Baskonia could be the nice surprise of the Liga ACB Final Tournament
Baskonia didn’t impress much so far this season, mostly because of the injury problems that caused many missings. In Euroleague, they were on 13 when the season was put on hold and in the Spanish League, they occupied the 9th place, fighting for a playoff spot with San Pablo Burgos and Gran Canaria.
Now, in this new format of the Final Tournament with 2 groups they have a great chance to prove their value and reach semifinals of the competition. Their main advantage will be a complete roster. Finally, Baskonia will have all their players available, including Luca Vildoza, Jayson Granger and Zoran Dragic. This could be the most important thing for them because these absentees were affecting a lot Baskonia’s game.
When the season was stopped the Basque squad was coming after 6 consecutive victories (3 in Euroleague and 3 in Liga ACB) and under the leadership of the reputed coach Dusko Ivanovic was looking better and better. The main problem during the season in both competitions where the club was involved was the lack of constancy.
Baskonia was able to destroy CSKA or Olympiacos, losing to Real Madrid with only 1 point margin and then, in other moments of the season, to be smashed with around 30 points by Panathinaikos, Valencia Basket or Anadolu Efes. Of course, this inconstant evolution of their games could be explained by their many injuries. Now with all of them back, Baskonia could be a dangerous team, hard to break. Especially because all these recovered players have a fighter mood that can boost both offense and defense of their team. Vildoza, Dragic, Granger are all very fast players, guards full of energy, who can make a difference in the approach of the game. Even if the group is very balanced with FC Barcelona, Unicaja Malaga, Bilbao Basket, Iberostar Tenerife and the outsider Joventut Badalona, Baskonia will be a tough cookie in the Final Tournament with real chances to reach the semifinals.
Image: Euroleague
Gratian Cormos
