An erratic Betis Basketball succumbs in Santiago (71-67)

The best of the team came in the opening. The staging of Betis Baloncesto was most exciting, that of a harmonious team in a state of grace. Or so it seemed then. In front of the structure of three great Obradoiro, the Betic team, in blue in Santiago, refined its perimeter aim, transforming four triples in less than seven minutes with which they doubled the lead (10-20). With Balvin, who did not play much in the first half, Obradoiro breathed, but thanks to another outside goal, from Rubén López, Betis left with an advantage at the first bell (18-23). He had played better with Renfroe than with Cvetkovic and soon found it difficult to generate from the central pick-and-roll.

He needed more resources beyond the triple to maintain control of the game because the Bus Obradoiro he had already adjusted and tightened the defense. Kasibabu missed two free kicks and the Galicians threw the first two attacks overboard. Desperate in the band, Gonzalo Rodriguezthe local coach, shook up the bench, changing players and structures. It was time for defenses. Shoveling of cement and closing of rows. Baskets, like goals. Episodic. A low rhythm in which Betis moves like a fish in water. Two minutes passed without a single made field goal. DeBisschop broke the dynamic, but Betis did not break the game, leaving three-pointers and free throws in limbo.

Stephens poked from the perimeter and Quintelafrom the same luck, equalized the match, ending 8-0. Betis no longer had control and had frozen. It is one thing to decelerate and another to remain stopped. Betis’ response was immediate, with points from DeBisschop and Radoncic. Micovic He adjusted by three (29-30) and Fontes dos Sar asked for an unsportsmanlike behavior from Hughes that the referees denied. That Betis Baloncesto lacked spice was already a reality. Its second quarter, the antithesis of the first. He neither scored nor grabbed the rebound (33-30). Radoncic cut in a basket leaning on the board after a feint and Benite still took a couple of shots without connecting. The green and white springs had dried up: only nine points converted in the second quarter. The Galician defense had grown, but there were many comfortable shots missed by Betis (33-32).

Great locker room exit

Back from the break, bad news: Hughes’ third foul. Renfroe teamed up with DeBisschop, an alliance that works, but Betis needed more players to take shots. Benite consoled his drought from 4.60 (33-36), Hughes turned on his wrists and Renfroe, with his particular mechanics, extended the set with a free shot with no rivals in at least two meters around. Betis’ acceleration was already reflected in a 0-10 that silenced the bustling Fontes do Sar (33-42). Balvin, after a visitor’s gift, and Micovic woke up their team (37-42). Cvetkovic, subdued and erratic, made his debut from personal (37-44) when DeBisschop, who was playing at a high level, committed the second foul and Cvetkovic, a dubious unsportsmanlike act for swinging while driving the ball. Ways to complicate life. Betis breathed life into Obradoiro (44-44, after Davison’s triple). Everything started again with the guests in the tunnel of intermittency, without continuity. Flashes alternated with blackouts while Benite expanded his collection of failures. Betis did not produce anything, mistake after mistakedry and anarchic. With the unknown team, Obradoiro went six up when the horn sounded in the third quarter (52-46). From 0-10, partial 19-4.

Ten down and reaction

Betis did not react, as they wasted attacks due to technical errors (54-46). In a minimal match, he was shipwrecked. Stevicwho has plenty of mischief, broke stones, drew fouls, scored and put his team nine ahead (57-48). That was ten after Davison’s triple (60-50) with 5.37 left. Gonzalo García asked for time, but it seemed utopian that Betis, at that level, would turn the game around. Kasibabu then assumed responsibility by scoring seven points in a row (60-57) to once again generate many doubts for the Galician team.

Betis was alive with three minutes left. Benite, then, responded to Davison from the perimeter (63-60) and Hughes adjusted the score even further (65-64) to 1.52. Kasibabu fouled by Davisonhe faced his rival and the referees punished the Betic with the technique. Then, unfocused on the Congolese no matter how much Renfroe tried to calm him down, he missed one of the team’s free throws (66-65) and Quintela did not miss from 4.60. Hughes missed the tying triple and Micovic sentenced the duel from the corner (71-65). There was nothing to do now. After a time-out, Renfroe lost the ball and Betis ran out the time so, thinking about the particular duel, that the defeat would be as painless as possible from an accounting point of view.