Gran Canaria’s smothering defense is paying dividends

The 2023 EuroCup champions sit second in Group A with four games to play in the regular season

There’s probably nothing better than a statement win on the road for a team to react and recover after hitting a couple of bumps.

For Dreamland Gran Canaria, that game arrived at ratiopharm Ulm last week.

Against one of the hottest BKT EuroCup teams at that moment, which was in the middle of a four-game winning run, the Spanish side got a 76-83 road win to bounce back in style after two straight losses and improve to 10-4, retaining the advantageous second seed in Group A.

The way Gran Canaria achieved the result included several aspects that have been a trademark for the 2023 champions this season: tough defensive attitude, superior energy down the stretch and fighting mentality, all of them leading to a 16-0 run over seven minutes in the fourth period for the comeback victory.

“We wanted to control their transition defense because they are running and are very vertical to the basket,” said Gran Canaria coach Jaka Lakovic. “We also wanted to protect the defensive rebounds and, for sure, make a good job defending on three-pointers.”

Ulm was held to 76 points after averaging 106.6 points over its three previous games. Once again, it was mainly the defense of Gran Canaria that showed the way, as has been the case several times this season.