With the two games at Cerutti 1-1, the final of the Argentine Basketball League between Atenas and Racing will continue in Chivilcoy, on Saturday and Monday, from 9 p.m. If the series needs a fifth and decisive match to define the champion and promotion to the National League, it will be played on June 21, also at 9 p.m., in Córdoba.
The neighborhood team General Bustos won 80-72 opening the final key, while the Academia evened the series by winning the second match 73-67.
The first two games left several details that Athens will have to resolve to win at the Grilon Arena in Chivilcoy and regain home court advantage, and even finish the series and achieve the goal of promotion.
“Defensively we did well; “We did it well again and we lacked offensive variants,” he explained to The voice Verde coach Gustavo Peirone. His team allowed 72.5 points against Cerutti, with a good record. But in attack he fell short. He didn’t reach him with Lucas Arn, his top scorer. The captain scored 29 points in the first game, with 6/10 in triples, while in the second he added 19 points, with 3/9 in three-point shots.
Arn needs help from his companions. José Montero averaged 8 points, Juan Oberto 11.5, Carlos Buemo also 11.5, Nicolás Zurschmitten 7 and Chris Ware 8.5 points.
In addition to greater offensive contributions from each of the team members, it is necessary for Green to present a good percentage in three-pointers. In the first game, which he won, he scored 43 percent (13/30), but in the second he dropped to 29% (8/27). It’s not just about the many that come from those releases. With low efficiency, Racing closes its defense in the paint and for Atenas the dominant pairing game between Arn and Oberto in the paint becomes complicated.
Another important factor is the rebounding fight. In the two meetings at Cerutti, Racing dominated the aerial fight with an average of 33.5 recoveries, against 27.5 for the Greek. In addition, the Chivilcoy team captured 7.5 offensive rebounds that gave them shots in the second instance. This factor was especially noticeable in the resolution of the second game. Athens only managed an average of 3 offensive recoveries in both duels.
Peirone’s team will also have to take care of more balls, since they lost an average of 11.5 balls in the games played at Cerutti, against a Racing team that gave up 9 balls. The greater staff of the Buenos Aires team is a key factor because it allows its coach Diego D’Ambrosio a greater staff rotation and for his main players to arrive with more “air” at the end, at the definition of the matches. Racing plays with at least nine players in the rotation. Athens, at most, takes on the meetings with eight members.
The inner game of Racing
Atenas’ inside game, with Lucas Arn, Juan Cruz Oberto and Chris Ware from the bench, was one of the great assets they presented in the season, and in the playoffs they took advantage. But he ran into a Racing team that also has powerful players in the paint like José Peralta, Emilio Stucky and Luciano Ortiz.
In the second game at Cerutti, which the visitor won 73-67, the three combined for 39 points and 16 rebounds. The trio of green inmates contributed 38 points and 13 rebounds. Furthermore, Stucky was key with his defense, on the edge of the foul, to control Arn every time he stepped on the painted area.
In the first duel, to Arn’s 29 points (5 rebounds), Oberto added 10 and Ware 10 more (6 rebounds between them), while Racing’s trio of greats contributed 28 points and 15 recoveries.
The cards are on the table, Atenas and Racing are getting to know each other more and more. In the game of details, whoever imposes his strategy will win the series.
