Joventut defense shuts down Hamburg for 2-0 mark

Joventut Badalona came up with its second straight strong defensive performance in notching a 73-56 home victory over Hamburg Towers. Joventut used runs of 13-4 and 12-0 in the final 13 minutes to move to 2-0 in Group A. Vladimir Brodziansky paced Joventut with 16 points while Andres Feliz scored 14 points and Ante Tomic had 11 points. It was the second consecutive round that the Spanish side gave up just 56 points - beating Dolomiti Energia Trento 56-86 last week. Hamburg dropped to 0-2 despite Jaylon Brown and Justus Hollatz both scoring 14 points and Zachary Brown picking up 11 points.

Joel Parra scored the first four points for the hosts. Jaylon Brown and Zachary Brown both hit three-pointers as Hamburg went up 6-8. After four points by Tomic put Joventut up 12-10, Jaylon Brown and Lukas Meisner connected for triples as the EuroCup debutant surged ahead 12-18. Brodziansky’s three-pointer trimmed the gap but the guests were up 17-21 after 10 minutes when Justus Hollatz hit a triple of his own. Feliz opened the second quarter with a triple for Joventut while Seth Hinrichs scored twice at the other end and Hamburg was up 22-25 as Joventut went nearly 4 minutes without a score. The hosts meanwhile were starting to shut down Hamburg’s offense with Simon Birgander scoring four points and Derek Willis hitting a three-pointer in a 12-3 run over more than 7 minutes for a 34-28 advantage. Jaylon Brown ended the Hamburg drought with a layup just before the halftime buzzer to make the interval score 34-30.

Parra scored the first points of the second half as well, and four points from Brodziansky put Joventut ahead 40-32. After Jaylon Brown got his team closer, Tomic picked up four points to push the margin out to double digits, 48-38. Zachary Brown snapped a 2-minute scoreless stretch with a three-pointer and Hamburg managed to get within five points but was down 52-45 after 30 minutes. Brodziansky got Joventut on the board to start the final frame before Eddy Edigin finally had Hamburg’s first score after nearly 2 minutes. Brodziansky hit a triple with Joventut adding the next four points as well for a 61-47 cushion. Hamburg would not go down without a fight and a breakaway dunk and three-pointer from Hollatz had the guests within 61-56 with 4 minutes left. Joventut responded with seven points from Feliz and a Zsombor Maronka triple for a 73-56 cushion to seal the win.

Pivotal performer - Guillem Vives guides Joventut without scoring

One might look at Guillem Vives’ stats and ask how he could be so pivotal, but the point guard was crucial to Joventut’s win over Hamburg. He only scored 2 points on 3 shots but he grabbed 3 rebounds and dished out 8 assists - one off his career high. Vives may not have scored much but he was a handful offensively, drawing nine fouls for an index rating of 21. The 28-year-old is showing he can massively impact games without scoring - in the Round 1 win over Dolomiti Energia Trento, Vives also scored 2 points on 3 shots but collected 1 rebound, 6 assists and 1 block.

Jaylon Brown shows again his desire is bigger than his size

Hamburg point guard Jaylon Brown showed once again his desire to win is much bigger than his size - even though the EuroCup first-timers came up just short again. Brown, who stands 1.81 meters, collected 14 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 7 fouls drawn for a PIR of 14 against Joventut. The 27-year-old was no stranger to facing the Spanish side, having played for Bilbao the last three seasons. Brown is showing he belongs in the competition after collecting 18 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal in Round 1 against Partizan NIS Belgrade before his strong showing in Badalona.

Telling numbers - Hamburg offense never found rhythm against Joventut

Joventut won the game predominantly because of its defense, holding Hamburg to just 43.8% on 2-pointers and 32.0% on three-pointers. Joventut also forced Hamburg into 17 turnovers while out-rebounding the guests 40-29. That led to a 15-8 advantage in second chance points. Hamburg also attempted only 4 free throws - making all four - compared to 11-of-15 for Joventut. The home side registered 22 assists - not a bad number at all for 73 points scored.