There will surely be a more attractive and even Catalan derby in the quarter-finals. Barça, who will be fighting to revalidate their successful title in Madrid, will not have an easy time taking the first step against a BAXI Manresa that is experiencing the best moment of its last years and is returning to the Cup for the first time since 2004.
In the Endesa League, the Palau Blaugrana duel came to overtime and, in it, Manresa gave the bell (95-96) led by its emerging star Chima Moneke (30 rating) and the 25 base points Sylvain Francisco. With Rafa Martínez as the beacon on the track and Pedro Martínez making the fans enjoy themselves under his baton, this Manresa was the ‘ogre’ among the non-leaders of the tournament.
Barça, despite the uncertainty of whether the nuisance in the fascia will allow a Cory Higgins to be at the cup meeting and at their level, and waiting –on both sides– for the coronavirus not to wreak havoc, they are confident of recovering and facing a Manresa team that has nothing to lose against Barça 26 times Cup champion, for only one title for those of Bages (1996).
The winner of the Catalan duel would be seen in the semifinals with the winner of the duel between Valencia Basket and UCAM Murcia.
The match that will inaugurate the Copa del Rey de Granada will be that of Club Joventut Badalona and Lenovo Tenerife. The ‘Penya’, which lost its Cup in 2020 and now links two consecutive appearances, is looking for a title with the power of Pau Ribas, Guillem Vives or Davant Tomic that they have not celebrated or celebrated since 2008, despite being the third club with more weight in the competition.
The draw for the Copa del Rey, which will be held in Granada on February 17-20, it looks like this:
Quarterfinals – Thursday, February 17th.
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CF A: REIAL MADRID – RIU BREOGÁN.
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CF B: YOUTH – LENOVO TENERIFE
Friday, February 18th.
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CF C: VALENCIA BASKETBALL – UCAM MURCIA.
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CF D: BARÇA – BAXI MANRESA.
Semifinals – Saturday 19 February
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Winner CF A – Winner CF B.
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CF C Winner – CF D Winner.
Final – Sunday, February 20th
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AB Semifinal Winner – CD Semifinal Winner
Jasikevicius: “Manresa is one of the worst rivals we could play”
The Barça coach, Conversation Jasikevicius, has assessed that Baxi Manresa (Bages), opponent of the Barça squad in the first round of the Copa del Rey basketball, which will be played from 17 to 20 February in Granada, “is one of the worst (rivals) that could touch us“in the draw held this Monday.
“(El Baxi) Manresa is in a great moment of form, is almost classified as a series leader. They are playing very well, it is a ‘super physical’ team that plays at a very high pace. It’s one of the worst things that could happen to us, but if we want to be champions we have to beat them all, “said the Lithuanian coach.
The Lithuanian has stated that “at the moment we do not know anything” about the condition of the escort Cory Higgins, who was discharged this Sunday due to discomfort in the plantar fascia of his left foot and is awaiting further tests to find out the extent of the injury.
Finally, the Baltic coach has recognized the good level of Brandon Davies in recent games against the casualties of the other two pivots of the first team, Sertac Sanli and Pierre Oriola.
“We have people like Niko (Mirotic) or Brandon (Davies), for whom it is not difficult to make 20 points. But decision-making, always being in the right place, following the game plan … Brandon has one step further, it is at a very high level right now and we need it to continue like this, “Jasikevicius explained.
