02/07/2024 Act. at 8:34 pm CEST
Bahamas The Spanish team arrived in Valencia as the great rival to beat in the most likely pre-Olympic final, in which a place for the Paris Games this summer is at stake. And the debut of the Caribbean team has confirmed these good feelings, after beating Finland by 85-96.
In the team coached by the legendary Chauncey Billups, We could imagine unknown players or players from second or third level leagues. But nothing could be further from the truth for a team that wants to be at the Olympics and has recruited three NBA stars to lead the team.
Hield, top scorer
The top scorer in the match against Finland was a Buddy Hield who has gone up to 24 points, scoring an interesting 6 of 12 in triples, in addition to grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists. This season, the Philadelphia 76ers player has scored 12.1 points, reaching almost 40% from three-point range.
Gordon’s veteran status
Another of the references is the veteran Eric Gordon, who will turn 36 next December, and who this past season has averaged 11 points per game with the Phoenix Suns. The outside player has scored 16 points and 4 assists against Finland.
Ayton, unstoppable in the paint
And the third NBA star to shine in the Bahamas has been a DeAndre Ayton that has touched on double figures, with 19 points and 9 captures, He is the most valuable player in the game with 25 credits. The center, who has recorded 16.7 points and 11 rebounds per game for the Portland Trail Blazers this season, has earned almost 32.5 million dollars this season, and has signed almost 70 million for the next two seasons.
The youth and nerve of Edgecombe Jr.
Among these three big names, there is another very striking one who is destined to do great things in the world of basketball in the coming years. It is Valdez Edgecombe Jr, guard who last season was at Long Island Lutheran High School, who next season will go to Baylor University, and who scored against Finland 20 points. NBA draft websites have him in the top 5 for next year.
Finland’s leaders
On the part of Finland, which does not have Lauri Markkanen, so much Maikael Jantunen as Edon Maxhuni added up 20 points each. Now, they must beat Poland in their second match to dream of making it to the semi-finals.
Therefore, Bahamas starts with a victory in this pre-Olympic tournament, and makes it clear that they are not going to make it easy, and that Spain will have to sweat hard and offer its best defensive version if they want to be at the Paris Olympics.
2024-07-02 18:32:51
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