Pure Scariolo seal: this is how Spain suffocated Georgia in Las Ventanas

The National Team closed the first qualification window for the 2023 World Cup with outstanding marks. There were two victories in two games, the last one with a lot of merit against a Georgia flood that reached the Olivo Arena without one of its main references: Tornike Shengelia. The pivot, with a knee problem, missed his team’s second match after accumulating 65 minutes of play in two days between CSKA-Bayern and Georgia-Ukraine.

An important drop for Caucasians that Spain knew how to squeeze to shoot up to the final +28 (89-61). It was a triumph of level, unimaginable before the start of the game and that has, like many of this Selection in recent years, Sergio Scariolo’s stamp.

The Italian coach has little to prove at this point in the film, but in every big tournament, in every qualifying round, he adds a touch so that no one will forget how he plays chess on a basketball court. And as he faced Italy and Serbia in the World Cup in China, vital triumphs for the second intercontinental star, the one from Brescia left its mark on Jaén. He put his stamp on victory.

Defense, defense and defense

Everything started from the defense. From the initial jump to the end, his pupils squeezed themselves in defense. First, they pushed the ball out. Second, they limited their main references. In third year, they suffocated their peers. The result, in sight.

Neither Maziashvili nor McFadden had any facilities when it came to organizing the attack in the early stages of possession. And once that concrete line was surpassed, an aggressive one against one arrived, which McFadden suffered like nobody else– Had a fateful day with only 14 points (scored 27 against Ukraine) with 4/10 from triple and 0/5 from two. Jaime Fernández, Alberto Díaz and Oriol Paulí were in charge of turning their time through Jaén into hell. One after another. Without letting him breathe.

Shermadini did not have a pleasant night in Andalusia either despite his 21 goals. Fran Guerra, his teammate at Lenovo Tenerife, and Yankuba Sima were in charge of limiting their strength in the pick and roll with quick recoveries and they held up well their mobility in the area. And when there was a problem, you could always count on help thanks to the speed of movement of our fours and at the low level of the rest of the Georgian set.

“The attitude has been unbeatable. We have defended their strengths. We have kept Georgia at low attacking percentages and obviously they would have been another team with Shengelia, but still the level in defense was amazingScariolo commented after a duel in which his rival made a 4/20 from the triple and lost the fight for the rebound 40-29.