Birgander's second chance changed Joventut

Joventut Badalona's tale of two halves in a 54-68 road win at ratiopharm Ulm on Wednesday was the same tale for Simon Birgander, its 25-year-old center.

Birgander lasted all of 4 minutes in the first half, getting 3 quick fouls and a ride on the bench as Ulm took a 35-30 halftime lead. He missed his only shot, committed a turnover, but took a rebound and blocked a shot.

"The first half was pretty rough for me," Birgander confessed after the game.

Birgander said he was surprised to start the second half, but came back well-rested and ready for action.

He began by ripping rebounds, blocking another shot and scoring Joventut's first basket. But he was just getting started. With 2 more blocks, he anchored a defense that held Ulm to 2 points in the first 8 minutes of the third quarter, during which time Birgander collected 7 points and 7 rebounds as Joventut zoomed in front 37-46.

He returned for the fourth quarter and resumed playing pick-and-roll with guards Pau Ribas, Kyle Guy and Andres Feliz, who fed Birgander for baskets or shooting fouls that saw his point total reach 11 points, while his rebounds reached 10 and he blocked a fifth shot. When he left the game with 5 minutes left, Joventut led 44-64 after having held Ulm to 9 points in 15 minutes. That amounted to a 25-point swing in the 15 minutes after Birgander rejoined the game.

"In the second half, I just tried to come out and do my best and try to help the team get better and better," Birgander said.

The four-year EuroCup veteran finished with a performance index rating of 22 in less than 18 minutes played. In most of those, he was the main defensive force as Ulm had its worst-ever scoring quarter (6 points) and half (19) in the club's 133 7DAYS EuroCup games to date.

The significance of the game was not lost on him. The victory avenged a still-painful upset when Ulm went down to Badalona last season and knocked out top-seeded Joventut from title contention in the single-elimination eighthfinals.

For Birgander and his many teammates, that was a lesson that has not faded as they now sit tied for first place in Group A, but are taking the long view.

"We have good chances. There are a lot of good teams that we have to beat first, and it's pretty hard because after the group stages, it's only one game," Birgander said. "And if you lose that, you're out, like last year we lost to Ulm in the eighthfinals. It's just hard to win those games."