The acquaintance says law of the ex that every time a former player visits a team for which he has played in the past, he usually has an outstanding performance due to that extra motivation of wanting to show off in front of those who were his fans. On this occasion, on that one-way journey from the Island to the Principality There are four horsemen of the Claretian past who come to visit them this Saturday (7:00 p.m.) at the Arena. Four former Granca players, in need of a soothing victory that will make them forget as soon as possible the disaster of the last defeat against Girona.
Kyle Kuric, Stan Okoye, Artem Pustovyi and Ferran Bassas, arrive at a gallop to try to make the day of the dead bitter for the Claretian parish that in the past venerated them to a greater or lesser extent.
Who doesn't remember Kyle Kuric on the Island? The one from Evansville (Indiana) will go down in the annals of modern Claretian history as one of his best shootersa specialist who lived three seasons (2014-17) unforgettable ones in which he visited the yellow jersey in 84 ACB games in which he scored 949 points.
He 24 was one of the illustrious members of that unforgettable squad that broke the glass ceiling of the yellows in the continental finals, playing against Khimki in the first Eurocup final in the history of the club.
If his quality and success are fondly remembered on the Island, the history of his tumor cerebralfor which he had to undergo surgery in November 2015 and which kept the entire Gran Canaria society in suspense as they were able to see him overcome the illness to return to the fields, where he continued to teach to this day.
This season with Morabanc Andorra he has played all four games, with an average of close to 27 minutes, in which he has averaged 8.3 rating credits, 9.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game.
The incidence of war
If the story of improvement experienced by Kyle Kuric during his stay on the Island was moving, that of the Ukrainian giant is no less moving, Artem Pustovyi, who during his only season at Granca (2021-22), took the outbreak of war between his country, Ukraine, and Russia. The news of the Russian bombing of Odessa, the city where his parents were living, was a shock for the player, who was forced to continue competing while his mind was on his homeland.
In his only season in yellow he played 33 ACB games, in which he managed to score 301 points and capture 124 rebounds, despite his personal circumstances. What would have happened if a war had not intervened in his love affair with Granca?
In his current season at Morabanc Andorra he has played in all four league games, although his presence on the court has not reached 10 minutes on average, averaging 3.3 rating credits, 4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
The one of Stan Okoyedespite not experiencing any personal traumatic experience, left a bittersweet taste in his two seasons in yellow between 2019 and 2021. Signed with a checkbook from Zaragoza, after being chosen in the ideal quintet of the ACBHowever, he never felt comfortable with Fotis Katsikaris. To make matters worse, he had to live on the island global covid-19 pandemic. After a summer with a foot and a half out of the team, the arrival of Porfi Fisac to the team convinced him to follow one more course in which his performance improved somewhat.
In his two seasons as a Calretian he played 64 ACB games and scored 504 points. This season he is Andorra's second highest rated player (10) and averages 8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game played.
A Eurocup champion
The fourth horseman is Ferran Bassaswho played two seasons for Granca between 2022-24, where he arrived from Joventut. Despite wanting to continue in what would have been his third season on the Island, the club decided not to renew him, landing last year at Morabanc, where he has remained since then.
The Barcelonan, who He was a father on the Island, raised the Eurocup defending the yellow jersey, which makes him an eternal player in the club, where he played 63 ACB games in which he scored a total of 403 points, in addition to making 196 basket passes.
This season in the Principality he has participated in three games, with an average of eight minutes on the court, averaging 2 rating credits, 1.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
