MIES (Switzerland) – Another season in the Basketball Champions League, another two, new teams reached their first Final Four, and also another city given the opportunity to host the big event. The format of this competition consistently offers new opportunities and rewards endeavor. You know what else is consistent in the BCL? Lenovo Tenerife, that's what else. They have now reached the Quarter-Final in five of the league’s six seasons and the Final Four in three of them. No other team can match either of those records. They won the title in the inaugural season and then reached the Final in 2019. Only AEK have also reached the Final twice. To really add the cherry on the top, Tenerife come into the Final Four on the back of a convincing win against their ACB and BCL rivals BAXI Manresa and sit 5th in the ACB standings. What a season this could be for the Aurinegros

How They Play

The best word to describe this Txus Vidorreta offensive system is leverage. They have two of the best playmakers and decision-makers in the league with Huertas and Fitipaldo. They have three of the best finishers with Giorgi Shermadini, Kyle Wiltjer, and Sasu Salin. They also have excellent depth and balance around those players and above all, they know exactly how to leverage the threat and force the defense to triage the danger of one, against that of another.  The clip below is a perfect example of how that leverage works.

You could be forgiven for watching that clip and thinking that it was just bad defense that allowed Huertas to waltz to the rim completely untouched but if that is what you thought, watch it again. This time pay attention to Tofas #2, Kasey Shepherd guarding Huertas, #11, Simmons guarding Guerra, and #3, Ennis guarding Salin. Shepherd gets under the first screen easily enough but as soon as he sees Salin setting the back screen on Simmons, he's instantly looking to switch because he knows that Ennis will likely have to pick up Huertas and they can't afford to leave Salin open, even for a split second. Ultimately what happens is they miscommunicate and blow the switch but it's all because of the pressure applied by Salin's shooting ability.  No matter what kind of set or action Tenerife are running, they are always pulling defenders out to shooters like Salin or sucking them in towards giants like Shermadini or Guerra.

Txus Vidorreta loves to mix up his starting units and as a result, it's very hard to predict which five will take the floor against Hapoel U-NET Holon on the 6th of May. The three mainstays that you can predict with confidence are Marcelinho Huertas, Sasu Salin, and Giorgi Shermadini. After that, Sastre, Todorovic, and Doornekamp will likely play on the wing, with Wiltjer or Sulejmanovic starting in the frontcourt with Shermadini. However, don't be shocked if we also see Doornekamp start as a stretch-four to match up with Hayden Dalton for Holon. 

Gravity

Without question, the biggest leverage that Tenerife have on offense (literally and metaphorically) is the gravitational pull of Giorgi Shermadini. If you look at the freeze frame below from the game against Tofas, Shermadini is catching the ball in the paint from a Salin pass. Count the number of Tofas eyes focused solely on Tenerife's big #19. 

If those eyes are only watching one player, it means they aren't watching anyone else. As we see in the clip of the play below, this much focus on Shermadini always results in somebody else being open. Also, pay attention to Simmons guarding Shermadini and also defending the ball screen. He is so concerned about not allowing the lob pass over his head, that he allows Salin all the space in the world to waltz into the paint. As it happens, Salin still chooses to pass but as we will see in later videos, Huertas has been feasting on this type of space this season. 

Now, if you combine that focus on stopping Shermadini, with the threat of Salin shooting, things get really difficult for the defense. The clip below is of one of the more creative actions that Tenerife run. What you see is #42 Aaron Doornekamp setting a pick-and-roll for Huertas on the slot but as they enter the screen, Shermadini is setting a "Pindown" for Salin on the weakside. Watch how it completely takes out two Tofas defenders. Salin's defender sprints so hard to get over the screen he ends up out of bounds and when Salin reads that and flares to the corner, Shermadini's defender also needs to close out to him just as quickly.

Then, when Shermadini rolls to the rim, another Tofas defender has to manically rotate again and Huertas was so open he could have boiled the kettle to make a cup of tea before knocking it down. When we see Tenerife running stuff like this, we wonder if Txus Vidorreta shouldn't be known as Txus "Voodoorreta" because this is some dark magic Xs and Os. 

