2023 ends and it does so as if it were a fairy tale for UCAM: in its last match of the year it certified its second historic classification on sporting merits for a Copa del Rey as we currently know it and is just one away. victory over two milestones that would represent a new best record in the books of the Avenida del Rocío club. If he opens 2024 by winning on Three Kings' Day in Andorra, he will sign his best first round ever in the Endesa League (right now, with 10 wins in 16 games, equals the 2021-22 season) and that same victory could give him a pass to the Copa del Rey as seeded in the draw, something that has never been achieved either.
These options will grow a lot depending on what happens today starting at 12:30 during Valencia's visit to Real Madrid. A 'taronja' defeat will mean that Sito Alonso's team will close matchday 16 as fourth place, making them depend on themselves for such a privileged position in the draw for cup pairings.
The last match of 2023 in the Endesa League brought the mathematical classification for the Copa del Rey, but the last match in the Champions League made it qualify as first in the group for the 'top 16', avoiding the dramatic 'play-in'. The last chapter of the year has a happy ending for the people of Murcia and, even better, it triggers the hope for 2024.
Alejandro Gómez has regained the touch of signings in 2023 in which practically everyone who has come has exceeded expectations
All goes well
It is the end of 2023 in which UCAM has won many more games than it has lost, a total of 31 wins and 23 losses adding the three competitions it has played, Liga Endesa, Champions League and Super Cup. An irregular season like the previous one straightened its course after the halfway point, especially with the spring signing of Chris Chiozza, who changed the face of a team that, with him, won six of the last eight games of the season to arrive with mathematical 'playoff' options on the last day.
Saving the inconsequentiality of a Nikolic from whom not much could be asked, with Chiozza Alejandro Gómez seemed to regain his touch for signings. Everyone who arrives complies, and it is not chance or luck, but environment. Last summer the UCAM underwent a comprehensive reconstruction, with up to eight new additions. It didn't matter. The team started the season with the machinery fully oiled, winning the first three games of the season for the first time and making the best start in history with each passing day.
Adaptation to the environment
Profile signings are not without risk, all with something to prove and in different circumstances. A Sito that finished last season in good shape has made the pieces of the puzzle fit together the first time, with each one of them accepting and fulfilling its function, and, best of all, it has shown agility to readjust according to the circumstances, no matter how tough they may be. were. No time for regret, only for adaptation.
The departure of the club's second highest triple scorer and a crowd favorite like Thad McFadden was not even noticed. Something unimaginable last season. In this, in the first game without the charismatic guard, the largest victory of the course was achieved (105-73 against Joventut). Two weeks later, Arturs Kurucs accepted the role that McFadden did not want and, with him, came the renewal of Rodions, older brother and former basketball promise recovered for this sport.
But if the university management has shown agility in one movement, it has been, without a doubt, to replace the unexpected 'MVP' by numbers of the Endesa League. Simon Birgander 'broke' when he was the top rebounder, most valued player and fifth scorer in the competition. Just three days later, the forgotten Marko Todorovic returned to the Endesa League in which he shone and exploded under the command of Sito when he was 22 years old, at a time in his career very similar to that of Birgander today. The day before yesterday, in Santiago, the game began to take on the color of paprika when it emerged at the most delicate moment of the match to show not only that the one who had retained, but that you go further with your brain than with your legs.
Until Todorovic's return to fitness, which is yet to come, Sito has been able to remanage roles in his team on the fly. The importance of Sant-Roos always goes beyond statistics, but one who, with numbers in hand, is proving to feel better than ever in Murcia is Troy Caupain, the most discussed. Since McFadden's departure, Sito has decided to take away more and more organizing functions from him to focus on execution: in their last Champions League and Endesa League games, five triples were scored with his signature.
The town team
Another of the elements that have made the perfect chemistry in 2023 for UCAM is not played on the hardwood. The entity is aware of the bad image that has hung over it in recent seasons in the Endesa League, one, in previous stages, embraced and understood as part of its consolidation. But everything has an end, and the new UCAM wants to show itself in another way.
With the key involvement of Juan Pablo Mendoza, the UCAM has opened different fronts of action. One was including the word 'Murcia' on their shirt, a historic demand from the fan, and already carried out at the end of last season. Another is to show its history, focusing its subscriber campaign on the creation of a legacy of which Randy Owens, Ralph McPherson, Xavi Sánchez, Scott Wood and Sadiel Rojas, the last to arrive, were the image.
Ways to please a fan who gains in involvement and had a good time in the renovated Palace: with the technological improvements led by the central video scoreboard, the matches have won in 'show' with games such as the kiss camera, the similarities reasonable or invitations to 'celebrities'. Initiatives that improve the experience, encourage people to return and that work: UCAM has increased its average attendance to 5,812 spectators, there are four games in a row with more than 6,000 and, for the next one at home against Real Madrid, there are less than 1,000 left. tickets on sale.
Izan Almansa's second consecutive double-double in the G-League
After a timid start to his first season as a senior player, Izan Almansa from Murcia is getting the hang of the G-League. The 18-year-old from the Infante neighborhood, an Ignite player, added his second consecutive double-double in the early hours of Friday to Saturday by registering 19 points and 13 rebounds in the defeat against the Río Grande Valley Vipers (112-105). The young center from Murcia has started the second half of the season in the G-League, once the Showcase Cup has been left behind, and his position in the next NBA Draft, in June 2024, will depend on what he demonstrates in these months.
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