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Barca hit by injuries again

Someone said that Barcelona need to see an exorcist because of the incredibly massive injury problems that have hit them this season. Even so, they need to pull themselves together because things are definitely not looking up for them in Euroleague

ACB photo

Barcelona are in a rather tricky situation in Euroleague. Horrible road performances got them very far from one of the top 8 spots. They recorded the last defeat in Athens against Panathinaikos as a result of bad offensive end. It it somewhat surprising that they have the worst offensive end in Euroleague and hit only 72 points per game with such good-quality players. 

Barca were slower last season as well but at least they controlled the ball and didn't lose it just like that. Tyrese Rice is out of form and that immediately makes Barcelona's offense sterile. The injuries will make it even worse. Pau Ribar and Brad Oleson are out from before, and backcourt now lost Renfroe as well, leaving only Rice there.

Luckly for Barca, Koponon has been doing well recently and Navarro could always hit points. That will be crucial against Baskonia as we saw in the two previous games that the visitors don't suit them. 

- We saw that they have problems and we now expect their reaction after the bad defeat. We struggle a lot and we need stability in our game. I hope we can find pace in offense and defense because we need this win - coach Bartzokas said. 

He will definitely go with Koponen at point guard position for a portion of the game but Rice will probably get as much time on the floor as he can take. Perperoglou is back after the injury and isn't fully fit, which means Navarro will get some time on the floor as well. Things are much more stable in the paint. Doellman and Vezenkov are at 4 and Tomic and the brilliant Faverani at 5.

Baskonia are in a somewhat better position in EL but they struggle with form. After the brilliant first part of the season, they are on a 3-game losing run. The last two were particularly painful. Oly beat them by 30 in Greece and then Zvezda stunned them in Victoria by 18. Coach Alonso was furious after that last defeat. 

- I cannot stand it when my team isn't good. It drives me crazy. We need to get back to what saw us win and that is the proper approach. We need to learn to play aggressive defenses when shooting isn't going well. All of that was good before but it isn't anymore. 

Bargnani's comeback coincided with the decline in form. It is clear that he's only causing disorder in their game and that there is really no use of him for the team. There's also Shengelia's injury which disrupted Baskonia a lot because the Georgian was their top player this season. 

We saw the new defender Laprovittola's debut against Zvezda. This former NBA player recorded 6 points and 11 minutes in his debut but knowing him from the last seasons, we can safely assume that he'll be a big contribution to Baskonia's offensive end.