Cajasol Seville started the season with a very difficult game (85-80) against DKV Joventut. Louis Bullock and Tariq Kirksay of Cajasol and Will McDonald and Quinton Hosley of Joventut were the best players.
Both teams played a great match, very intense during all 40 minutes, but in the end the local team managed to win the game thanks to their great defence in the last quarter. Kirksay was the key factor stealing some important balls to score easy baskets on the run.
The first half ended with tied score after Cajasol’s bad start, not very confident, but playing good defence anyway, to survive. This would change in the second quarter, when both teams scored easily, McDonald playing great basketball in the paint.
Pepu Hernández (Joventut’s coach) tried to stop Cajasol scoring by putting on a zonal defence all the second half. This worked well in the beginning, but Paul Davis and Bullock finally found the way to score. Especially Paul Davis, who still has to learn how to defend in this league. He committed too many personal fouls, and was out of the game when he was playing his best (only 13 minutes of playing time).
In the last quarter, Cajasol started to defend just the same they did last season, and Joventut couldn’t find the way to score. Kirksay started to be the player everybody knows in Seville, and Cajasol managed to keep the win at home.
Some notes on the game: 5 players under 21 stepped on the court. New blood in the league. David Jelinek showed why he is considered one of the main prospects in Europe right now after some years playing in lower divisions in Spain.
85 – Cajasol (20+19+19+27): Triguero (11), Katelynas (6), Kirksay (10), Bullock (19), Calloway (11) -starting five-, Sastre (4), Cabanas (-), Satoransky (2), Urtasun (5), Davis (13), Ivanov (4)
80 – DKV Joventut (20+19+19+22): Trias (7), Robinson (4), Hosley (13), English (11), McDonald (18) -starting five-, Llovet (-), Franch (6), Homs, (-), Norel (2), Tomás (8), Flis (-), Jelinek (11)
