
Rabaseda's wardrobe and a few more things you didn't see on TV in Burgos vs. Jerusalem
ATHENS (Greece) - Hereda San Pablo Burgos fans watched on TV from back home as their club defeated Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 92-65 in the first European Quarter-Finals game of its history, but there are some things that even the most dedicated fan could not have noticed.
Rabaseda is dressed for success
"I've brought enough clothes to stay until Monday, so I hope that we're not getting on the plane to go back to Spain before that," Burgos forward Xavi Rabaseda said in the mixed zone after the game.
Rabaseda, a FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 champion with Spain, must be the biggest fan of Alex Barrera. Whenever the backup small forward was attempting a shot, the starting small forward was springing up from the bench to cheer him on and wave his towel as a one-man wave.
"We have 13 players on this team and everyone is ready to come out and play, everyone has a role. So we knew that we can play with energy and have enough players to share the minutes," Rabaseda said.
🎥 Old movie, new actors - Pappas with the assist, Mitrovic with the and-one for @JerusalemBasket! #BasketballCL #Final8 pic.twitter.com/ixSisygg9F
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) September 30, 2020
Red support never stops
Hapoel's title bid might have ended early, but they had the closest thing to a traveling fans contingent we will see at this socially-distanced Final 8.
It amounted to roughly 15 people but despite their limited numbers, they sounded like a crowd of at least 100.
The Israeli team's delegation and club officials stood in the courtside stands opposite their team's bench wearing red jerseys and never stopped cheering for their players.
Un EQUIPO que no deja de hacer HISTORIA. ¡Enhorabuena @SanPabloBurgos ‼️
— Baloncesto España (@BaloncestoESP) September 30, 2020
Ya está en las SEMIS de la #Final8 de la @BasketballCL 🏆
📝 MÁS INFO ⬇https://t.co/w7S2UXjNjF pic.twitter.com/QYV3dzcl1q
Hapoel's worse night
The 27-point margin represents the largest victory for a team in a BCL postseason game from the Quarter-Finals onward.
It was also Hapoel's heaviest defeat in the competition, with the previous one (-17) also occurring in the Quarter-Finals, when they fell 81-64 to Iberostar Tenerife in 2018-19.
These two are the only games in which Jerusalem scored fewer than 70 points.
4⃣ / 4⃣ FG for @dkravic11 whose start is as perfect as @SanPabloBurgos' opening quarter 🔥#BasketballCL #Final8 pic.twitter.com/rMk3y1QS3s
— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) September 30, 2020
What is a lead change?
Wednesday's game was the first in BCL history in which Hapoel never had the lead, and the first game Burgos never trailed their opponent.
Hapoel's four 3-pointers on 16 percent shooting (4 of 25) are both their fewer made triples and lowest three-point field goal percentage in competition history.
New guys adapting fast
Burgos big man Dejan Kravic registered a new BCL career-high with his 18 points in this Quarter-Final.
Another new Burgos arrival, Omar Cook, became only the fourth player to dish out 7 or more assists in less than 20 minutes in a BCL postseason game, and the first one since D.J. Cooper in the 2018 final with Monaco.