Matija Bajlovic (CRO)

ADRIATIC LEAGUE, 4th ROUND: BC Zadar 73, Nymburk 60
Written by Matija Bajlovic
Sunday, 24 October 2010 11:01

GOOD DEFENSE INITIATES EASY OFFENCE – SF PAVLE MARCINKOVIC, BC ZADAR (PHOTO: ZADARSKI LIST)

About the game:

Zadar has finally recorded it’s first Adriatic League victory this season. From the very beginning of the game home team has taken the initiative and slowly built its lead. Zadar offense was relatively inefficient but it’s players somehow always managed to find the open man in order to score. On the other side Zadar defense was excellent  which led to it’s biggest lead five minutes before the end of the third quarter – 46-29.

However when PG Jakov Vladovic made his fifth personal foul at the mid-point of fourth quarter, road team switched their defensive style to a pressing zone and managed to narrow Zadar lead to only 6 points. In the clutch, Zadar successfully closed the game on the wings of Marcinkovic, Brown and Batur.

SG Marko Car led the team with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 4 asissists, while Zadar’s numerous prospects played the decisive role on the defensive end. SF Pavle Marcinkovic was able to stop Nymburk leading scorer Simmons while forcing him to make 4 turnovers and limiting him to modest 14 point output.

About Nymburk:

This is Nymburk first Adriatic League season. It’s a fairly sorted team which is mainly based on outside shooting (SG Chester Simmons) and penetrations to the basket, all done in an attempt to neutralize the lack of height on their center positions.

If Simmons is defensively locked down then they find themselves in trouble. With the rest of players forced to shoot a lot of out-of-balance shots, opponents should be able to cash in on numerous transition opportunities.

Considering the current Adriatic League standings this 3-1 Czech team could most probably stay in the consideration for the very top of the standings.

Matija Bajlovic is special CroHoops.com correspondent from Zadar, Croatia.