ATHENS (Greece) - When 9000 people are making enough noise that you can't hear yourself think, and you know that almost all of them are against you, it takes a strong character to stay calm and find a way to win.
And that is exactly what Unicaja had to do in this game.
The home team AEK Betsson BC put together runs that swung the momentum in their favor, and against any normal team, with that crowd behind them, it probably would have been enough. But Unicaja isn't a normal team. They are the champions for a reason and they showed everyone why, as they forced their way into another Final.
Let's dive in and have a look at some of the key tactical takeaways from the game.
We had a Golden start to the game
Right from the opening tip, this game had the feel of a classic. For AEK, it was Grant Golden and C.J. Bryce lighting the touch paper to ignite the crowd.
Bryce had six points in the opening three minutes, with two put-backs from crashing the offensive glass and then forming a delicious link-up with Golden that produced four points in 20 seconds and put the home team up 10-4.
In that video above you see the two clips showing how they reeled off those 4 quick points. In both possessions, Golden set an Angle ball screen for Bryce, with his back to the corner. This is designed for Bryce to get downhill.
In the first clip, Unicaja are in a drop defense with David Kravish staying deeper in the lane to buy time for Alberto Diaz to play his trademark defense and fight over the screen.
Bryce doesn't panic and executes a precision give-and-go with Golden for an easy layup. Don't underestimate that pass from Golden, either.
In the second clip, Golden adjusts the angle and speed of his pop because he knows that Kravish is in a drop coverage. Bryce makes the inch-perfect pass this time and Golden knocks down his trademark floater.
But it wasn't just AEK who were flashing the warning signs for what makes them a dangerous team. Have a look at Dylan Osetkowski in these two possessions below.
First, we see Unicaja running Shuffle action for him, as they misdirect the defense by swinging the ball around the perimeter to the other side of the floor, and then Tyson Carter nails the back screen on RaiQuan Gray guarding Osetkowski. Elite execution from Ibon Navarro's team.
The second clip, however, was the biggest precursor for what was to come in this game.
As Diaz and Kravish play pick-and-pop, with Golden in drop defense, Omiros Netzipoglou is pulled away from his man to contest Diaz. As the shot goes up, Gray is now left with two players to fight for the rebound, and Osetkowski capitalizes with the putback.
In the clutch moments of this game, offensive rebounding was Unicaja's greatest weapon and often due to having a numbers or size advantage against AEK's defense.
AEK could have won this game
With Unicaja up 37-31 at the half, AEK and coach Sakota came out in the third quarter with a championship-worthy level of determination, and it was Golden again who was in the thick of things. But this time on the defensive end.
We mentioned in the tactics preview that Golden's size hedging out aggressively on ball screens was a big factor against Nanterre 92, and this was AEK's defensive game-changer again in the third quarter.
In both clips above, notice that Golden came out so far on the hedge that it became a triple-switch, with Gray in the first clip rotating to take Golden's man rolling to the rim and then Bryce in the second clip.
On both possessions, AEK turned the defensive stop into offense going the other way. Suddenly, they had reeled off a 9-2 run, and AEK were up 53-46.
Not only that but Hunter Hale, who was scoreless in the first half, and Prentiss Hubb were activated and impacting the game offensively. It was looking good for AEK.
Depth matters
This Unicaja roster has so much talent and just when you think you have stopped one weapon, they pull another one from their sock and hurt you another way.
We knew that Tyson Perez has the athleticism and work rate to cause AEK problems and it was his work, mainly out of the corners, that ignited Unicaja back into the game.
As you see in that clip above, AEK rotating so heavily on the backside because of their aggressive defense on the ball screen meant that Perez had a closeout to attack. He took full advantage of it and bullied his way to the rim.
It wasn't just closeouts either.
Like we saw with Osetkowski on the offensive glass early in the game, Perez and Yankuba Sima, in particular, punished AEK's rotating defense and pulled offensive rebound after offensive rebound.
And then we saw one of the biggest moments ever in a BCL Semi-Final.
With Golden looking set to throw down a dunk that would have ripped the roof off, Kameron Taylor came from nowhere and somehow blocked him. It's not hyperbole to say that was probably the best player ever at a BCL Final Four.
With the pressure to get back into the game, AEK also hurt themselves.
Their 19 turnovers were the most by any team in a Final Four, and down the stretch, it was turnovers and Unicaja making hustle plays on the glass that probably decided the game.
This was the first time a lot of these AEK players have played an event like this, and they will learn from it and have a chance to make amends against La Laguna Tenerife in the third-place game on Sunday.
For Unicaja, it's a date with their old friend, Galatsaray in the Final this Sunday at 20:00 local time (19:00 CET). The two clubs have split their games this season and this will not be a game you want to miss.