It was a special night for Coach Splitter, but he saw his men fall to defeat
Baskonia flipped the script against Paris on a topsy-turvy night at Buesa Arena
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Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz fans were ready to honor one of its all-time greats last Friday night, as Paris Basketball play-caller Tiago Splitter returned to Buesa Arena – where his jersey hangs in the rafters – for the first time as a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague head coach.
Splitter spent all seven of his EuroLeague seasons with Baskonia as a player, between 2003 and 2010, and saw his role grow and grow as the Spanish side made it to four consecutive Final Fours from 2005 to 2008. The Baskonia fans saw the Brazilian develop from a very special prospect into a world-class center, who later went on to win the NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. In other words, Splitter has always been a fan favorite in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Splitter joined Baskonia at age 15 and make his Spanish League debut with the team in 2000. After spending three seasons elsewhere on loan, he returned to Baskonia, where he played for the next seven seasons. During his time with the club, he won two Spanish League titles in 2008 and 2010, three Spanish Cups in 2004, 2005 and 2009, and reached the EuroLeague Championship Game in 2005, the first of those four consecutive Final Fours. He also had individual success, being chosen to the 2007-08 All-EuroLeague First Team and earning All-EuroLeague Second Team honors in the next two seasons.
More recently, on May 5, 2024, Baskonia retired his No 21 jersey. Few expected to see him as an opponent before the end of the year, but that is exactly what was on the cards after he joined Paris Basketball this past summer.
On Friday night, Splitter made sure that his team was noticed in a fantastic second quarter in which Paris did everything right, rebounding the ball, running the floor and getting a lot of points in transition.
Baskonia led 28-26 after 10 minutes with solid shooting percentages (72.7% 2FG, 50% 3FG) and outrebounding Paris 10-4. It all changed in the second quarter: Paris outrebounded Baskonia 5-18 in the second frame, pulling down 14 defensive rebounds and allowing Baskonia’s players to grab just one offensive board. Baskonia hit just 3-of-13 two-pointers and 2-of-7 three-pointers.
All that allowed Paris to lead 41-57 at halftime. Those 57 first-half points are a new club record for Paris in the competition, with its previous record being the 47 first-half points it scored in a 109-117 overtime victory over FC Bayern Munich. It also ties for the 2024-25 EuroLeague season high for most points at halftime, as LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne also scored 57 points in the first half of an 87-85 home win over Virtus Segafredo Bologna.
Paris led 38-57 right before halftime, and that's when Baskonia showed its trademark character with a second half that its fans will not forget for a long, long time.
Baskonia limited Paris to just 24 second-half points. After getting its highest first-half tally in club history, Baskonia forced Paris to record its lowest-scoring second half in the competition. Its previous lowest second-half scoring output were the 35 points it had in a 79-74 road loss against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 2.
Paris hit just 5-of-22 two-pointers (22.7% 2FG) and 3-of-19 three-pointers (15.8% 3FG). After getting 14 assists before the break, Paris was only able to dish 4 in the second half. Stopping TJ Shorts was crucial, too – he had just 5 points and 2 assists in the second half. Even with that, Paris led 59-72 with 11 minutes remaining. Then, Markus Howard decided that enough was enough.
Howard buried 3 three-pointers in less than 3 minutes – exactly 2 minutes and 37 seconds – and he also buried a crazy jumper and the free throw that came with it, giving him 12 points in 157 seconds. That scoring explosion allowed Baskonia to get within 73-74, giving it a much-needed boost in momentum for the remainder of the game.
The 25-year-old finished the contest with 28 points and Chima Moneke recorded a 29-point, 10-rebound double-double, which is the highest-scoring double-double of this EuroLeague season, as Baskonia won 94-81. After showing what it is capable of when everything clicks, Paris had a first-hand experience of what Baskonia Character is all about, something that Coach Splitter experienced in his favor dozens of times.
"I feel excellent. When you can win against a team like Paris, which has been playing unbelievable basketball from the start of the season to now, to be able to win on our home court and the way we won, where we battled in the second half, I am extremely proud of our team," Howard said after the game. "So we are just going to look to build off of a win like this. When we fight, we can compete with anybody."