Shara rejoices in victory over CSKA: surrounded by James and the only concern | Euroleague

Barcelona already accumulated a double-digit advantage in the first half, which had reached 14 points at a time. The hosts of Palau Blaugrana started to stumble late in the third quarter, as CSKA came in with a shot.

“Congratulations to the players and fans who had to watch the game at home,” said Shar after the victory over CSKA. – It was a match that all the fans of the Catalonia team wanted to see. Congratulations on the victory to them. It is always good to win against a team like CSKA. I think we played great basketball for most of the game. As usual CSKA came back and the lead dropped to 2 points, but we found ways to recover, score points and escape irreversibly. It’s always hard to recover, but we did it. CSKA beat us in the third half. The truth is that we have problems finishing the games. When we play well, we lose focus. This is what happened today, I want to pay full attention to this aspect in training. Barcelona must finish the game well, not allowing opponents to breathe fresh air. “

After scoring 66 points, Barcelona demonstrated exemplary defense: CSKA achieved 45.5 percent of the two-point zone. shooting, from three points, only 29.6 percent, and penalties, 66.7 percent.

“The key to victory was defense. We have to be happy with the way we work on our side of the field, because the moments were really good, ”Shar said after the game. – CSKA is a very talented team in attack, but we knew how to stop it. We left Mike James below his usual averages. “

The CSKA star scored 26 points and 32 utility points in the first two games of the VTB United League, but left the Catalan capital with 13 points (2/3 doubles, 1/5 trit., 6/9 penalty) , 6 errors and only 7 efficiency scores.

Although Š.Jasikevičius and his company placed the team with probably the most impressive line-up in the first Euroleague game, the Lithuanian coach did not feel the importance of an exceptional victory.

“This allows us to continue the work we have started with a calm head,” said the coach.

Former Brandon Davies de Žalgiris, who was reunited with his former coach in Barcelona, ​​was the most productive Barça player in the winning match, scoring 18 points (7/9 dvit., 4/5 penalty), bouncing 4 balls , making a mistake 3 times, blocking the shot. and scored 20 utility points.

“The energy that Brandon shows sometimes works a bit against him, but I prefer players like that to those who lack motivation,” Shar said.

“We had a difficult time in the third half, but the teamwork allowed us not to break,” said Davies himself.

Nick Calathes made his Euroleague debut in the Barcelona jersey after moving from Athens to Panathinaika last summer. The organizer of the attack scored 7 points, rebounded 3 and took 1 ball, made 7 assists.

“They are still defending the champion title, so stopping the team like we did is a great start. We must resist this victory and continue to grow. “Our tall people did a great job, they created a lot of problems for the competitors,” said N. Calathes.

Next Thursday, Shar’s men will go to St. Petersburg, where they will have a Zenit test of the place represented by Artūras Gudaitis. Xavi Pascual’s students suddenly defeated last season’s leader Anadolu Efes 73:69 in the first round in Istanbul.