Baskonia – the big favourite against Iberostar Tenerife
Tonight, Baskonia is looking for the second victory at the Final Phase in Liga ACB after the amazing game made in the opening against Bilbao Basket. This time they will meet a better team, especially because Iberostar Tenerife has a larger bench at their disposal than Bilbao had. The odds on Baskonia dropped a lot during the last days and there are some reasons for this:
- Iberostar Tenerife is not looking bad. They have many role-players guided by some experienced guys like Marcelinho Huertas, Giorgi Shermadini, Sasu Salin and Aaron White but they aren’t a scary squad. Without the absentees, Santi Yusta and Dino Radoncic, Tenerife’s roster is still large and they can make a good game against any team, but Baskonia is another level, too tough – at the moment – to be broken by average rosters.
- The Basques had an easy victory against Bilbao Basket and their morale is sky-high. Even before that game, they were coming to Valencia with the idea to win the trophy which is very possible. They have now their best formula of the season because many times they were confronted with a couple of injuries. Of course, the big man Youssoupha Fall (2.21 m) is listed as questionable for this game and Patricio Garino is out, but the pair of guards returned from injuries (Luca Vildoza and Jayson Granger) are making miracles for Baskonia. Their desire to play is now bigger than before because they were coming after long-term injuries and now they are eager to show their entire offensive and defensive arsenal.
- Actually, Baskonia has many better options on guards position than Iberostar Tenerife and this will make the difference. The Basques lineup of guards is maybe the best in the entire league including Pierria Henry, Matt Janning, Zoran Dragic, Jayson Granger and Luca Vildoza.
Image: Euroleague
Gratian Cormos
