Raca, with the Serbian national team. /
Ivana Raca, 22-year-old forward and international with Serbia, comes from averaging 12 points at San Giovanni in Serie A1
The IDK Euskotren has added a very exciting piece to its squad for next season with the signing announced this Thursday of Ivana Raca for one year, a 22-year-old forward or even power forward and considered one of the most talented players in develop the coming years in Europe.
1.89 meters tall, the Cypriot with Serbian nationality, a team in which she has already been international, arrives from the Italian San Giovanni of the A1 Series, a team from the outskirts of Milan that has been one victory away from playing the playoff for the title. Despite her youth and making her debut in professional basketball after spending four years at the American University of Wake Forest (North Carolina), she has been the undisputed starter in Cinzia Zanotti’s plans.
In the 25 games he has played, he has averaged 33 minutes, 12.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists for a PIR of 12.7, with shooting percentages of 45.8% on shots from two, 25 % in triples and 73% in free throws. Continuing with the numbers, his last game against Sassari was the one with the highest score of the course with 22 points, although in terms of valuation credits his best performance was against Virtus de Bologna in the first leg . In a match that ended in defeat in extra time, Raca had 21 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in 41 minutes, in which he added a PIR of 28.
As for her style of play, and because she has a reference that the IDK Euskotren fan can recognise, she is assimilated to that of the Belgian Antonia Delaere. Tall forward with good ball handling and a great game without him, but beyond the Youtube highlights, her real performance on the court in San Sebastián will dictate the quality of Ivana Raca, who was chosen by the Los Angeles Sparks in the Draft of the WNBA last year, at position twenty-eight.
Her great handling of the ball stands out, which allows her to lead the transitions and take advantage of the spaces to the base and escort to find them in the triple or execute the counterattack herself, and play blockade and continuation, where she will find a partner in Coulibaly deluxe. In addition, playing forward she can take advantage of her physical superiority to become strong in the low post and if she plays power forward in a more versatile quintet, her speed and reading of the situation in the game without the ball is a great value.
IDK Euskotren thus now has nine players on the squad: Yurena Díaz and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary at point guard, Joy Brown and Ane Esnal, Natalia Rodríguez, Ivana Raca and María España at wings and Mariam Coulibaly and Cristina Soriano at the paint, so there are still players to announce in the positions of small forward or power forward.
