Euroleague is not a forgiving place for any basketball side. Partizan’s almost completely overhauled roster has found that out the hard way. Zeljko Obradovic’s side got the win over FC Bayern on Tuesday but, Emmet Ryan writes, still have a lot of work to do
An ugly win is still a win. Partizan showed flashes of what they could be against FC Bayern. Most importantly for Zeljko Obradovic, they got their first win of the Euroleague season.
The good
When Partizan were rolling against FC Bayern, they truly looked marvellous. This is a team clearly blessed with a broad variety of scoring options. Five players were in double digits and did so in different ways.
Frank Ntilikina looked oh so comfortable for long spells. Carlik Jones was showing he could do the ugly work while also adding a touch of class. Isaac Bonga decided to have a three point party. Tyrique Jones was more than happy being a foul drawing machine and getting to the line. Then there was Sterling Brown. He just made buckets.
When they were good, Partizan were oh so very good. Zeljko Obradovic’s men had the raucous supporters believing this could be a big Euroleague season for them. That was, of course, when they were good.
The bad
Considering just how blessed this side is with scoring talent, the combined shooting stats for everyone else were not exactly encouraging. Everyone else, combined, went 3 of 11 from the field. The point of attack becomes obvious terribly quickly when lots of guys just aren’t putting up shots. Even more so when the few shots they put up rarely threaten.
These aren’t scrubs either. Aleksej Poksevski was simply awful offensively. Iffe Lundberg fared little better. Each of those had 15 minutes or more on the floor. Granted, Lundberg came up big when it mattered late. His challenge was being part of the offensive side of the game at all. We’ll get back to that.
What was far more worrisome was just how quickly FC Bayern were able to instil a sense of concern for the hosts. Partizan were hungry for their first Euroleague win of the season. Through two quarters, they looked more than comfortable. At one stage they led by 22 points. Yet they felt like a team capable of collapsing.
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The ugly
You’ll struggle to find a bigger advocate of the Carlik Jones signing than this site. His game coupled with his mentality made him the perfect fit for a team with so much change. That’s why it was concerning to see his ball security prove so poor throughout this outing. Sterling Brown was also far too lax at times. That gave FC Bayern some awfully soft possessions.
The other Jones, Tyrique, had his own troubles. While impressive on the whole, no doubt, his free throw shooting was an issue. When you’re able to draw fouls like Jones can, you’ve got to be a good free throw shooter. It’s basic but Jones wasted his brutally brilliant work at times but not punishing FC Bayern.
Let’s be honest though. None of this should really be surprising to anyone. Yes, this is a team loaded with talent. It is also one that is still working out how it is actually going to play basketball. That means we have to talk about the obvious.
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Every early win buys time
A slow start, despite the talent, felt inevitable with this Partizan side. The goal for Zeljko Obradovic is to get this team to gel as quickly as possible. There was no way that would happen inside of three Euroleague games. As a result, a 1-2 start isn’t that bad. A 4-6 or even 3-7 start in the first 10 games really isn’t cause for alarm. Every win in the first third of the season buys time.
Now, the issue is that obviously Partizan will need to ride some serious momentum through the last two thirds of the Euroleague season. That’s the bargain they made. Remember, you get 15 players on your roster in this competition. Partizan added 14 new players this off-season. There was little zero chemistry to start with before the off-season.
Perfection is not going to happen in October. It’s unlikely to happen in November either. What Partizan need right now isn’t perfection. It’s time. That comes with wins. The victory over Bayern wasn’t ideal. That doesn’t matter. They got the W.
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