ATHENS (Greece) - The starting lineups instantly started the narratives. Casademont Zaragoza started with Dylan Ennis and Rasheed Sulaimon on the bench, and for Iberostar Tenerife, Huertas and Salin both sat to start the game. Lineup chess at work from the beginning. 

Before the game, much was spoken about the battle inside and the predictions held true. Zaragoza went straight to Thompson early. Seeley did a great job of bursting to reject the screen and create an advantage. When Shermadini helped on the drive, Thompson stepped into a rhythm jumper to get going early.

On the other end, Tenerife looked to get Shermadini going immediately as well. In the video below you can clearly hear and see them call "5 Down". You probably don't need an explanation for that call (Shermadini is Tenerife's 5). The play is simple and involves setting is a cross-screen for Shermadini to go 1v1 in the low post. One of the things about the OAKA not being full of maniacal AEK fans, is that you can hear what the players and coaches say.

If you listen closely. just before the pass goes into the post you can hear Thompson shouting "Give him the ball". The American was clearly up for the matchup. On the first occasion, Shermadini was forced away from the basket and went to a skyhook that missed.

A few possessions later, Txus Vidorreta called another very simple out of bounds play to get Shermadini another chance to go at Thompson. This time the big Georgian got the step and was able to turn his shoulder as he shot the hook. 

If the idea of Shermadini in-rhythm, early should sound a fire alarm, when Robin Benzing starts splashing quick-release pick-and-pops right from the jump, we may as well set off an air raid siren. When the big German is feeling it, he might not miss at all - just ask JDA Dijon. Watch a little closer on this next video. When you see Tenerife hedging hard on the pick-and-roll between Ennis and Thompson,  that leaves Thompson open at then free throw line for a short roll. This is a pass that Ennis is very adept at making, so #34 Cavanaugh has to take a quick jab towards Thompson to discourage the pass. That single step jab was all the space Benzing needed. 

At this point in the game, there was so much going on at both ends of the floor. Before the first quarter ended Tenerife still had time to perfectly execute two of their trademark actions.

First, they went to their "Point" staggered-screen away action. Only this time they flipped it to run again on the other side of the floor, and with a "Gaggle" action (Honest, I didn't make that name up). A gaggle is the same staggered screen when the first cutter forces a curl on the first screen so the screener can then cut to shoot themselves. In this case, the play was run for Sasu Salin who had just come into the game.

Then, with the game clock winding down to end the quarter, Tenerife went to a set that everybody in Europe probably knows by now. Knowing a set is coming, and stopping said set, is, however, two very different things. 

On the other end, cracks were starting to appear defensively for Tenerife, and at times the offense was failing to create an advantage. In this next clip, Zaragoza run their out of bounds play but not especially well and end up with nothing. The fall back in this situation is always a ball screen. Thompson comes to set the screen for San Miguel. Huertas gets caught in two minds about trying to deter a pass to Benzing in the post. The outcome is that he gets nailed by the screen and San Miguel makes another one of the excellent plays he made in the game. 

Zaragoza ended the half down by a single-digit. Yet somehow, the momentum still felt like it was with them. That feeling became a reality as they put up 13 points in the first five minutes of the second half. 

As you would expect from a team with the pedigree of Tenerife, they started to find solutions to end the third quarter. First, on the defensive end, Shermadini seemed to take things into his own hands with the pick-and-roll defense. 

Then, on the offensive end, Huertas and Tenerife went to a fundamental play for them - Spain pick-and-roll action. This first one was all about timing and going early, with Huertas sprinting from the logo. Hlinason was completely caught unawares by Salin with the backscreen. Although, in a gym with no fans, Zaragoza could possibly want to ask themselves some questions about defensive communication on this play. 

Then to close the third quarter, they went back to the same action again. This one was all about the read from Huertas. Watch Salin set the same back screen but this time Seeley switches early from Salin to Huertas. The Brazilian sees it before it happens and pulls up for the jumper. 

Zaragoza started the fourth up by five with the 2017 champs breathing down their necks. This team has a different kind of toughness to it though, and they found the answers and discipline down the stretch when their much more experienced opponents did not. 

Early in the fourth, they found an answer defensively to the Spain pick-and-roll action that hurt them in the third quarter.

Then, after Tenerife fought back and tied the game, we saw a sequence that sums up the difference between the two teams and ultimately decided the game. What you see in this clip is Tenerife going to the same action they ended the first quarter with. Salin is meant to receive the pass for a 3-ball. Instead #42 Aaron Doornekamp was stood in the weakside corner, allowing his man to switch on to Salin. After the stop, Brussino just simply outruns Tenerife down the floor - a play that was as much about the will to win as it was anything else. In the end, Zaragoza gutted this one out on pure will power. 

Up next for Zaragoza is the all-star lineup of AEK. If Zaragoza have just found a way to win against a familiar foe, they couldn't expect to find a more different clash of styles with AEK. Both teams go into the game with the same short rest period. In the Spaniards favor is youth and athleticism, in AEK's favor is experience and the know-how when it comes to controlling tempo.