Just a final comeback Trapani against Herzliya prevented the immaculate 4-0 that they have to date Laguna Tenerife in Basketball Champions League will lead the island team to certify, before the break through the FIBA window, its mathematical presence in the Round of 16. This Wednesday, The Canary Islands do depend on themselves to close this pass directly to the next round.
Still wounded in their pride by Sunday’s painful defeat against Real Madrid, Txus Vidorreta’s team faces Trapani Shark tonight, the only team that can still take first place in Group D, and the one that has had the most difficult time in the previous four days. On Sicilian soil, the Aurinegros almost always ruled the game, but they were not able to break the game, ending up winning 78-84. On this occasion, the Laguneros will try to repeat the same final luck, achieving not only the passport but also extending an undefeated status in their flag that extends beyond four years and over 30 games. In the worst case scenario, the islanders would also be better off conceding by a maximum of five goals, a situation in which they would retain their particular basket average against the Italian squad.
With the doubt of Joan Sastre – more necessary than Sunday to fulfill the five quotas, although it can also enter the equation Dylan Bordon–, everything indicates that again the discard will be Marce Huertas, is already out against Real Madrid and whose treatment period to be available, according to Vidorreta, extends at least until this Friday. The good performances of Jaime Fernández and the step forward taken by Wes Van Beck – who has only accumulated two minutes in the BCL to date – should serve to balance the possible loss of the São Paulo player.
The Canary Islands will not face just any rival, no matter how much they face the duel in the midst of an institutional storm that has gained strength as the weeks go by. And the fact is that to the administrative sanction that they carry from last year, with the subtraction of four points less in the Lega, a more recent one of the same is added that leaves the Sicilians in fourth place in their classification… despite the fact that their current 9-1 is the best record in the entire Italian competition. And in the midst of the war waged by its president, the controversial Valerio Antonini, and which has led to the departure of coach Jasmin Repesa, as well as the removal of the American with a Bosnian passport Amar Alibegovic from the squad, Trapani has been able to achieve eight victories. The last one this past Sunday on the Treviso court (82-89).
A clash in which the most outstanding was the North American Jordan Ford, scorer of 19 points, and who was already the most valued (with a score of 21) in the clash against the Canary Islands in the first round. Furthermore, the American foreigner is the one who averages the most credits on his team in both the Lega (18.4) and the BCL (14.8). Today will also be a test for some Canaristas, in the case of their interiors Shermadini and Guerra, who did not shine in the duel two months ago in Trapani; as well as for Abromaitis, who chained several crashes with performance lower than desired.