Just to really hit the point home and highlight exactly why it's so tough to stop an off-ball screening action between Shermadini and Salin, here is a clip of one of the most common actions from Txus Vidorreta's playbook. A "Veer" screen involves a ball screen but instead of rolling to the rim, the screener veers away and screens for a shooter. All you need to note is the two players involved in the action. 

The Playbook

One play that we will almost certainly see Tenerife using in Bilbao is one we have named "Argentina" in the clips below. Txus Vidorreta probably isn't calling that name out on the sidelines but the use of "Flex" or screen the screener at the same time as a pick-and-roll is reminiscent of the way Argentina used the Flex Offense all those years ago. The play starts with a transition ball screen, usually in the middle of the floor. At the same time, Tenerife will have a perimeter player set a screen for their center in the paint. If it's Shermadini catching the ball that deep, he's scoring or it's a foul, often both. 

We can't look at every option for every set in the Tenerife playbook but this next clip offers a great opportunity to spotlight why we called this play "Argentina" and also how well-coached this Tenerife team is when it comes to flowing from option to option. Notice how it's Salin screening in the paint initially then receiving a screen himself to get open at the top of the key. The shot isn't there so they just flow straight into a pick-and-roll. 

Another similar example and also another action we will almost certainly see in Bilbao. They use a double "Drag" screen or transition ball screen. The second screener is always a stretch-four and then receives a flare screen for a shot on the wing - absolutely ideal for players like Wiltjer and Doornekamp. 

Finally, we need to highlight the increased aggressiveness of Huertas, and the mentality to score himself as a major driving force behind Tenerife's league-best offense this season. Teams don't want to hedge and send two players to the ball in pick-and-roll actions because that means more defensive rotations and more open threes for shooters. For example in the clip below, first Tofas actually defend the first "Spain" pick-and-roll by switching, resulting in Salin as the ball-handler for the second. Tofas hedge and Salin finds Shermadini on the short roll, leading to extra passes, extra defensive rotations, and eventually an open shot in the corner.

However,  when teams try to defend the pick-and-roll 2v2 in "Drop" coverages like the clip below, Shermadini, Guerra, and Sulejmanovic are all huge lob threats if they can get behind. This leaves the space we see Huertas take advantage of in the clip below. Leverage. 

Defense

Of course, having a 2.17m giant isn't just useful on the offensive end. When you have that kind of protection at the rim, it allows perimeter defenders to be more assertive and take more risks.

Data Story

Tenerife consistently lead the league statistically and this season is no different. On offense, they score at a rate of 116.2 points per 100 possessions, which is first in the BCL. They shoot the ball with an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 58.5 percent, which is also first in the BCL. They take the second-most three-pointers at the Final Four with 27.2 and knock them down at the highest rate of any team at the Final Four at 38.9 percent. Sasu Salin’s record-breaking season from behind the arc has almost certainly got something to do with that last stat. Barring a huge shock, the Fin will be the first player to make over 60 shots from behind the arc in a single season (59 already) and he also became the all-time record holder with 139 career 3-pointers. 

The chart above shows you the data story of their season so far. You have four tabs to explore; Efficiency Ratings, Shooting, Possession, and Pace. You can see that each column corresponds to a Gameday from the season and colored lines represent the relative stat they recorded for that game. You can also filter by home or road games and wins or losses. Whilst the axes and labels are left blank to avoid cluttering the visual, you can hover over each point on the chart to see the labels. 

