The Georgian forward shined in his 300th EuroLeague appearance as the hosts stretched their winning streak
Toko Shengelia celebrates milestone as Barcelona dismantles Partizan
Rapport de match
3 Minute de lecture
Regular Season
Round 21 of 38
Regular Season
FC BarcelonaBAR
8870
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
Overview
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FC Barcelona continued to be a bogey team for Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade as the Catalan giant coasted to an emphatic 88-70 home win, making it 13 in a row against the Serbian side and improving to 14-7 on the season while the visitors dropped to 6-15 following a sixth straight loss.
It was a perfect night for Toko Shengelia, who was named player of the game after scoring 13 points to go with 2 boards and 3 assists. However, it was a sour return to the Palau Blaugrana for Joan Penarroya, who parted ways with Barcelona earlier this season and later took over as head coach at Partizan.
Barcelona endured a jittery start and trailed 13-20 at the end of the first quarter, struggling for the best part of the first half before a 17-0 run late in the second quarter and early in the third turned a 31-35 deficit into a 48-35 lead.
Barca never looked back and strolled home as Willy Hernangomez racked up 16 points and 8 boards, shooting 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, while Jan Vesely underlined the home team’s dominance in the paint as he amassed 14 points having shot 7-of-9 from inside.
Asked if he was inspired by the milestone, Shengelia refused to speak about his own individual performance and focused on a collective effort which saw Barca keep its foot on the gas throughout the second half, giving Partizan no chance of forcing a late twist.
“It’s about the team,” Shengelia said in his postgame comments. “We’re doing a great job and like I said many times, we’re heading in the right direction but we still have so much room to improve. We’re fighting every day to be in the best possible position and we’re very happy with where we are in the standings.”
Hernangomez also looked the part as, after the first quarter, Barcelona’s ironclad defense forced a barrage of tough shots from Partizan, which finished on 21-of-40 from inside after netting 10-of-14 in the opening 10 minutes, having also committed 15 turnovers against just 13 assists.
The big man was frank about head coach’s Xavi Pascual’s impact on his displays since taking over from Penarroya, with Barcelona winning seven of its last nine to stay firmly in contention for a playoff spot.
“It was a difficult game from the beginning until the end but we got a very important win,” Hernangomez said. “Pascual has brought discipline, structure and joy to my game, all the things helping me improve as a player and become a better person. I work hard every day and do whatever it takes to help the team win. For me the most important thing is that I am really enjoying what I am doing.”
Pascual, in his second stint with Barcelona after leading the Spanish outfit to the 2010 title during his first spell in charge (2008-2016), was prudent in assessing that his team was grinding out wins despite not firing on all cylinders at this stage of the season.
“We were better and a little bit more concentrated in the second half,” he said. “We controlled the rebounds a bit better and only had one turnover in the second half. We achieved a very important win despite not being brilliant. In general, we are solid both offensively and defensively.”
It was another disappointing outing for Penarroya, who is still winless with Partizan in the EuroLeague. It seems the Serbian club’s passionate fans will have little to cheer about for the remainder of the season as the 1992 champs remain rooted to the bottom of the standings.
Having said it was difficult to be optimistic after seeing Partizan mauled 87-112 by Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv on his coaching debut for the Serbian club, Penarroya’s words were vindicated in his fourth successive defeat at the helm as Duane Washington was a solitary beacon of light for Partizan with a game-high 20 points.
“In the third quarter we committed around five or six turnovers in a row and Barcelona punished us,” Penarroya said. “We need to control the bad moments because good teams take advantage.”
