Heading to the Buesa Arena before Christmas. Unicaja travels to Vitoria on what will be the team’s last trip in 2024 to face one of the greats of Spanish basketball this Sunday, December 22: Baskonia (12:30 p.m., broadcast on #Vamos -dial 8- and ⇒Unicaja Basketball Radio).
Baskonia is having an irregular start to the season in the Endesa League, with a balance of five wins and six losses that places them in 12th position in the standings. However, they have managed to win in their last two matches, against Surne Bilbao Basket (67-69) and Coviran Granada (73-75), both away from home. Previously they were also able to defeat Barça at the Palau Blaugrana (89-93). At the Buesa Arena so far they have only managed to beat UCAM Murcia (95-92) and Hiopos Lleida (100-99), out of 5 games played at home.
In the Euroleague, the team coached by Pablo Laso is in 14th place, with seven wins and nine losses. In their most recent match, played last Tuesday, they beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv by 85 to 95. Tonight, just 48 hours later, they will face Panathinaikos at the OAKA in Athens (6:45 p.m.).
A quality squad with many threats
Baskonistas have great players capable of unbalancing matches in their favor. Power forward Chima Moneke (14.7 points, 5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 18 PIR) is the main reference inside the Barça team, well supported in the area by the forcefulness of Donta Hall (8.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 13.6 efficiency) and the energy of Khalifa Diop (3.7 points, 3.5 rebounds).
On the perimeter, the all-rounder Tadas Sedekerskis (11.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 18 PIR) is one of their main weapons, which together with the sobriety and effectiveness of Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot (11 .3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2 assists) and Nikos Rogkavopoulos (8.1 points, 3.2 rebounds), give a lot of depth to the Vitorian squad.
But there, without a doubt, the dynamite is provided by Markus Howard (12.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists). Despite not having a very regular season so far, the shooting guard is a great scorer capable of breaking games with his shooting streaks and who has already had some performances to remember, scoring 38 points against Hiopos Lleida, 26 points against ALBA Berlin and 28 goals against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the most recent match played by Baskonia, all three resolved with a victory for the Basques, so special attention will have to be paid to the American player.
Furthermore, Pablo Laso’s team has the solvency of Trent Forrest (12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 17.1 efficiency) and Kamar Baldwin (11.6 points, 4 assists, 3.6 rebounds). In short, a squad with a lot of talent and individuals capable of unbalancing any match.
Even though the results are not going as well as they would like, Baskonia is still a very dangerous team. Under hoops, the Vitorians are life insurance, since they are the third best rebounder in the Endesa League, with 33 total catches per game.
Furthermore, the Basques’ perimeter is one of the most accurate in the entire Endesa League, since they are the fifth team that converts the most triples (10 per game) with the fifth best percentage in the competition (36.91%). These figures even improve in home games, where they are the third team that scores the most triples (11). Furthermore, at home they are the seventh best attack (91.20) and have the seventh best rating (97.80).
The Buesa Arena, always difficult for Unicaja
Buesa Arena is not a simple court for Unicaja. In Vitoria, Unicaja has played 62 matches throughout all competitions, with a balance of 19 wins and 43 losses. These matches include those played in the Copa del Rey (qualifiers and Final Phase played at the Buesa Arena), Euroleague and Liga Endesa.
Despite this, Unicaja has been able to perform great feats at the Buesa Arena. In fact, in the Vitorian pavilion they won the only Endesa League in their history, after winning there in the third game of the final in 2006 (72-76). More recently, since the 2019-20 season we have achieved three victories in our last five visits to the Baskonista court, the last one last year in October 2023 (84-93). In the last precedent between both teams, Unicaja won against Carpena by a tight 95 to 91 in a match played last April on matchday 30 of the 2023-24 Endesa League.
In total, we have played 125 games in all competitions against Baskonia, with a record of 54 wins and 71 losses, 43.20% wins.
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It will also be a special match for our coach, Ibon Navarro. The coach, a native of Vitoria, trained in the lower categories of the Basque team, with whom he became an assistant on the bench and even coached in the 2014-15 season, with which he achieved a balance of 18 wins and 13 losses in Endesa League.
Unicaja will face Baskonia this Sunday, December 22, starting at 12:30 p.m. at the Buesa Arena. The match, corresponding to Matchday 12 of the Endesa League, will be broadcast on #Vamos (dial 8) and ⇒Unicaja Basketball Radiolive from Le Grand Café Centro.
