The composition of the Murcian team will force Sito to play a different game than in previous seasons, especially in the big men
One more summer, Alejandro Gómez’s UCAM is the fastest team to close the roster for next season. He did it with the best icing on the cake, signing an Artem Pustovyi wanted by several teams in the Endesa League. And, until a preseason kicks off with no start date, but that will be around mid-August, as the Endesa League kicks off on September 28 and the Champions League on October 4, Sito’s ‘staff’ time has Alonzo.
Time to do the sports planning for a year marked by the return to Europe, but also to find a new basketball because it will face a different squad configuration than the previous one that the coach has had in Murcia, who he has recovered for UCAM’s own style, which he wanted to find for his team himself.
These changes mainly come from within and mainly from the increased number of players being called in to take on certain responsibilities. But where the architecture of the university team changes the least are the small players, where an explosive base profile and scorer like Travis Trice will complement an experienced Tomás Bellas and organizer, who will be joined by the young quota Urban Klavzar, after a few year standing out in Real Madrid’s youth academy, to be that 13th record to make the Champions League calls-up.
Undoubtedly, by the weight and relevance of the novelty, it will be Trice who will mark the solidity of the base rotation. After a great year in Wroclaw in the discreet Polish league, but many eyes on the EuroCup, this player with a great first step and great ability to make mid-range shots after dribbling is one of Alejandro Gómez’s strongest bets.
Among shooting guards, the interesting addition between all-rounder Jordan Davis and unpredictable shooter Thad McFadden will enjoy another year of continuity. But as the positions rise, the novelties become more striking.
The signing of James Anderson, who has been a two-time Euroleague champion at Efes for the past two seasons, is one of the most popular on the market. And quite a statement of intent in the ‘3’ position, where Sadiel Rojas loses significantly more weight than any other season. With the arrival of Anderson, but also David Jelínek, who will take care of shooting and defending outside. Czerapowicz, quite, was the one who gave Rojas the most competition in recent seasons, with the other presence in the ‘3’ being a very green Jok, for a Radoncic from more to less until he left through the back door, or a Todorovic whose serious injury barely allowed him to see him as a university student.
One illustrious player who seems to have a voice of confidence is Nemanja Radovic, to whom Sito relayed this holiday season that he wants to be his best version after sharing a position for two years with a discovery like James Webb III, who with Valencia , makes his desired jump to the Euroleague. Now it has been decided to join him with a player who will also open the field, in Ryan Luther’s case, but with a low profile.
Not only because of his business, but also because of what’s coming in the ‘5’, it looks like UCAM will be playing more inside-ball than last year. It’s where Radovic feels most at ease, the most talented player in the squad with his back to the rim, but the great asset among the big men, Artem Pustovyi, is also a player with great touch on the rim and claiming balls to play from the low post. That is, it is a different profile than Lima, more likely to end up in continuations and play through the pass or several blocks for the rest. Diop and Sakho, substitutes with experience to make it a UCAM in which the average height of the inside players will be 2.10 meters, exactly what Lima measures, the tallest player of the last two seasons.
One of the great unknowns hovering above the predictions for this UCAM is the aptitude to give such a different team to the coach who has played a certain way over the past few seasons. But there is a precedent in Sito Alonso’s career that calls for calm, that of his best season as a coach in the Endesa League, a 2011-12 in which he led the humble Gipuzkoa Basket to the Copa del Rey and the ‘play -off’ to finish with a historic fifth place.
That Basque squad, which had been fourteenth last season, also had its star in the ‘3’ position and in a player of very mature age. In fact, Andy Panko was the Endesa League MVP that year that no one could have foreseen, a milestone he reached at the age of 35. Naturally, he was a member of the ideal quintet of the season, where he was joined by Sergi Vidal, at 31, and rebounding after two years of exile from Real Madrid. Keys to that success were also a young Raul Neto who made the big jump that year with the experienced Salgado as tutor, and big centers like Andy Betts, 2.17m, or David Doblas, 2.06.
Structure similar to that found in a UCAM that will have a 33-year-old Anderson as one of its leaders from the front position, where the multi-purpose Davis will continue to grow in the hierarchy at shooting guard, who will want to surprise with Trice as the main point guard, and who has an interior game higher than ever. And just like that Gipuzkoa, with many players in need of rehabilitation in a squad that points to a more collective game.
Source: La Verdad
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
