A perfect first round in San Pablo (89-65)

Full of concentration and energy, the Betis Basketball He already showed in the first quarter that the game plan was more than prepared. Memorized. He knew what awaited him. A very uncomfortable rival who, in defense, plays distractedly and proposes a different challenge to each rival attack. Against Hestia Menorca, you have to be patient, read where the possible advantages are and be very precise in your shot. If you do not combine all these variables, trouble is guaranteed. Betis did almost everything well, with problems in the defensive rebound due to their lack of centimeters but iron in his domains and surgical in attack to find the paths to the hoop. From 12-12, an 8-0 with Menorca failing everything, under the basket and far from it, consolidated Betis Baloncesto in control of the match, which they never let go of. A very distant ‘bomb’ from Benite anticipated a green-and-white explosion from the perimeter line.

Betis is a miner in defense and a gentleman in attack. From one half of the court to the other, change your overalls for your tuxedo. With amazing ease. That is as much a credit to the players as it is to their coach. He was ten ahead (25-15) to a Menorca that had already set all the possible ‘traps’, activating its well-known catalog of alternative defenses. The goal was to collapse it, but it was not successful. Domenech, his sweet moment, expanded to eleven (28-17) with the fourth green-and-white triple. Attention, fine in the shot, he also made his debut from the goal giving response a triple on the horn of David Gómezwho seemed super motivated. Without him on the court, his team lost 16-5: from 12-12 to 28-17.

With the same intensity and work, quality makes a difference. And that plus. against most of the teams in the category, it is from Betis. Hughes sharpened his team even more from the perimeter and turned on the supersonic engines of Betis, which flew first to 34-20 and then to 41-23 with the team in steamroller mode. Betis was a rock, multiplying aid and helping out everywhere; and in attack, Hughes acted as a clinical surgeon. Benite returned to the field, the Brazilian emulated his teammate in a shot that slipped in with suspense (44-23) and Jelinek followed suit, the Czech from the corner (47-26). Betis burned Menorca with triple bursts: 9/13 (63%). There the team distorted a little and received a 0-9 (47-35) due to several unforced errors. An outbreak of fire, just that, that Kasibabu put out with two maneuvers to the post, one of great quality, to make it 51-35 at halftime. Benite already had eleven points and Renfroe emerged as the best dealer: 10 of Betis Baloncesto’s 17 assists at halftime were signed by the magnificent American point guard.

Green and white dominance grows

Lukovic, due to an angry protest to the referees upon understanding that he had been fouled in the last action of the second quarter, took the technique and took Benite to the personnel line. He got it right and Kasibabu continued adding (54-35). Menorca’s defensive efforts, with pure and mixed zones, were neutralized by Betis with a choral, team game, and the excellent shooting tuning of their scorers. As young people and those who are not so young say, arrow up. The Betic lead rose to twenty (58-38) when Kasibabu went to the bench limping on his right knee. It was just a scare. He came back soon. The game was broken and almost half remained. The hot potato went to the roof of Menorca. He doesn’t like running, or at least it’s not his priority, and he does like five against five, but since he didn’t score, no matter how much and well he defended, his options languished. Hughes signed the tenth local triple (63-41) and, as the superiority of Betis Baloncesto was established, the emotion of the match was lowered for the solace and enjoyment of the green and white bench and its fans.

Another partial reactivated the visitors, who made the rubber because Betis, let’s say, self-regulates and measures its efforts. The revs dropped and the game fell asleep. In the last three and a half minutes nothing came in and the lead remained at fourteen (63-49) after 0-8. Gonzalo García then got a new ace by trying Jelinek as a power forward with Kasibabu closing the board. Another variant in an imperturbable team that played long and went 17 behind (69-52) after a rebound by Kasibabu and a triple, the twelfth for Betis, by Benite. Between the defense and the triple, Betis put itself in a position. And Kasibabu, brilliant, imposed muscle in the areas and even dressed as a fine stylist in the rival ring (72-52).

The best dealer

Renfroe attacked at a trot and that was enough for him to make passes and offer one gift after another to his teammates, who if they had been more successful would have brought the point guard closer to 20 assists. Finally, according to statistics, there were thirteen. Kasibabu (13 points, 8 rebounds, 20 PIR) understood him perfectly when the Menorcan defense was already breaking down. The dams collapse if you don’t have a pulse in attack. And Menorca crashed against one of the best defenses of the First FEB, that of Betis, which preserved the status quo of the game with triples from Hughes and Renfroe (82-60). Up to 24 (89-65) the maximum income rose of an unstoppable team in its lair, where no one disputes it this season.