Tactics Board - Filou Oostende under the radar

 MIES (Switzerland) - Up until the start of December things were looking pretty bleak for Dario Gjergja's Filou Oostende squad. A beating at home from Galatasaray Nef on the first night of the season was followed by a road loss against Hapoel Atsmon Holon. Then even after a recovery win on the road in Poland against Legia Warszawa, they then lost the return leg at home. The only positive to come from that home loss was the vital retention of the head-to-head advantage in the race to a Play-In series.

Like a driving holiday before Google Maps, the Oostende bus was headed down a winding road with no direction and no chance of reaching its target destination. However, like a private driveway with an owner that forgot to lock the gate, that home loss to Legia Warszawa provided a very handy turning point for Oostende and since that game, they are back on track and racing down the highway. Their record since is six and one across all competitions, including an impressive win against Galatasary Nef in Istanbul, followed by a home win against Hapoel Atsmon Holon, and now a second win in Istanbul against Bahcesehir College. They have gone from being so far under the radar that they weren't even on it, to an ever-expanding flashing yellow light getting closer and closer to the center of the screen. 

Coaching

The concept at Oostende is very clear. They take outstanding young talent, surround it with import players they have scouted that perhaps other teams with bigger budgets should have, then lean on the culture provided by their domestic players and excellent coach, Dario Gjergja. This season Gjergja is again finding ways to squeeze every last drop of talent he can out of his squad.

A perfect example of that is the development and performance of Haris Bratanovic. The young Belgian big man is averaging 9.6 points and 4.7 rebounds whilst shooting 71 percent from 2-point range. And when we say 2-point range, what we really mean is dunks. Gjergja has utilized Bratanovic's great hands and ability to roll to the rim with intent and made Oostende the most efficient team in the BCL when it comes to scoring generated by the roll man in the pick-and-roll. Per Synergy, they are scoring at a rate of 1.4 points per play when they hit the roller, with Bratanovic also leading the BCL at 1.78 points per play. Not bad for a 21-year-old starting Center.

 

It's also no coincidence that the video above is a sideline out-of-bounds play. Gjergja and Oostende rank third in the BCL for executing from the sideline (1.2 PPP per Synergy), often after timeouts. One of the primary reasons for that is the way that Gjergja has been able to leverage the threat of Bratanovic rolling to the rim to create space for shooters and vice versa. The fact that both of Oostende's Power Forwards are elite-level shooters doesn't hurt either. We all know who Pierre-Antoine Gillet is and the fact that he's shooting over 40 percent from three should come as a surprise to no one. Tre'shawn Thurman on the other hand seems to have caught plenty of people by surprise. We don't often see 27-year-olds playing their debut season in Europe. It's even less common to see rookie Power Forwards shooting 57 percent from deep on over four attempts per game. If we look at Thurman's averages of 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds, on shooting splits of 58 percent overall, 57 percent from three, and 89.5 percent from the line, it's pretty clear that Thurman has also been flying just as far under the radar. 

Just look at the clip below, Holon's #24, Marvin Jones is sucked into the paint by the threat of Bratanovic on the roll but even at 7 foot (2.13m) he can't recover in time for his contest to make any difference to Thurman. 

 

Another key cog in this Oostende machine is versatility and to be specific the way that versatility enables Dario Gjergja to get creative with his lineups. In the clip below, Oostende finish the play with their two primary playmakers, Tyree (#5), and van der Vuurst de Vries (#6) playing off the ball. 6'10" (2.08m) Bleijenbergh (#12) plays pick-and-roll with Bratanovic whilst Gillet (#30) is spacing the floor. This causes all kinds of decision-making problems for the defense and it's no coincidence that Bleijenbergh is playing his best basketball at the same time as results are improving for Oostende.

 

We see the same lineup dynamics and the same two players in the pick-and-roll action in this next clip but with the added layer of leverage from Gillet screening for Tyree as the action unfolds. This left a #4, Simon Buysse spacing the floor on the weakside with Joe Ragland guarding him and responsible for helping on the roller. As tough as Ragland is, Bratanovic at 6'10" catching the ball with his feet almost in the no-charge zone is an impossible assignment. Really excellent playbook design from Gjergja.

 

Star Power

We haven't even really spoken about Breein Tyree and Keye van der Vuurst de Vries (VDVDV). Haris Bratanovic is surely a candidate for Best Young Player but if he isn't then it will be because his teammate VDVDV is averaging 7.7 points and 7 assists. Likewise, if Tre'shawn Thurman's numbers are flying under the radar it's because his teammate Breein Tyree is a legitimate MVP candidate. 17.6 points on 38 percent from deep are seriously impressive numbers for another player in his rookie European season. The way he plays is even more impressive than the numbers. 

It's well known that playing multiple sports growing up can help athletes later in life with the sport they choose to specialize in. In the first clip below we can see all of the balance and footwork that Tyree will have gained playing football (soccer) at an international level for the USA in his youth. The composure to look up and read the shot clock with seven seconds left and not rush the decision is also the kind of thing that will be endearing him to his coach. In the second clip, Tyree hits a sidestep three-ball, off the dribble, going to his right. This is one of the more difficult shots for a right-hander and he makes it look easy. He's been making it look easy a lot this season.

 

What's Next?

Well, obviously the job is not over against Bahcesehir. The team from Istanbul aren't going to go down easily and Oostende actually have a better record on the road than they do at home in the BCL this year. Dario Gjergja and his squad will need to find another home performance as good as the last time out against Holon if they want to make the Round of 16. Then awaiting the winner of this tie are Baxi Manresa and hotshots Telekom Baskets Bonn. Oostende have never made it to the Quarter-Finals. Despite their run of big wins since December, they will still be under most people's radar when it comes to making that step but of all the squads that Gejrgja and Oostende have put together, this might be the one with the most talent, and they are playing their best basketball at the right time.