Starting this Friday, Movistar Estudiantes has its second chance to achieve the main and only objective of the season: promotion to the Endesa League, to the elite of Spanish basketball. It will be with the quarterfinal playoff against UEMC Valladolid the best of five matches in a 2-2-1 format. The schoolboys have the home court factor and will play the first two games on Friday (8:00 p.m.) and Sunday (12:30 p.m.), and the fifth (if necessary) at the WiZink Center. If they win, they would qualify for the Final Four, which they have already applied to host.
“In the locker room there is a lot of desire to do well, on a collective and individual level. The group is trying to get the best out of each one to put it at the service of the team. Hopefully we start well: a playoff game is always very difficult and, above all, the first one. There are nerves, anxiety, noise… many things happen: new competition, new format, what has been done so far is no longer valid. We have to be focused and energetic to have a good first game”, Diego Epifanio, coach of a Estudiantes team that closed the regular phase in second position with 25 wins in 34 games, only one less than Covirán Granada, said at a press conference. , champion and new ACB team.
The rival will be difficult. Despite the fact that Valladolid assaulted the ninth and last place for the playoff on the final day, they did it in a superb way: nine wins in the last ten games. Their only loss came against the college kids after overwhelmingly controlling the first half and being stifled defensively in the third quarter (5-21 run). He linked seven wins in a row to sneak into the final rounds.
“It is a very physical team that competes very well, fights for every ball and punishes mistakes. He has an energy that forces him to play away from the rim, he punishes the offensive rebound. We know that they are going to demand a lot on a physical and basketball level: we have to avoid turnovers, choose good shots… Perhaps they are the team with the best dynamics to reach these playoffs”, continues Epi, who has a balance of 4-2 since he replaced Jota Cuspinera on the bench.
“If you want to ascend, you have to beat everyone.. To the very good ones, to the less good ones and to the normal ones. To all. UEMC Real Valladolid is on our way, and to be promoted we have to beat them: there is no other”, adds Nacho Martín, Ramirez power forward with Valladolid roots: he was born there, he started his first boats there and from there he jumped to professional basketball.