UCAM CB receives Gran Canaria this Sunday in a duel that could not be more direct for the ‘playoff’ options
In a Copa del Rey season already achieved and a ‘playoff’ that is seen as the great final goal, a milestone to be achieved for the second time in the history of the club after the lonely adventure in the qualifying rounds for the 2016 title, UCAM He never tires of repeating that he only thinks about the next game. That this is the most important and there is nothing beyond it. His star, Isaiah Taylor, even told THE TRUTH in an interview published yesterday that he “didn’t know that the next rival is Baskonia.”
Matchday 28
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Sport’s palace:
12:30 p.m. (Movistar Sports). -
UCAM Murcia.
Likely lineup: Taylor, Davis, Rojas, Web III and Lima. Substitutes: Bellas, Malmanis, Radovic, McFadden, Cate, Czerapowicz and Vasileiadis. Coach: Sito Alonso. -
Gran Canaria:
Likely lineup: Albicy, Brussino, Slaughter, Shurna and Pustovyi. Substitutes: Balcerowski, Diop, Salvó, Diop, Ennis, Stevic and Chery.
And it is that on Wednesday in Vitoria, UCAM will play another game that is absolutely marked in red to earn a place in the end-of-season playoff. As is today’s. The capricious destiny has wanted that the three teams that go from seventh to ninth place, and that today share the same balance of 14 wins and 12 losses in 26 games, will face each other in a week and a half. Last Sunday Baskonia and Gran Canaria faced each other at the Buesa Arena in the Basque capital, with the away victory with some authority (70-86). Today, the Canarians jump into the ring in Murcia, and, on Wednesday, it will be Sito’s who come face to face with a Baskonia whose margin of error is running out considering such an entity.
A victory that is worth double
But what were we going for? That the UCAM says that match by match and, what things are, today we have to agree with them more than ever. Today they measure seventh -UCAM- and ninth -Gran Canaria- and both know that today’s victory is one of those that can get double points in cases of equality, such as the one that occurs at the moment. The Murcians have the opportunity, not to get rid of the islanders, but to leave a respectable area of advantage in case they win today. They already won in the first leg in Las Palmas with a wide margin (83-100) and, if they win today, they would more than ensure a ‘basket-average’ that, barring a debacle, they were going to put in their pockets, but It would only serve in case of defeat to unbalance in simple draws.
In an Endesa League that each season demonstrates its level above that of other European domestic competitions, equality prevails at each end of the course. Unlike in the first round, in which the ties were resolved by the general points difference, in the second the particular ‘basket-average’ of the direct confrontations between the teams involved counts. But, if these are more than two, this takes a backseat, counting the number of wins in matches only between those teams. So far, UCAM has beaten Gran Canaria once and Baskonia once, who have lost twice to the yellows. If the Murcians win today, a hypothetical future triple tie between these teams over which a slight gap opens both above and below would always leave Sito Alonso’s team as first.
If he wins, Sito Alonso’s team would ensure the ‘basket-average’ against his most direct rival today
But, for now, if UCAM were to fall today, they would be overtaken by Gran Canaria, even if they did so by less than 17 points, the advantage with which the Murcians ended the first round match. And if, in addition, Baskonia wins its match on this twenty-eighth day -tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. in Burgos-, UCAM would come out of the top eight classified for the first time this season, territory that it entered on the second day.
Albicy and Pustovyi, present
Just as UCAM today has the opportunity to strike a blow of authority in this fight for the ‘playoff’, in its day it did so for the fight for the Copa del Rey. The victory of the fifteenth day in Las Palmas, and by such a margin, boosted the options of UCAM to see each other in Granada, as it did, and left those of Gran Canaria very touched, who watched the tournament on television.
It is true that, that day, in which Taylor set his scoring record in the Endesa League with 31 points, Porfirio Fisac’s men were missing two key men, Andrew Albiciy and Artem Pustovyi, the point and the i of the canaries. Also Khalifa Diop, with coronavirus. The French base world is one of the best outside defenders in the competition, Taylor’s natural dance partner, and the 2.19-meter Ukrainian center is in one of his best professional moments. In his team’s last victory he was the best, with 23 points and a PIR of 26. Gran Canaria, very irregular, is going through a great moment in general. After many ups and downs, they have won six of their last eight matches.
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