He was the most productive player for Casademont Zaragoza in the early part of the season. His brilliant emergence, in fact, has represented one of the most exciting notes of a course marked by ups and downs, irregularity and the important defensive gaps of the Aragonese team. However, Tryggy Hlinason has drastically reduced his presence on the court in recent matches, precisely when the people from Zaragoza – bewildered and powerless – have shown their most vulnerable profile, both in the Endesa League and in the Champions League.
In the domestic tournament, Casademont has linked three consecutive defeats, all of them under the same pattern: an alarming defensive inexperience –more than 100 points conceded per game–, a manifest inferiority in the rebound and an anarchic, hasty, disorderly and individualistic game. Despite this, Hlinason’s participation has been considerably limited; A paradox as he is an imposing, intimidating player, distinguished by his consistency at the back, his ease of rebounding, his ability to modify the opponent’s shots, his ability to play over the rim and his forceful finish.
And that the 23-year-old pivot was recently designated MVP of the twentieth day, an award granted this week after the Obradoiro-Real Madrid and Barcelona-Estudiantes duels had been played, which were postponed in their day due to the incidence of the coronavirus and that they had delayed the naming of the winner. On that day, Hlinason contributed to the victory against Fuenlabrada (105-85) with 24 points (12 of 13 in field goals), 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks in 27 minutes of play. The contest ended with 33 evaluation credits. Very meritorious records for a player with an outstanding impact on intangibles.
In the defeat against Joventut de Badalona (95-100), on March 6, the presence on the Hlinason court was already reduced to 11 minutes, in a duel where the Catalans had 9 more rebounds than the Zaragozans, with Ante Tomic (24 points) and Vladimir Brodziansky (20) irrepressible in the inside game. Against Barcelona, a week later, Casademont again bent at the knee with a very high score (107-88), again with very little prominence from the Icelandic: Hlinason barely intervened for five minutes, in a duel where the pivot Brandon Davis (20 points and 11 rebounds) handled himself with unforeseen ease. The Catalans finished the game with 14 more sacks than the Zaragozans.
Later, Casademont suffered a new defeat in the Príncipe Felipe pavilion, now against Movistar Estudiantes (104-113) –one of the most accessible teams in the competition–. Although the duel, very close, needed an extension to resolve, Hlinason only played 8 minutes. A surprising decision, since the Madrilenians counted 11 more catches than the Aragonese, and finished with up to 18 offensive rebounds. In this aspect, center Ángel Delgado was especially productive, who added 20 rejections and 12 points (26 valuation credits) in the 33 minutes that he remained on the track.
In this course, Hlinason has taken an important step forward in its performance, above the expectations generated, and was one of the pieces listed in the ACB League. The Icelander has participated in the 26 games played, with records of 8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 12.6 PIR credits per game; and with 75% effectiveness in field kicks, which is the best percentage of success of the entire competition.
Very positive figures, although at the moment insufficient to end, once and for all, with his conciseness as a subordinate in the Zaragoza squad. Not even the departure of Jason Thompson, consummated on February 9, has modified the secondary role of Hlinason in the coach’s ideology. And that the Casademont Zaragoza, to replace the American pivot, then chose to incorporate Jacob Wiley, an athletic, energetic, intense and powerful player, but without the size or intimidation capacity of the Icelander.
The pivot celebrates his fourth season in the Endesa League –The second at Casademont Zaragoza–, after having previously performed at Valencia Basket and Obradoiro. He was hired at no cost by the Aragonese club, in the summer of 2019, as a bet for the future; but he already exhibited his breadth of resources in his first year despite the fact that, in principle, he came to play a secondary role in the inner game. In this course he had been offering an outstanding performance, decisive on both sides of the track; And yet now it has practically disappeared from the rotation. It is the Hlinason riddle.
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