The morning for Barça started out crooked and ended completely broken. The club reported before entering the Nou Congost that Raul Neto, their new signing, would be out for four weeks due to a muscle injury and that Jabari Parker, with a knock on his knee, was out to face the always electric Baxi Manresa. And the Blaugrana left the Nou Congost with their fourth defeat in five games, this one without palliatives, with Brizuela injured muscle and with Kevin Punter not having been able to play the final stretch after being disqualified. Barça is going through the most delicate moment in many months and, right now, it is a ruin.
“Many things need to be improved to get back on track. We are in a delicate moment and we have to grit our teeth,” Joan Peñarroya, Barça coach, tried to explain at the end. There are no answers on the hardwood and there do not seem to be any on the bench, where there are fewer and fewer occupants due to the series of injuries, which caused, for example, the debut this Sunday of the young Arturas Butajevas, the Lithuanian jewel of the quarry at 17 years old.
Barça lost Brizuela due to injury, one more, and Punter due to two techniques: everything goes wrong
All honors for Baxi Manresa, which continues to feed its cup-winning dream with mathematics in the Endesa League that seem like elementary school. He wins everything at home and loses everything away. So he was not willing for Barça’s visit to end that streak and, with Dani Pérez in NBA mode (22 points and a master class in leadership), Ocampo’s team smelled the rival’s weaknesses and showed no mercy. He gave the Blaugrana up to 51 points at half-time, aware that the defense is being one of their weakest points.
That Willy Hernangómez was Barça’s best player, with 17 points and 12 rebounds, says it all. The man from Madrid had just played 3 minutes against Real Madrid but against Baxi Manresa he had more time on the court after the bad start of the giant Fall, who Peñarroya condemned to the bench perennially after several consecutive errors. One of the most alarming signs for the Barça team is that they cannot be blamed for their attitude, always combative, and trying to compete until the end. The problem is that right now he doesn’t have enough for much more and the energy of Baxi Manresa, always enviable, was enough to end up with his bones on the canvas again.
Technical sheet
85. Baxi Manresa (22+29+19+15): Pérez (22), Hunt (8), Sagnia (2), Steinbergs (5), Massa (8) -starting five-; Alston Jr (12), Obasohan (10), Reyes (12), Saint-Supery (-) and Cate (6).
72. Barça (22+16+15+19): Núñez (5), Brizuela (-), Anderson (7), Parra (13), Fall (-) -starting five-; Sarr (4), Hernangómez (17), Butajevas (-), Punter (4), Vesely (4), Satoransky (16) and Abrines (2).
Referees: Emilio Pérez Pizarro, Alberto Baena and Cristóbal Sánchez. The visiting player Punter was disqualified for unsportsmanlike foul and technical foul (min. 24). They eliminated the local player Cate due to five personal fouls (min. 36).
Incidents: Match corresponding to the ninth day of the Endesa League played at the Nou Congost in front of 4,917 spectators.
#Barça #ruin
