REPORT | 08/10/2014
Rivers (18 points), Mejri (18) and Carroll (17) were the Whites' outstanding players in the friendly against Alba Fehérvár.- Friendlies
- Friendly
- Wed, 08 Oct
72
104Laso's men set a high scoring rhythm from the off that the home side struggled to keep pace with. Very effective from the three-point line with four triples, two coming courtesy of Carroll (nine points in the quarter), Real Madrid were already nine points up after 5' (7-16). It was a lead that they kept up during the first quarter despite the efforts of Wood, who hit two three-pointers, to cut the gap for his team (23-31, min. 10).
Alba Fehérvár put together a tentative reaction with a 5-0 run at the start of the second quarter, reducing the deficit to three points (28-31, min. 13). Thanks to the greater aggression shown by the Hungarians in defence, and with Supola and Wood spot on, Madrid went three minutes and eight seconds without scoring.
Chacho-Llull-Reyes
However, with the speed of the Sergios in directing the play and with control over the rebound in defence, the Whites regained the initiative through counter-attacks and by always finding the best options in attack. Reyes (eight points), Rivers and Maciulis put on the points to see Real Madrid go in +10 at the break (37-47, min. 20).
It is Real Madrid's seventh consecutive victory.
Madrid appear set on using their defence to claim the advantage in the third quarter of their matches this season. Last Sunday, they limited Gran Canaria to two points; on this occasion they gave up ten, but all from minute 24 on. The start to the quarter saw them hit their hosts with a 0-14 run that ended any hopes they had entertained (37-61). And they did so with a great defensive performance, drawing a number of turnovers out of their rivals and offering a counter-attacking masterclass with Carroll (17 points), Campazzo and Rivers leading the way. Alba Fehérvár were nowhere to be seen.
The visitors were enjoying themselves, putting on a terrific show for a packed out Vodafone Sportcentrum, and gave a display of one of their major weapons: their strength in depth on the bench. Regardless of who was on the court, the level of intensity in defence and the accuracy of the shooting did not drop (half the players finished the match with a PIR of over ten). For the hosts, the pair of Kromah and Wood were all they had.
Rivers: a left hand made of gold
But it was the American forward, with four three-pointers on the bounce between 28’ and 32’, who pushed the deficit to thirty (49-79). And that was that. Mejri dominated the paint in the final minutes (18 points) and Madrid break 100 points for the second time this season (72-104, min. 40).
Squads
ALBA FEHÉRVÁR 72 (23+14+10+25): Melvin (5), Wood (22), Lasan (19), Kovacs (2) and P.Toth (3).--starting five--; Juhos (4), Supola (6), Dalibor (3), Czirbus (0), Csorvasi (8), Molnar (0) and Blaskovits (0).
REAL MADRID 104 (29+16+28+31): Campazzo (10), Carroll (17), Rivers (18), Nocioni (2) and Mejri (18) --starting five--; Llull (5), Sergio Rodríguez (5), Reyes (8), Ayón (6), Maciulis (9), Bourousis (2) and Slaughter (4).
