FC Barcelona - Herbalife Gran Canària: Victory in a match best forgotten (62-52)

Barça won a match in which both teams played poorly. The win over the highly ranked Gran Canaria by 62 to 52 reflects the poor display by the Catalans and Canary Islanders. Now, the objective is to focus on the game against Real Madrid, where the Catalans must play at a much higher level than they did this Friday.

Lorbek and Oleson play crucial roles

Neither side scored a lot of points in the first minutes of the match. The 7-4 after the opening five minutes of the first quarter indicated that it was going to be a low scoring affair, it wasn’t until Lorbek and Oleson came on that the home team started to pick up the pace. Xavi Pascual’s men jumped to a 7-0 run and closed out the first quarter with 18 to 9 on the scoreboard.

Stuttering attack

Barça didn’t net a basket for seven consecutive minutes, and they were outscored by Herbalife Gran Canaria by 9 to 11 in the second quarter. However, the home team were still in front at the break (27-20), but the display left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, including the fans.

Dorsey and Pullen step up

Things didn’t change at the start of the third quarter. Barça’s defence was standing strong, but on the other end of the court the team’s performance could have been better. Pascual’s men showed that they were the better team in the third quarter despite their stuttering attack. Lorbek scored a three pointer which gave his team an 11-point lead (42-35) to close out the quarter.

In the last quarter the two Americans played a huge role. Dorsey was leading the defence and slamming home dunks on attack, and Pullen assisted and caused problems for Herbalife Gran Canaria’s defence with his penetrating runs. The best basketball of the night was played in the dying minutes of the match, and Barça jumped to a 13-point lead (50-37). The game came to an end with 62 to 52 on the scoreboard.