25.11.2010 20:14

Top 16 in touching distance (75-94)

Sònia de Alba

Regal Barça have moved one step closer to the Euroleague Top 16 after their road win at Cibona. Without Navarro, Mickeal or Basile, it was Ricky, Ingles, Fran Vázquez and Morris who shone.

Regal Barça’s 21 assists show just how well they played as a team in Zagreb, a difficult place to play against the side in financial trouble that is also bidding for a place in the Top 16. But Barça had points to prove and were just too strong.

FCB won by 19 points, and Ricky Rubio (18 points, 4 assists and 22 evaluation) was stunning, as were Fran Vázquez (14 points and 5 rebounds), Joe Ingles (16 points in 26 mins, the most of the team) and Terence Morris (15 points). Barça are now 4-2 in the group, and on good course for a place in the next stage.

Good pace

Barcelona went straight out to cause damage, and Zdravko Radulovic was calling a timeout after just five minutes. But Ricky was in his element, distributing the ball expertly, Vázquez was powerful on the paint and Ingles and Morris so regular with threes that they FCB +11 at the end of the first (13-24).

Going for threes

Things soon got better. At +16 (18-34) the home side was floundering. But Delas and Bogdavnovic both produced important threes to get Pascual thinking, just as the crowd went silent for three minutes, which was a protest against what they consider the authorities’ failure to finance the club properly. It was a surreal moment to only hear the bouncing ball and the squeak of the players’ shoes, and in that time Barça re-established an eight point lead.

End game

Bogdanovic (26 points, 6 rebounds and 24 evaluation) was the hosts’ strongest man, and kept Cibona in it as an 8-2 streak gave them renewed hope at 47-51. Ricky and Fran came to the rescue. Of Cibona’s 17 lost balls, four were stolen by Rubio, and Regal Barça showed their real superiority when it matters most. With their feet well on the gas, they overpowered a Cibona whose side’s hopes of reaching the Top 16 and reinforcing the roster have taken a nasty knock.