The Tenerife team, which recently prided itself on a strong defense, averaging 72.33 points in victories against teams like Valencia, Unicaja, and Zaragoza, has undergone a drastic change. Now, Txus Vidorreta's squad appears vulnerable near their basket, a weakness particularly evident in the Liga Endesa, unlike their performance in the BCL.
This defensive decline seems to have begun after a disastrous second half during their visit to Lleida, where the team conceded 61 points in just 20 minutes, totaling 103. This figure has been repeated in subsequent games against Gran Canaria Arena and Barça, highlighting a concerning trend.
Even in games where opponents scored less than 90 points, such as against Real Madrid (90 points conceded) and Andorra (90 points), or against Girona (94 points), CB Canarias has not always secured victory. The average of 95.28 points conceded in this stretch places them as the team allowing the most points in the league since early April.
The explanations for this 180-degree turn are varied. On one hand, the team has struggled to contain opposing guards, with players like David DeJulius and Isaiah Wong excelling in scoring. Collectively, the lack of defensive solidity is evident, with games featuring high point tallies after halftime, as occurred in Lleida.
“"I believe what made us win so much was always defensive solidity, and we haven't had that in some games. [...] If we don't recover that consistency on defense, playing to exchange points serves us no purpose. We were never a team that played to see who scores more points, but rather to reduce the production of other teams."
The concern is amplified by observing high scoring runs against the team at the start of games, such as the 58 points conceded against Barça (29+29) in the first two quarters. Historically, the team had not conceded so many points at home since 2013, when Joventut scored 65 points in two periods.
Facing Joventut, precisely the team that has conceded the fewest points in their last seven games (averaging 83.14), CB Canarias has an urgent need to plug these defensive leaks to regain solidity in this final stretch of the season.
