Valencia Basket faces an intense week with a double commitment away from home in the Euroleague in addition to the visit to the stadium UCAM Murcia in the League. This Tuesday, December 16 they visit the Olympiacos Piraeus (8:15 p.m., SEF, #Vamos) and On Thursday they will face a complicated trip to Israel to face Maccabi Tel Aviv. Pedro Martínez's men, after winning four consecutive victories in the top continental competition, have become the 'fashionable team' in Europe. The taronja enter this key week as second in the standings with 10 wins and 5 losses, only surpassed by the Hapoel Tel Aviv who has one more victory. The Israelis also receive the seventh-placed team this Tuesday, the Red Star of Belgrade. A defeat for Hapoel and a victory for Valencia Basket would lift the Taronja to co-leadership.
The Valencian team will arrive a priori 'rested' for this Tuesday's clash since the postponement due to the Red Alert of the match against Casademont Zaragoza, which finally could not be held on Sunday, has meant that Pedro Martínez's team have not played since last Thursday when they beat the Anadolu Efes at the Roig Arena. Curiously Olympiacos also had to postpone the match against Fenerbahçe of the last day of the Euroleague due to a strong rain storm. Therefore, the Greeks, who, who are d10th in the table with 8 wins and 6 losses, They have one less game.
While Valencia Basket is on a positive streak, Olympiacos has suffered two consecutive defeats as a visitor, although in the Greek League he achieved a crushing victory this weekend on the Peristeri court where the taronja Álvaro Cárdenas plays on loan, by 62-105.
Sin López-Arostegui
In the taronja ranks the only casualty is that of Xabi López-Arostegui who has a muscle injury in his right leg, while Olympiacos Piraeus has long-term injuries Moustapha Fall y Keenan Evans and the losses of Shaquielle McKissic and Tyson Ward. Furthermore, the recent signing of the Greek team, the point guard with almost 500 games of NBA experience, Monte Morris, seems that he will not yet make his debut in this match.
Olympiacos is an 'old acquaintance' for Valencia Basket since the Taronja have always met the Greek team on their way in all his participations in the Euroleague so far. This will be the ninth time that Valencia Basket visits the red and white team in Greece. A series that began with a Taronja victory in the 2003-04 season, then came four consecutive defeats and then Valencia Basket has assaulted the Pavilion of Peace and Friendship in its last three visits. This ninth visit to the Olympiacos field will make the Greek team the rival whose field the Taronja team has visited the most times in its continental history, equaling the nine occasions it visited LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. In addition, Tuesday's match will be the 17th time that Valencia Basket faces Olympiacos, which makes the red and white team our most frequent rival in continental competitions, tied with Khimki Moscow Region, ALBA Berlin and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.
The taronja team has gone on a streak of three consecutive victories at the Palace of Peace and Friendship that has led them to equal the record on the Olympiacos court until reaching 4-4.
The inner game can be key
The game will be a tough fight under the rings between two of the best rebounding teams in the Euroleague. Valencia Basket is slightly better in defensive rebounding (second with 25.3 while Olympiacos is third with 24.9) and in the number of total rebounds (second with 38.3 while the Greeks are fifth with 36.5), in addition to being the second with the best offensive rebound percentage (34.9%). But the red and white team is the second that concedes the fewest defensive rebounds (21.8) and the third in total rebound percentage (52.1%), in addition to having in its ranks the best defensive rebounder (Vezenkov) and the best offensive rebounder (Milutinov). Bartzokas' men stand out in offensive facets such as the fifth best offensive efficiency (1.18) with the third best percentage in shooting from two (57.2%) or being one of the teams that scores the most points from the free throw (second with 22.5% of their points coming from the personal line). But they also do it in defensive sections, being the second team that allows the least rating to its rivals (85.1) or overall as the second most rated team in the tournament (102.9). To try to keep its good dynamics open, the taronja team will need to show the solid defensive version that it has shown in the last matches that has led it to become the third best defensive efficiency (1.10) being the best team in this section in the last eight games (1.08).
A very dangerous trio
Bartzokas, coach of the Olympiakos has in its ranks the only trio of players who are among the 20 most valued players, con Embroidery (second most valued player and best defensive rebounder), Milutinov (third most valued player and best offensive rebounder) and Tyler Dorsey (fifth scorer and one of the players who makes the most triples in the competition).
Vezemkov, Milutinov and Dorsey They have been starters in all the Euroleague games played so far in a typical quintet in which Thomas Walkup has always accompanied them when he has been available (5.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists to be the fifth best passer in the tournament with an average of 9.8 rating) and which is usually completed by Evan Fournier (8.9 points and 2.4 assists) in the absence of Tyson Ward. From the bench, the most notable reliefs are being provided by the interior players, with Donta Hall as the fourth player with double-digit efficiency (6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds for 11.4 credits) and Alec Peters adding threat in the outside shot (6.3 points with 44% in triples) in a list of big men that is completed by Kostas Antetokounmpo. Waiting for what the newcomer Monte Morris can give them, Frank Ntilikina (5.6 points and 1.6 assists) extends the point guard position and with the losses in the small forward position, Kostas Papanikolaou (2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds), Saben Lee (3.8 points) and Giannoulis Larentzakis will have to take a step forward.
Via: Super sport
