Real Madrid stormed over Brose Baskets Bamberg 93-57
Real Madrid stormed over Brose Baskets Bamberg 93-57 in the Spanish capital on Thursday night. Madrid improved to 7-3 and is closer thn ever to a Top 16 spot. Meanwhile, Brose Baskets dropped to 1-9 and is all but mathematically out of the competition. Louis Bullock led the winners with 20 points on 6-for-7 three-point shooting. Axel Hervelle added 19 on 3-for-3 two-point and 4-for-4 three-point shooting, Alex Mumbru had 16, while Felipe Reyes grabbed 10 rebounds for Madrid, which fired in 17 of 33 three-pointers and outrebounded its opponents 37-24. Darren Fenn had 17 points for Brose Baskets, Predrag Suput added 13 while Chris Ensminger had 10. Madrid opened the game with a 15-0 run and boosted its lead up to 29-12 after 10 minutes. A rain of three-pointers allowed Madrid to make it a 25-point game, 54-29, at halftime. Brose Baskets improved its offense early in the third quarter, but Madrid still managed to get a mammoth 75-44 margin after 30 minutes, more than enough to seal the outcome.
The game turned into a defensive battle in the beginning, as Reyes beat the shot clock with a layup-plus-foul. Brose Baskets went scoreless in the opening five minutes, while Mumbru buried a three-pointer for a 6-0 Madrid lead. By the time Bullock dunked it off a midcourt steal, Bamberg head coach Dirk Bauermann asked for a timeout at 8-0. Raul Lopez fed Mumbru for a fast break layup, as Brose Baskets simply could not find the way to the basket. Lazaros Papadopoulos hit his trademark hook shot and Bullock sank a corner triple to cap a 15-0 opening run for Madrid. Fenn stepped up with a jump hook for Brose Baskets. Bullock persisted from downtown, but a layup by Ensminger and a fast break basket by Suput gave Bamberg some hope at 18-6. Hervelle stepped up with a big triple from the top of the key and soon added a put-back basket – and the free throw that came with it. Michalis Pelekanos capped a 9-0 run with another three-pointer for a 27-6 Madrid margin. Steffen Hamann and Sajmen Hauer fueled a 0-6 run, but Blagota Sekulic buried a long two-pointer for a 29-12 Madrid lead after 10 minutes.
Charles Smith pleased the crowd with a fast break dunk early in the second quarter, as Bamberg struggled at both ends. Sekulic stepped up with a put-back basket to restore a 21-point Madrid lead, 33-12. Once again Bamberg could not find the way to the basket, as it went scoreless for almost 3 minutes until newcomer Kimani Ffriend took over with a put-back layup. Hauer added free throws, but they only managed to get his team within 33-16. Madrid opted to look for long, patient possessions and Mumbru finished one with an easy layup. Brose Baskets called timeout and switched to a 2-3 zone defense that Mumbru immediately punished with a corner three-pointer, good for a 38-16 Madrid lead. Fenn scored in the paint, but Mumbru answered to make it 40-18. Papadopoulos fed Hervelle for his second triple, as Bamberg tried to look for its big men now. Ensminger shined with a jump hook, as Madrid opted to give homegrown talent Pablo Aguilar extended playing time. He immediately delivered with a corner triple to give Madrid a mammoth 48-24 lead. Three-pointers by Lopez, Suput and Bullock, as well as a buzzer-beating put-back layup by Fenn, fixed the halftime score at 54-29.
Fenn tried to ignite the guests' comeback right after the break, but Reyes made a free throw and Bullock collected a steal and fed Sergi Llull for a fast break dunk. Suput stepped up with a driving basket, but a red-hot Bullock answered from downtown for a 60-33 Madrid lead. The hosts had less intensity in defense now due to its huge advantage and Suput made the most out of it with a three-pointer. Mumbru and Fenn joined the three-point shootout while Reyes scored inside for a 65-39 score, as both teams traded baskets at full speed now. Suput scored again, as Bamberg was running its offense through him now. Meanwhile, Hervelle had a put-back layup to make Brose Baskets call timeout at 67-41 after 27 minutes. Hervelle shined with a three-pointer and even when Fenn answered from downtown, Hervelle insisted from beyond the arc for a 73-44 margin. Once again Hervelle added a follow-up layup, as Madrid had already sealed the outcome, 75-44, at the end of the third quarter.
Everything was said and done up to this point and Madrid kept trying to develop weapons such as full-court pressure to use in the upcoming Group C games. Madrid also tried to please its many fans with some showtime, as Brose Baskets tried to change things once the outcome was clear. Ensminger and Suput stepped up for the guests, but a three-pointer by Kerem Tunceri and free throws by Reyes gave Madrid a 35-point lead. Smith found Papadopoulos for an easy basket, but Robert Garrett found his first points on a fast break layup, while Ensminger added a power layup. Nothing changed in the final three minutes, as Madrid will now try to reach high in Group C while Brose Baskets needs a miracle comeback to make it to the next round.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Euroleague.net