Barça and Baskonia collide in the clouds
BARCELONA, 4 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Barça receives Baskonia this Friday at the Palau Blaugrana (8:30 p.m.), on an evening marked by the parades and the arrival of the Three Wise Men, who will only leave the gift of victory to one of the two teams, who arrive with morale through the roof after their victories, this week, against Real Madrid and Panathinaikos, respectively.
High-rise duel between two teams from the Endesa League that want to have their own voice in the Euroleague. I am fighting between some good versions of Barça and Baskonia that, however, are in question. Especially that of some Blaugranas who gained breath and morale in the Classic but who came from bad feelings that they do not want to experience again.
Both teams, both Barça and Baskonia, know that only one can try to open a path of triumph. At Barça, after defeating Real Madrid and making them suffer their second defeat in the Euroleague (third in the entire season), they want and must grow in that same line of play, dedication and intensity shown against the eternal rival, which was even seen surpassed on a physical level in the final stretch of the duel by the 'culers'.
And, for Baskonistas, the goal is to storm the Palau Blaugrana and continue climbing positions in the standings, to get into 'Play-In' or even 'Playoff' positions. They have everything within reach of victory and caroms. And they know what it's like to win, and lose, against Barça this season.
In fact, in the first round of the Regular Phase of this Euroleague, the Vitorian team won with a scandalous performance (94-71). Repeating that performance at 80-90 percent would probably give them victory at the Palau. But, yes, in front of their fans, who were '10' in the Classic, Barça are tougher and usually offer their best side.
In the preview, the Blaugrana coach, Roger Grimau, warned of the danger that Baskonia poses. “They are very competitive. In the match against Panathinaikos they were at a significant disadvantage at the end of the third quarter and managed to win in the last second. That is the 'Baskonia character', fighting until the end. And we have to be very prepared for the match in tomorrow,” he told the media.
For its part, Baskonia returned to the path of victory in the Regular Phase this Wednesday by winning by a tight 75-73 against the Greek Panathinaikos, making an epic comeback by 17 points in the third quarter thanks especially to Moneke and Codi Miller-McIntyre acting as executor.
The point guard scored the winning basket over 'PAO' almost at the buzzer and was the hero, although the praise fell on the Nigerian center, who had a huge final quarter to finish with 20 points, 13 rebounds and a PIR of 34. Without a doubt, they will try not to suffer as much but achieve the same goal; a victory that catapults them to the top of the table.
DATASHEET.
–EQUIPMENT.
BARÇA: Satoransky, Kalinic, Parker, Da Silva and Vesely –possible starting quintet–; Paulí, Brizuela, Hernangómez, Laprovittola, Jokubaitis, Nnaji and Parra.
BASCONY: Miller-McIntyre, Raieste, Marinkovic, Sedekerskis and Kotsar — possible starting quintet–; Howard, Costello, Moneke, Diop, Rogkavopoulos, Ten and Chiozza.
–REFEREES: Javor, Koljensic and Lezcano.
–PAVILLION: Palau Blaugrana.
–TIME: 20.30/Movistar+.