MADRID, 26 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Baskonia coach, Joan Peñarroya, acknowledged that the situation with the American point guard Pierriá Henry is “complex”, after his provisional suspension after carrying out a FIBA anti-doping control that has led the club to open a file against him, although the player is “very sure that he has acted correctly”.
“It is a very complex situation, it has never occurred in basketball, there are no precedents. Although many think not, the club’s statement is very clear and it is what it is. We lose a very important player, because of his statistics, because of everything he does for the team, defensively. But things happen, and you have to look ahead. It hasn’t been comfortable to be in this position for the last 10-12 days, but that’s what it was about”, commented Peñarroya in the round press.
The coach wanted to give “all the support to the player.” “He is very sure that he has acted correctly, and we are with him, but the situation is what it is. The club has a problem and he has a problem. He is going to help the boy, he is going to try to show that he is going to come out well”, he pointed out about how Henry is.
Peñarroya advanced that the matter “seems that it will not be a matter of a few weeks”, so the team must “find the best possible solutions”. “We are weakened, but we must continue competing, as we already won without ‘Pi’ at Efes on their track,” recalled Peñarroya, before this Friday’s duel (8:30 p.m.) against Anadolu Efes, the current Euroleague champion.
Given the provisional absence of Henry, Peñarroya pointed out that Baskonia “is in the market trying to find options”, but “it’s not that easy”. “There are many teams that are looking for players in that position and have not found one. We are not looking for a substitute, because there is none today in the month of February to come to Europe. We will look for the best player who can join the team as soon as possible. best possible. Someone will come,” he added.
“We are not the Efe or Real Madrid squads, we notice the casualties a little more. There are always ups and downs, now we are not with that freshness, but we will prepare as we are doing. We think of ourselves. The team does not know It has broken down and tomorrow if we don’t do it well, Efes is a team that can break you down. They come from losing and do not have a buoyant classification, we are going to find the best Efes”, he referred to the casualties, confirming that Tadas Sedekerskis is doubtful .
Baskonia defeated Anadolu Efes (78-83) in the first round, although the one who visits the Buesa Arena this Friday “is a better Efes”. “They have lost a game that they did not expect, but they are a great team that knows how to compete, and when it seems that they are going badly… They are very good. They won easily at the Palau and that is within the reach of very few teams,” said Peñarroya.
“We don’t have to reinvent ourselves, we have to play basketball well. The team has earned respect for doing things very well and being dangerous. This team has stood out more for its offensive facet than its defense, although the numbers don’t indicate that we are a team either. bad team. Defensively, there are situations in which we have been bad, and we can be better, we have already done it”, he concluded about the current situation of Baskonia.