Unicaja and UCAM want to take advantage of their opportunity
The Cup champion and the host meet in the second semifinal of the Endesa Super Cup 2023
MADRID, 15 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
UCAM Murcia and Unicaja will try to take advantage of the opportunity presented to them to be able to compete for a title in the second semi-final (9:30 p.m.) of the Endesa Super Cup 2023, in which the Murcia team will have the added support of the public to counteract the slight favoritism of the Copa del Rey champion.
Ibon Navarro’s team and Sito Alonso’s team will meet at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia ready to take advantage of not having been paired with either of the two favorites, Barça and Real Madrid, which opens the door for them to play in a final, something to which the Malaga team is more accustomed.
Unicaja only needs the Super Cup to complete its national record. The Costa del Sol team lost the 2006 and 2015 finals and will look for a new one in a tournament in which it has not participated since 2018 and where it wants to confirm the ascending line that it offered last season and that returned the prominence that it had lost in national basketball.
The Copa del Rey champion arrives at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia with good feelings. Last Sunday he won with great authority (83-65) against Real Madrid to win the ‘Costa del Sol Trophy’ and showed that he continues to bet on that attractive game that Ibon Navarro transmits.
“We must know how they play and the things they do very well, try to minimize them, but we must focus more on ourselves, on continuing to grow and recover sensations for the beginning of the Endesa League. All this, under the context that it is an official match and there is a title at stake. I think it is a very difficult match because UCAM Murcia plays at home and for them it is an opportunity to win a title at home,” warned the Unicaja coach.
For its part, UCAM Murcia will face its debut in the Endesa Super Cup with the aim of qualifying for the first grand final in its history. To do this, they will have the guarantee of playing at home and in front of their fans, something that historically has not weighed in this competition with Real Madrid being the only one capable of lifting the title in their fiefdom (2019).
The Murcian team had in Unicaja a rival that choked them last season in which they were only able to win one of the four matches they experienced, the Endesa League match at the Palace, while they lost both in the Champions League very clearly. Therefore, it will be key for Sito Alonso, with up to eight new faces, to find the key to stop the attack of his rival, who in those aforementioned four games exceeded 80 points. The university team has greatly renewed its squad, with up to eight new faces, which has been noticeable in a preseason with three defeats in four games.
DATASHEET.
–EQUIPMENT.
UCAM MURCIA: McFadden, Ennis, Falk, Sleva and Birgander –possible starting five– Caupain, Jelinek, Hakanson, Diagne, Sant-Roos, Kurucs, Radovic and Sakho.
UNICAJA: Perry, Taylor, Djedovic, Osetkowski and Thomas – possible starting five – Díaz, Kalinoski, Barreiro, Carter, Saint-Supéry, Diop and Ejim.
–REFEREES: Conde, Bultó and Olivares.
–PAVILLION: Sports Palace of Murcia.
–TIME: 9:30 p.m./Movistar Deportes.
2023-09-15 17:08:02
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