of the season both in EuroCup and in their domestic league as well. They only had 3 wins under their belt until mid-March, but a 16-6 run towards the end of the regular season brought them to the seventh place.
Bursaspor also said goodbye to their leading scorer Allerik Freeman on his journey to CSKA, but instead, other players from the ranks did not hesitate to step up to carry the load.
As the two leaders of the team, Andrew Andrews is averaging 20.6 points and 4.5 assists per game with 45% shooting from the 3-point zone averages in his last 10 games, whereas young Turkish NT star Onuralp Bitim is spilling all his energy on the court to give the best support possible.
Derek Needham is a keen follower of his defensive assignments while averaging 5.0 assists per game, and versatile power forward David Dudzinski shoots with 54% FG with 43% 3 FG. Meanwhile, Kevarrious Hayes is a switch-eligible No.5 and a formidable rim protector.
The leading, most efficient offense in the competition, Frutti Extra Bursaspor (1,02 Points Per Possession), is now on a four-game winning run and punched their ticket to the domestic league playoffs during the weekend.
Despite the previous rounds, the odds now favor the Turkish outfit against their next opponent: Andorra.
But coach Dusan Alimpijevic remains hesitant to get ahead of themselves.
"It is a semi-final game, and you cannot expect an easy game from a semi-final," Alimpijevic remarks.
"First of all, let's not forget that they were in 4th place of the group whereas we were 7th. Let's not forget that they kicked out Buducnost and also Gran Canaria.
They have troubles in ACB as they are trying to survive there but don't forget that they changed the coach. The Spanish League is hard and competitive and, in my mind, the strongest league in Europe, whereas Turkey comes second, I guess.
For me, this is not a lesser game by any means regarding difficulty and importance than the previous two games. We came to this position because we did not think two steps ahead. We came into this position only about the next game," he adds.
MoraBanc Andorra are not a stranger to the EuroCup semi-finals, where they reached the same stage back in 2018-19.
At that time, German powerhouse ALBA Berlin led by Aito Garcia Reneses proved too heavy for the team from the Pyrenees, where David Jelinek and Moussa Diagne are the only ones who remained from those days in the team.
Andorra had a turbulent season where they found refuge in multiple coaching changes in quick succession to turn things around. While things were going relatively well in the EuroCup (they finished the group stage in 4th place after Joventut, Partizan, and Metropolitans 92, all eliminated), their presence in the Liga Endesa became endangered.
The rescue operation started with parting ways with long-term coach Ibon Navarro after 3.5 years at the end of January.
However, his assistant David Eudal, who was promoted to the head coach position, lasted only 21 games before giving way to Oscar Quintana, the third coach of the season, during mid-April.
After the arrival of Quintana, who was working as a commentator for a Spanish broadcaster, Andorra gave a strong reaction by winning three games in succession against Buducnost and Gran Canaria in the EuroCup and Burgos in the ACB.
All these wins gave a new spark to an impossible duality for the principality. On the one hand, the team is trying to make it to the EuroLeague, but on the other, they are striving to remain in ACB. It remains unclear what comes next if they thrive in the latter but fail in the former, but they don't have too many options other than winning at this time.
Quintana said that the Spanish League was a priority before the Gran Canaria game but looks like the objectives slightly changed after making a stunning comeback to reach the last 4 in the competition.
Against Bursaspor, he reveals that the approach would be different.
"The speech I used with the players I can no longer sell because behind this match there is a final, and everyone has their competing gene and wants to make history in this club," he says.
"We have to ask for everything, and we ask for everything," he continues. "And right now, we would all sign for the victory, but we will see how the match develops, which will have a lot of nerves and a lot of tension."
Andorra is not a star-studded team, but Codi Miller-McIntryre is the leader of this revenant surge with 15.5 points, 6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game for the Quintana era. The experienced Czech guard David Jelinek hit 5/7 against Gran Canaria behind the arc and was ready to give a helping hand.
Clevin Hannah is a defensive ace around the perimeter, and his 40% 3-point shooting accuracy was exemplified against Buducnost, where he hit 6/10 from deep. Many of them were clutch shots.
Andorra lost against Valencia, another semi-finals participant of EuroCup, to finish their 3-game winning streak, but they made valiant defensive improvements in that stretch. 0.91 points per possession allowed in the last 4 games is a considerable achievement.
One should not forget that Andorra is the 3rd team in the list of blocks per game (3.1 after Partizan and Venezia, also eliminated). At the same time, Babatunde Olumuyiwa had 5 blocks during the last 4 games.
Not only can Andorra be effective in defense, but it also can convert that effort into easy buckets. They were also one of the best transition teams in the competition. They made 8.1 transition attempts per game and scored 4.9 out of them.
As the title indicates, this would be a clash of teams who were not expecting themselves to be in this stage at the beginning of the season. But both clubs are on the verge of writing history on their behalf and give their best not to miscue this historical opportunity.
Which mountain has a higher peak in the basketball dimensions? Uludag or the Pyrnenes? We will learn soon.
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