Zurab Kereselidze of mmcité+ Brno fights through the Pardubice defense. Photo: Jan Russnak
Brno, Feb 14 (BD) – Zbrojovka restarts league season in Prague and the Brno sports schedule.
Despite flashes of brilliance and an outstanding game by Canyon Barry, mmcité+ Brno could not stay consistent enough to keep pace with the quality of BK JIP Pardubice last Wednesday. mmcité+ Brno lost, 77-92, in a game that was much more competitive than the final 15-point difference.
Brno (6-15) plays at Olomoucko (10-11) tonight at 6 p.m. It is the final game of the first part of the Kooperativa NBL season.
After this 22nd round, the league splits into two divisions. mmcité+ Brno will play in Group A2 against the five other teams from the bottom half of the bracket; in early April, two teams will rejoin the top half of the league for the Play-Offs and the bottom four teams will move into the Play-Out Bracket.
Against Pardubice, which is second in the league with a 15-6 record, Brno overcame its penchant for slow starts when Barry picked the team up and carried it back into contention. He scored nine points in a row at one point during the first quarter.
“In this game we fought throughout the whole game,” said head coach Dejan Jakara.
There were, however, some lapses. At the end of the first half, Brno gave up six points in the final 20 seconds because it was unable to deal with defensive pressure. Brno was down, 34-40, at halftime.
“In some moments on offense we made some very (beginner) mistakes,” Jakara added.
Even in the loss, Brno still gained league-wide honors: Barry’s 29 points were the best in the league during the 21st round and Mladen Primorac had a league-high six assists.
One of Primorac’s assists was a beautiful alley-oop pass that Barry converted, despite being fouled; the 3-point play sparked Brno’s resurgence during the first quarter.
“The game was up and down on our side,” said Radek Pumprla, who scored on all three of his shots from 2-point range and totaled 9 points. “We started losing, then we caught up, then we were losing and caught up again. There were better and worse times.”
Pumprla also had five assists.
“We didn’t play a bad game,”Pumprla said, “but Pardubice deserved to win.”
Barry was near perfect from the floor. He converted 7 of 9 from 2-point range and 4 of 5 from 3-point range, despite injuring his hand midway through the second quarter. The 75-percent free-throw shooter missed both of his free throws soon after the injury. He took extra practice during halftime to get his touch back. In the end, his worst shooting percent was from the charity stripe, where he was just 3-for-6.
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Zbrojovka Resumes League Play at Bohemians 1905
Het Liga play starts again on Saturday when FC Zbrojovka Brno travels to Prague for a rematch of the Tipsport Winter League final game against Bohemians 1905. The game starts at 6:30 p.m.
Zbrojovka won the Winter Cup, 2-0, on Jan. 25 as part of a nine-game unbeaten streak during the two-and-a-half months since the end of the first half of the leagues season. Since then, Zbrojovka lost three times by one goal while training for the resumption of league play.
Zbrojovka is in 12th place in the 16-team league after the first half of the season.
The first home game will be Feb. 24 against Olomouc; kick off is 3 p.m. On Sunday, March 4, Zbrojovka will travel to Sparta for a 6 p.m. start.
BRNO SPORTS RESULTS
Quick results for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the past week. Home team listed first (when applicable).
Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018
— Men’s Basketball: mmcité+ Brno 77, BK JIP Pardubice 92
BRNO SPORTS SCHEDULE
The schedule for various Brno professional and recreational sports for the next two weeks. All dates and times subject to change. Home team listed first (when applicable).
Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018
— Men’s Basketball: Olomoucko X mmcité+ Brno, 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 16, 2018
— Women’s Basketball: BA K. Vary X Žabiny Brno, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018
— Running: BBP 8 – Modřický pohár
— Women’s Basketball: KP Brno X SBŠ Ostrava, 3:30 p.m.
— Men’s Football: Bohemians 1905 X Zbrojovka Brno, 6: 30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018
— Women’s Basketball: Technic Brno X Sokol Nilfisk H. Králové, 5 p.m.
The Brno Sports Report is published every Wednesday. All dates and times are subject to change. Most of the stories are about the traditional “English-speaking” team sports — football, hockey, baseball, basketball, American football, rugby, etc. — but it is also about the interesting local spectator and participation sports — tennis, badminton, running, horse racing, swimming, rock climbing, biking, etc. If you have any suggestions for what should be included, please comment below or send an email to brnosports@gmail.com.
