Like some US complexes, the Palau Blaugrana (where the team plays) is right next to the soccer stadium, Camp Nou. This made it quite convenient to find, however figuring out how exactly to get in took some ticket flashing at security guards. I found the exterior entrance quickly enough, though. Similar to Camp Nou, you are assigned a gate to go through in order to enter the arena. The numbering system appeared to make just about zero sense, as the 90 and 80 sections were on either side of the 70 section, running contrary to the crazy thought that they would follow some ordinal pattern. Nonetheless, to figure out where in the world I needed to go I played dumb and walked up to the wrong gate, tried to scan my ticket and had the security guard point me to the correct gate. Good thing pointing directions is pretty universal. Once I got to the right gate, my section was right there. Walking in the doors to the section, I walked down the steps to my row two seat....and kept walking until I was nearly on the court. Typically at a 76ers game, I would have been able to hear players call out plays and yell random things, however, this place was far louder (I'll get to that). The seat next to mine had a Lakers sticker on it, and I immediately noticed the darkened lights surrounding the court (although unlike Staples, this place was pretty full). Like a college game, there was a clear supporters group called the Dracs (or Dragons/Devils) in the upper bleachers. Since the Palau is pretty small, they were loud. I'm not even sure they cared to watch the game, but they sure were having a hell of a time chanting and performing various cheers among the group. It seemed all pro-Barca, but then again, I had no clue what they were actually chanting. I'm sure I'm committing a soccer cardinal sin here, but the atmosphere here was actually more energetic than a game at Camp Nou. Maybe it was the intimate surroundings, but I can kinda see why Ricky Rubio isn't exactly getting the next flight to Minneapolis. No scoreboard here to tell us when to chant de-fense or pump up the volume. These guys were bringing it just as hard as Barca was.
Onto the game. Barca won handily, 80-56. This wasn't a quiet 80-56 win either, they pretty much made it look easy. The most obviously prominent player in the game is Ricky Rubio, so I tried to follow him most closely. He obviously starts, and judging by promotional posters around the stadium, is regarded as one of the most integral players. I had a really tough time to get a great grasp of him- on some hands, it's really clear why he was the #5 pick, and on some aspects you wonder why he was even drafted. He got noticeably beaten twice in the first quarter by Darius Washington. To be fair, Washington is a pretty solid player in his own right, and they were both from 1-1 matchups, but they looked like plays he could have defended. He also gets substituted at really odd times- the coach seems to realize that he should be on the court for important minutes, but it never really seemed like he was able to get in the flow of the game. While he was in the game, it seemed like Barca always took control. He did play well, with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals, but the guy went 0-2 from the field for 0 points. He either has no confidence in his shot and is afraid to shoot (which is what it looks like, as he pass off multiple open shots), or feels completely like he needs to pass the ball off every possession and only initiate the offense and create chances for other players to score. Nonetheless, there was a few times when he had a favorable chance to score in the open court and instead chose to slow it down and pass it off. I know he's shooting a terrible percentage this year, but part of that could possibly come from the irregularity of his shots, since he refuses to take them. He also seemed to favor his right hand, but that was not particularly a big deal, as he didn't seem to lose anything going left. Nonetheless, he had somewhat of an it factor. Whenever he was on the court, he was the first player you noticed and seemed to have complete control of the game despite his lack of shooting, and being beat a couple times by Darius. If he gains confidence in his jumper, he will probably be Minnesota's starting PG if he ever decides to come over.
Some other player notes: JC Navarro looks skinny. He supposedly weighs more than Rubio, but he definitely looked smaller. Nonetheless, he had an off shooting game but plays in the Ray Allen style in that he will keep coming off screens and putting it up, knowing it will go in eventually. Not surprising why he plays so well in international competitions, and he must really like Barcelona because he is definitely cut out for the NBA. If any NBA team is looking for a tall white stiff to take some fouls, look no further than Kosta Perovic! He would definitely be really pretty good for 6 fouls, a couple rebounds, and maybe a couple points. Although I do think he threw one down during the game. Alan Anderson led Barca in scoring, and consistently looked more athletic than the rest of the players on the court. Darius Washington was clearly carrying the Lottomatica team, and looked incredibly frustrated by the end of the game, trying to constantly create something and typically having to do it himself. He finished the game shooting 8-12, so he obviously succeeded somewhat.
Some other things I noticed: Once again, all the music is in English. They love Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi. At halftime, everyone pulls out bocadillos (sandwiches). Why don't we do this in the US? The chanting was pretty cool, especially in the beginning when it was still relatively close. By the 4th quarter, it got a bit tiring. On one hand, it's nice to have fun support, but on the other hand, I thought people went to games to actually watch them (crazy). I'm pretty sure I was sitting directly behind some sort of sports reporters or analysis, because at halftime they filmed something for about a minute. Not sure what they went over in that minute, but they were somebody somewhat important, I think. This was a really good basketball crowd, and you can see how much the players appreciate it (they clapped towards the fans as they walked off the court).
So, maybe this is why Ricky doesn't want to go to Minnesota.
No comments:
Post a Comment