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Plaza: Controlling the rebounding and the defense are our strengths

Brose will focus on slowing the game down, stopping the opponent from scoring easy points. The question is, how will they match them physically, especially in the rebounds

Unicaja started the new championship by beating Murcia in what was not an easy away match. Joan Plaza's team showed quality and character, and mostly strong defense. That was their signature mark last season, too. Rebounds were, as well, but Unicaja lost that segment to Murcia, which would be a bit of a surprise if Murcia weren't known for their strength in the paint.

Plaza rotated 10 players, so nobody played over 23 minutes. Nobody scored over seven points either, which shows how versatile their game was. Unicaja look better right now than they did last season, and they're hoping to get further on in the Euroleague with the width they now have. That's why the coach Plaza puts so much emphasis on this duel:

- This match is really important for us, we know how strong Brose are. Up until this week, they had 57% three-pointers, which is spectacular. They've got two talented point guards, a complete team, and a great coach.

After all the praise, you'd get an impression that Brose are coming to Malaga as a favorite, which of course is not the case. Unicaja are always a favorite at home, as Madrid Real had a chance to witness this season. Still, to beat the two best teams, they have to fulfill some prerequisites.

- Controlling the rebounds and a strong defense. Those are two strengths of ours, and we have to insist on them, especially when playing at home.

Borse are definitely not as strong physically as Unicaja are, and that could mean struggling against the Spaniards' offensive rebounds. Unicaja are definitely a favorite here, but they took that role very lightly lots of times in the Euroleague last season.

With Trinchieri, Brose are as strong as their defense are. It was obvious in the first two rounds of Bundesliga, but they were awful in Giessen, the last match they played before this one. Not only did they concede over 80 points, they also lost to a team that played the second league last season.

Brose obviously underestimated their opponent, and conceded 29 points in the first 10 minutes, losing by 9 points. They woke up then, evened out the score, and took control in the third period. That made it seem like the match would end as expected after all. They were leading by seven in the last period, but Giessen made an 8-0 series, and made every of those last seconds intense. About 10 seconds before the buzzer, Brose didn't manage to score, and Giessen managed to catch up with the minimum difference and win in the end thanks to a fast counter-attack.

- I've always been telling my players that it's hard to get to the top, and even harder to stay there. I hope we'll quickly realize that this defeat in Giessen spent a good part of our credits - the coach Trinchier was obviously pissed off.

What disappointed him the most were his centers, and how the opponents dominated the paint. The five is the most problematic, it seems. The inexperienced Olasens and the unconvincing Idbihi are playing the five, so Theis or Melli are often playing the center, and they're the fours. Melli played very well in Giessen (19 points, 11 rebounds), and the point guard Wanamaker was there, too (18 + 7 rebounds and 7 assists). Strelnieks also stood out with 16 points. The Germans' game depends on those three players a lot. Today will show a similar scenario, where their biggest problem will be the center positions. Unicaja cover the paint great, and the question is whether Brose can match them the right way physically and with the rebounds.

- The way Unicaja play is typical for the coach Plaza: very aggressive, very fast. They like to run, especially at home, they're trying to score easy points from the counter-attacks for the entire 40 minutes - Zisis described their opponent. He's one of the bigger reinforcements Brose brought this summer, and he still didn't fully find his place within the team.

The last time these two teams faced each other was in 2012/2013 season. Unicaja got two wins then, in thriller final moments. So far, they've played each other six times. The Spaniards are leading 4-2, but it's interesting that those four wins total 11 points difference. 

The 26-year-old Janis Strelnieks will have it tough against Unicaja's back court today. He opened this season's championship with an above average performances and almost without a miss. He hit 17, 15, and 16 points with a 100% two-point efficiency (11-for-11) and three-point efficiency of 58,3% (7-12). Those kind of numbers are just no realistic in the long run. They are now set to play Euroleague where Brose won't be expected to hit 80 points. They will be expected to finish with around 70. Strelnieks played for Brose last season in Bundesliga (12,6 points on average) and in Eurocup (12,6 points). He would have gone over this margin in 17 out of 60 games. He played at Budivelnyk from Ukraine and the season before that and played Euroleague as well. He averaged 11, 6 points in the championship, 7,9 in Euroleague and 10,9 in Eurocup. He went over this margin in 19 out of 51 games. I think Unicaja prepared well for stopping three-pointers because the Germans have an amazing three-point efficiency of 57% so far, which is not realistic in the long run. I don't expect Strelnieks to average 13 or more points in Euroleague. There are other players who like taking shots as well. In any case, his bigger task will be the organization of game. I expect him at 8-2 points with an average shooting efficiency today. In the long run, I expect him to average 10,5 shots. The bet is available at sportingbet as well.