Joventut and Lenovo Tenerife open the Cup with emotion
An even first crossing in Granada augurs a vibrant start-up
MADRID, 16 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The 86th Basketball King’s Cup kicks off this Thursday (18:30/#Vamos) with the quarterfinal duel between Joventut and Lenovo Tenerife, a first course without a favorite that promises a pulse with emotion to whet your appetite at the Palacio de los Grenada Sports.
The national basketball and hobbies festival, which returns to the stands after its absence in Madrid last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, lands in the Nasrid capital like a blank canvas. ‘La Penya’ and CB Canarias want to reserve the hotel until Saturday at least and not return quickly and empty.
The crossing between the two is very marked by the one they played last Saturday, just five days before meeting in a cup semi-final that will be against Real Madrid or Río Breogán. In Badalona, the Canarian team won with authority, from a strong second half, with the duo Marcelino Huertas (22 points, 6 assists and a PIR of 29) and Giorgi Shermadini (20, 8 rebounds and 27).
Huertas and Shermadini, plus the great incorporation of Kyle Wiltjer, are the main arguments for those from La Laguna. Txus Vidorreta’s team was the last to get their ticket for what is their sixth consecutive appearance in the Cup and, after three semi-finals in the last five editions, they hope to go one step further in Granada.
To do this, they first have to repeat their victory against a ‘Penya’ who will surely show another face. Those of Carles Duran, at the head of the club of his life, are a tournament history, with eight titles –although the last one in 2008–, and they continue to give stability to the project that saved the club from almost disappearing not ago much.
The mixture of hungry youth with the experience and talent of Ante Tomic and Pau Ribas, champion of that Cup, showed a brilliant ‘Penya’ in the first round of the Endesa League. Catalans and Canarians know each other well, two teams with a lot of triples and that good base-pivot connection, and nobody wants to leave Granada on the first day.
DATASHEET:
–EQUIPMENT:
JOVENTUT: Ribas, Vives, Willis, Parra and Tomic –possible starting quintet–, Busquets, Paul, Brodziansky, Ventura, Bassas, Birgander.
LENOVO TENERIFE: Huertas, Salin, Todorovic, Doornekamp and Shermadini –possible starting quintet–, Borg, Fitipaldo, Rodríguez, Sastrre, Sulejmanovic, Wiltjer, Guerra.
–PABILLION: Granada Sports Palace.
–TIME: 18:30/#Let’s go.