Definitely not the NBA

While we knew from reading the newspaper that there was a professional basketball (baloncesto) team in San Sebastian, we really did not know much else about the team or the league. That changed  Saturday night (April 6) when we used tickets given to us by Shana's friend Isabel to attend the game between our local team, Delteco GBC (Gipuzkoa Baloncesto Club), and the visiting Movistar Estudiantes (Madrid). Because basketball is not a huge sport here, in many cases the teams are actually named after their sponsors. A little weird.

Another difference is that, like in soccer, there are multiple leagues (or at least two). Each year, the worst two teams in the top league, which has 18 teams, are relegated (i.e. demoted) to the lower league, while the top two teams from that league are promoted. It seems that GBC has been about the 18th or 19th best team in Spain the last few years because in 2017 they finished at the bottom of the league and were relegated, but in 2018 they won the lower league and were promoted. This year, they are currently in last place and in danger of relegation again.

And, on Saturday night, they showed why. Playing the 15th place team, they looked terrible in the first half (the game consists of four 10-minute quarters). After being down by seven at the end of the first quarter, they did not play any perimeter defense in the second, and Movistar rained threes to take a 22-point halftime lead. We are not sure exactly what the coach said in the locker room, but it worked.  They looked like a completely different team in the second half. They actually looked good and proceeded to cut the lead to eight by the end of the third quarter, and then took a two point lead with about four minutes left in the game. What was much more exciting than basketball in the US (college and pro) is that the coaches let their players play coming down the stretch without calling an interminable string of timeouts. And, with GBC leading 93-92, they needed one last stop to cap an amazing comeback. Playing some of the best defense we had seen all day, they did it:

It was actually one of the best comebacks in basketball we have ever seen live, and the few fans that were there were really into it:

The stadium, which is about a 30-minute walk from our apartment, seats 11,000 people, but those white curtains cover much of the upper bowl, and we suspect there were about 3,000 people at the game, but at least we all got to see a good show.

Overall, the game looked more like a US college game than the NBA. GBC's roster even includes two Americans who played at the college level. There was a lot of screening and passing, and not a lot of isolation and single-player dominated play. The level of play seemed to be low-division 1-A or maybe division 1-AA. These teams would get destroyed by the top level teams in college (Duke, NC, etc.), but might hold their own against weaker teams. Obviously, we don't know how good the better teams in the league are.

All-in-all, we really enjoyed the game. The fans, including a ton of kids of all ages, really got into the home team's comeback and left the arena jubilant. I am not sure if we will be going back any time soon, but there are definitely worse ways to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday evening.

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana