Will FC Barcelona be able to defeat Baskonia in the Supercup?
Last time when these two Euroleague powerhouses have met, Baskonia surprisingly won the Final of the Spanish League. The big favorite, FC Barcelona was silenced in the last act of the competition, even though almost nobody expected that. Then, it became obvious that this loss was the only way to get rid of coach Svetislav Pesic. No club will fire a coach that has just won the best league in Europe.
Now, the Jasikevicius’ era is on the way and I consider him an excellent coach. But can he beat Baskonia and Dusko Ivanovic? Let’s see the whole picture:
- FC Barcelona has maintained the same roster as last season, adding Nick Calathes which will fit perfectly for the Catalans. They have the advantage of the good chemistry created in time and this will help them a lot against Baskonia.
- The Basque team operated many changes in the roster, parting ways with key-players like Granger, Shengelia, Shields, Eric, Garino. In their place have come the Baltic duo of youngsters Kurucs and Raieste, the big men Alec Peters and Tonye Jekiri, Rokas Gedraitis and Khadeen Carrington. The roster is low-cost, visibly affected by some cuts in the budget because Baskonia like many other teams in Europe is experiencing the economic crisis generated by Coronavirus.
- If you take a look at the difference of the money invested and the names on the list, the difference between these two teams is big. And it’s the moment for FC Barcelona to show some basketball. Even if the Supercup is not so important like winning the championship of the Euroleague trophy, you cannot play awful basketball on huge money forever. Sometimes you have to win too!
After years of struggle, FC Barcelona has an impressive roster and the best coach. If not now, then when?
Image: Euroleague