The first thing that stands out is exactly how close those two Quarter-Finals games were. Looking at the "Efficiency" tab, Tenerife had a Net Rating of just +1.5 points per 100 possessions in both games. When you flip over to the "Pace" tab we can see that the two games had 67 and 66 possessions respectively, so the difference between the two teams really was minuscule. There aren't many, clearly apparent trends in Tenerife's data story for the season but if there is one, we can see it in the chart below. We have set the filter for road games and as you can see, yellow is for games with more possessions or higher "Pace" and blue is for less. Since the Play-In series against Pinar Karsiyaka, Tenerife's Pace has clearly been trending down, especially on the road. It's almost certainly not a coincidence that they have also been unbeaten since the  Game 2 loss against Karsiyaka. If we are assuming that - despite Txus Vidorreta calling Bilbao home - Tenerife will be treating the Final Four as a road game environment, there is every chance they might not be looking for a high possession game. Also bearing in mind that low possession games often favor 3-point shooting teams. 

Season Story

The journey of the season started with two straight wins on the road to Prometey and at home to Dinamo Sassari. Sasu Salin knocked down eight threes on his way to 33 points in the road game at Prometey.Their first loss came on the road to fellow Final Four contenders MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. Kyle Wiltjer’s 24 points were the sole bright spot for the Canarias in that game. In fact, Ludwigsburg are the only team to beat Tenerife in the BCL this season and also did the double over them by inflicting another defeat in the home leg. They bounced back from that quickly. Fitipaldo’s 18 points and Huertas’ assist to Shermadini with less than a minute on the clock were enough to ensure the season sweep over Prometey in the next game at the Santiago Martin. They would also complete the double over Sassari thanks to 16 points each from Huertas and Shermadini on Gameday 6. However, the losses to John Patrick’s Ludwigsburg meant they had to face a Play-In against Pinar Karsiyaka to reach the Round of 16. Marcelinho Huertas drove them in the first game at home with 18 points and 10 assists as they secured a 76-69 win. After losing on the road in Izmir, they needed another win at home to make it to the Round of 16. A Joan Sastre layup from a Huertas assist (again) with less than a minute on the clock was enough to secure a 74-71 win.  

The Round of 16 and Quarter-Finals saw Tenerife up the pace and dance to a completely different rhythm. They were the only team to go unbeaten in the Round of 16 and then took only two games to get past Tofas in the Quarter-Finals. Standout performances in the Round of 16 were Shermadini’s 19 points and 13 rebounds on the road against Falco, Kyle Wiltjer’s 25 points at home to Rytas Vilnius, and Salin’s seven made threes in the road game against Rytas. The Quarter-Finals may have been over in two games but it was far from easy for Txus’ Vidorreta’s squad. The total margin across both games was just 2 points. The first quarter of the first game was the only time it looked like it might be simple for Tenerife.

They scored 31 points, held Tofas to just 17 points and Salin had already knocked down five of his eight three-pointers in the game. The lead was still fourteen points at half-time but Tofas were already working their way back into the game. It took all of Salin’s 27 points added to Shermadini’s 17 points and 9 rebounds to get the Canarias over the line. And even then, it still required Huertas to make a floater and knock down a clutch free-throw after checking back into the game with less than 90 seconds on the clock. The Brazillian wasn’t done with the heroics either. The return leg saw five players get into double figures for Tenerife, with Huertas putting up 15 points and 7 assists, Shermadini, Doornekamp, and Salin all with 12 points each, and Fitipaldo chipping in with 10 points. Even then it took Huertas summoning the memories of playing with the Black Mamba and invoking all the genius footwork of his former teammate to pump fake his defender out of the play before hitting the game-winning pull-up with time winding down.

Lenovo Tenerife will surely make the journey to Bilbao with the well-earned title of favorites but they have been here before and not yet picked up their second title. There is, however, no doubt that this team with the additions of Sastre and Wiltjer has even more weapons than previous iterations that came up short in the Final against Virtus Bologna and in last season’s Final Eight against SIG. Make no mistake, this team is rounding into championship form at exactly the right time and will take some stopping.

Up Next

Hapoel U-NET Holon, Friday, May 6, 18:00 (GMT+2). Both teams come into the game with momentum. Tenerife having won nine in a row - which is their best ever run - probably just shade it for form but possibly the most intriguing aspect of this match-up is the case of David vs Goliath. Holon like to play through their guards and will likely use some small-ball lineups, whereas Tenerife will probably look for their giants to dominate.