The best Copa del Rey ends the long wait for Badalona

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The presence of all the national champions of the last two decades highlights the first eight-round tournament in one of the strongholds of ACB basketball

Nearly 40 years have passed before Badalona once again hosts a final stage of the Copa del Rey, but the wait has been worth it. For the first time, the Palau Olímpic will host the best basketball tournament in Europe in its current model of the last eight, and it will do so with an exceptional poster. This time none of the greats misses the rendezvous.

The home of historic Joventut lists the seven clubs that have won an official trophy in Spain in the last twenty years: Real Madrid (8 leagues, 6 cups and 8 Super Cups), Barça (7 leagues, 9 cups and 5 Super Cups ), Baskonia (3 Leagues, 3 Cups and 4 Super Cups), Unicaja (1 League and 1 Cup), Valencia (1 League and 1 Super Cup), Joventut (1 Cup) and Gran Canaria (1 Super Cup). They are joined by Tenerife, who arrive as the recent champions of the Intercontinental Cup and have been close to the cup final in recent years.

Real Madrid and Barça start again as big favourites. They are the best candidates to lift the squad and performance trophy, although the usual classic will not be in the final as the two giants would meet in the semi-finals if they passed two high-level tests first , with Álex Mumbrú’s Valencia from less to more and the reborn Unicaja by Ibon Navarro, inviting you to dream of making laurels green again.

The Whites arrive as the top seed, with a 17-3 record in the ACB League, similar to that of Barça but with a better basket average. In his game, Walter Tavares continues to shine, second in rating in the entire league and top scorer. The imposing Cape Verde center not only provides points and rebounds in the paint, but is also one of the most intimidating defenders of the Old Continent. Chus Mateo makes his debut in the cup with an almost dream team, with Yabusele as the second leg of the white inside game, Musa’s points, Hezonja’s great moment or the stripes of Llull, Rudy and Chacho Rodríguez. The weak point is in the starting position, but Madrid has plenty of alternatives.

Madrid’s debut in the tournament offers no truce as Valencia Basket is a very deceptive unseeded team. Its status as a Euroleague team and the project’s upward trajectory led by the ex-Madridista Mumbrú are warnings enough. The ‘taronja’ team stars inside play led by captain Dubljevic, responsible for being Tavares’ kryptonite, and Cuban Jasiel Rivero, who has already recovered from a sprained knee. Plenty of gunpowder on the outside with Chis Jones, Jared Harper, Klemen Prepelic, López-Arostegui and former Betis baseman Shannon Evans as luxury winter reinforcements for the game control. In short, an opening duel typical of any final.

Barça and Unicaja will then enter the scene, with another high-level challenge for the reigning champions. Sarunas Jasikevicius’ team always defends its crown surrounded by the highest demands, which demands titles for such an ambitious project. Nikola Mirotic, MVP a year ago at Granada, arrives ready to lead. After the Achilles tendon problems that delayed his debut this season, the Spanish-Montenegrin is gaining weight in Saras’ schedule, who is confident in his ability to generate from the inside, but also lose balance from the third shot. Together with Mirotic, Barça presents many references with Vesely’s power in the paint, Laprovittola’s launch, Satoransky’s direction or Higgins’ poise in moments of truth.

In contrast, Unicaja has the defensive mastery of Alberto Díaz and his resurrection under the rule of Ibon Navarro allows us to think of a surprise. The 2005 champion also boasts the volcanic offensive production of Tyson Carter or Kendrick Perry. The loss of center Augusto César Lima hurts the Andalusian team, who also lose their replacement, Yankuba Sima, for the Cup. Two absences that leave David Kravish alone for the Barca power below the board.

Already on Friday, the equal Canarian derby decides on the third semi-finalist. Tenerife brings to the table the connection between Shermadini and Marcelinho Huertas, who form one of the most iconic couples in the ACB. They will be joined by Jaime Fernández, Sasu Salin or Aaron Doornekamp, ​​​​more soldiers in the service of Txus Vidorreta with the mission to go one step further after four semifinals in the last five Copas del Rey. Jaka Lakovic’s Gran Canaria will try to avoid it, an interesting reconstruction that returns to the Cup five years later with Nico Brussino as a differential player and the youth of Balcerowski and Khalifa Diop in the spotlight.

To conclude the quarterfinals, a historic duel between Baskonia and Joventut. The Basque team returns in style after his absence in 2022. The six-time champion has Markus Howard, the most impressive appearance this season in Spanish and even European basketball, who invites us to dream of a team more similar to the times of wine and roses than the decadent version of the last campaigns. Landing in Vitoria with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets after two seasons, the American foreigner is a veritable volcano capable of deciding any game as it erupts from the line of three. He is joined by his compatriot Darius Thompson as a game generator along with the signing of Israeli Heidegger to replace the loss of Pierria Henry. As interiors, Joan Peñarroya has Matt Costello and Maik Kotsar as references.

For his part, Ante Tomic in the green-black team remains the reference at 35 years old. The Croatian center is the Penya leader in points and rebounds and one of the host’s reasons for lifting the trophy 15 years later. The versatility of Spain international Joel Parra, the scoring character of Kyle Guy or the seniority of Pau Ribas also count in favor of Carles Durán’s team in a part of the draw where absolutely anything can happen.

Source: La Verdad

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