It's a pity that Li Yueyu's efficient performance was "overlooked," and the team had to stop at the round of 16 in the EuroCup Women!
More than just the players' performance determines victory or defeat on the court; the arrangement of troops and tactics during the game and timely adjustments are also crucial. On January 16, in the second leg of the round of 16 playoffs for the 2024-2025 FIBA Women's European Club Cup, Galatasaray lost 56-87 away to Lyon ASVEL. In this match, Li Yueyu continued her efficient play, but unfortunately, she had few opportunities to show off, with good intentions to defeat the enemy, but alas, it was beyond her power.
Looking back at the first leg at home, Galatasaray made a comeback to beat French Lyon ASVEL 77-72. In this match, as long as they didn't lose by more than 5 points, they could ensure qualification for the quarter-finals. Unexpectedly, they suffered a crushing defeat.
In this game, Li Yueyu played for 22 minutes, shooting 3 out of 6, making 3 out of 4 free throws, scoring 9 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and adding 1 block, which is quite efficient. However, her playing time was the least among the starters, and her number of shots was also at the bottom among the starters, which reflects to some extent her status in the team's tactical system and the team's strategy for using her.
Although Li Yueyu has a certain dominance in the paint, the team's overall tactical arrangements and outside support were clearly insufficient, which prevented her from fully exerting her advantages.
Looking at the whole game, Galatasaray was not without chances. They only trailed by 1 point at halftime. The turning point appeared in the second half. In the third quarter, the entire Galatasaray team scored only 9 points, while Lyon scored 20 points in a single quarter, losing 11 points in one quarter. In the fourth quarter, they lost an astonishing 19 points. They eventually lost by a huge margin of 31 points. Over the two rounds, Lyon ASVEL won by a net score of 26 points, thus advancing to the quarter-finals with their heads held high.
The main reason for the loss lies in the abnormally poor outside shooting percentage, with only 4 out of 19 three-pointers made throughout the game. The failure of the outside shooting caused the team to lose an important scoring point in the offensive end, and also led to the opponents being able to contract their defense more recklessly, further compressing the offensive space for inside players like Li Yueyu. Moreover, the team also seemed to lack flexibility and adaptability in tactical execution. Facing Lyon ASVEL's tight defense, they failed to adjust their tactics in time to find effective offensive breakthroughs.
Since joining Galatasaray, Li Yueyu has maintained a relatively outstanding performance. In previous games, she averaged 15.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, securing her starting position. Her joining not only enhanced the team's inside strength but also brought more tactical options to the team. However, the loss in the second leg of the round of 16 in the Women's European Club Cup also exposed the problem of overly rigid offensive arrangements. When the outside shooting was slow to open up, they gave up on Li Yueyu, this inside scoring point.
In fact, a similar situation occurred in the league match against the leader Fenerbahce. At that time, with 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Galatasaray held a 5-point advantage. Surprisingly, coach Ekrem replaced Li Yueyu, followed by the opponent launching a 10-1 offensive spree, thus painfully losing the good situation at home with a score of 61-65.
Although Galatasaray failed to make further progress in this Women's European Club Cup, Li Yueyu's personal performance is still commendable. Her skills, game experience, and self-confidence are constantly improving, and she has great potential and development space in the international arena in the future.
Last season, Li Yueyu followed Besiktas to win the runner-up of the EuroCup Women. She hoped to seize the opportunity to join Galatasaray to continue her efforts and challenge for the championship title, but she stopped at the round of 16. According to the current situation, while failing in the European arena, the league championship is also not optimistic, and it is likely to end up with nothing.