Tavares and Poirier against Hernangómez and Vesely, clash of styles in classical painting

Barcelona, ​​Oct 23 (EFE).- The duel that Real Madrid centers Walter Tavares and Vincent Poirier will have in the paint with Barça interiors Willy Hernangómez and Jan Vesely will be one of the determining factors of the classic that both teams will play in the WiZink Center next Thursday.

Whites and Azulgranas will arrive at the event tied on points at the top of the Euroleague standings, with full victories after four days, although it is true that the team coached by Chus Mateo has won the two classics that have been played of this course.

Real Madrid, undefeated in all competitions, won the semi-final of the Endesa Super Cup (80-90) and the third matchday of the domestic championship (86-79), the only official matches that Barça has lost since Roger Grimau took over the first team bench in the summer.

If Tavares was decisive in the first game (13 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks), Poirier shone in the second (22 points and 7 rebounds) and the white team dominated in the paint, both in defense and attacking the direct block central, its main strength.

The Real Madrid centers win the battle of height, with the Cape Verdean's 2.20 meters and the Frenchman's 2.13, which surpass the 2.13 of Hernangómez and the 2.09 of Vesely. In fact, the white interiors average more blocks in the Euroleague (2.7) than those of Barça (1.3).

However, the centers of the Barça team have more offensive weight. According to data compiled by the Euroleague, between Hernangómez and Vesely they finish 20.8 possessions per game, with an average of 1.13 points for each one, while the Madridistas do so on 16.7 occasions with an effectiveness of 1.07.

Vesely and Hernangómez are Barça's second and third top scorers in the competition, with 12.5 and 11 points respectively, for a total of 23.5 on the team's average of 89.5. On the other hand, Poirier is Real Madrid's offensive leader (12.2), but Tavares is ninth in scoring (5.7). Between them they account for 17.9 of the white team's 90.8 points.

Another substantial difference is the shooting range. Chus Mateo's centers concentrate practically all of their production in the vicinity of the rim, while Roger Grimau's interior players diversify their shots more and are a solid threat from the middle distance.

On the other hand, and despite being shorter, Hernangómez and Vesely average more rebounds (3.3 offensive and 10.4 defensive) than Tavares and Poirier (3.1 on offense and 4.2 on defense). They also outperform them in assists (2 to 1.7) and commit fewer losses (2 to 3.3).