The curtain falls tomorrow for a new season for Surne Bilbao Basket in Miribilla. A year with many setbacks in which the team has been well above its possibilities and expectations. A day for the goodbye of a handful of players. You will not be able to say goodbye on the Goudelock track, a hugely beloved star. He has a current contract, but his knee raises many questions and it will be terminated for the year he has left. “It hurts our soul, but it will not be possible. He returned with his own and medical expectations of being able to play again, but difficulties appeared that have not made it possible ”, Ponsarnau emphasizes. Another in the same situation is Francis Alonso, who is in Malaga after undergoing surgery. And the fives Kyser and Withey may also be before him goodbye. It is unknown if Hakanson will continue, who has a contract, but is going to receive other proposals. Ubal, Sulejmanovic and Smith must also decide their future, although the club wants them to extend their stay in the Biscayan capital.
The one who has all the ballots to renew is Rigo, but he cannot close his bitter year dressed in short. “He is much better, but the medical services believe that it is best not to take risks. He is a ‘hemlock’ and he is crushing everyone to play again, but we are going to be cautious”, Ponsarnau qualifies. This is what always happens in May-June: farewells and unknowns floating in the air. “It is what always happens. You try to get the team to focus on the game, but it is clear that there is also tomorrow and to see where that tomorrow takes us. That is why large projects are built in the long term and we cannot consider it. It is what it is. We are going to try to play the best game that this team can”, details the ilerdense coach.
Starting tomorrow at eleven o’clock at night, when the match against the Costa del Sol concludes, the time will come to take stock of a great year. “I have found a very high commitment at the level of the work, although the result of it has not been good for all the aforementioned. There are many unknowns, but faced with the unknowns, the team has responded well, especially in Miribilla. Of course, the ball has to enter. In Malaga we competed very well and in three attacks that we didn’t make and they did, the game was broken. They are always going to have a very high defensive and physical level and for us, since we don’t have too much energy, it is vital to hit the ball”, highlights the Bilbao Basket coach. When asked if the team has fulfilled the expectations that he himself could have when starting this adventure at the end of September, he has confessed that it is very day-to-day. “I like not to build too many expectations because it is reality that counts. I can say that I have found a very good work environment and a group that has trained with enthusiasm. Despite all the difficulties with injuries and with the demands of Europe, which has also been an illusion, I have found a very positive reality and a fantastic Miribilla, I was not aware of all that he could contribute. This is a club that lets you work and supports you in good times and bad, with positive things that I hope will allow us to build a more positive future.”.
The appointment against Unicaja will serve as a reunion of Sergio Llorente with Miribilla. Vidorreta’s Tenerife this year has not been anything ‘collaborative’ with the ‘men in black’ neither in the ACB nor in Europe and their defeat yesterday against Unicaja has left them very much alive in the regular phase, since, if they win in Bilbao and the insulars lose on their field against Zaragoza, something highly improbable, yes, they would be fourth and would enjoy the home court factor in their favor in the first round for the title. Andersson’s back is better and could have minutes. At the end Radicevic can arrive on time, not so Ubal, who walks half lame: “With Niko we are positive, he is in training dynamics. He had to manage the pain of a concussion and yesterday he was working with the team. Agustín doesn’t seem likely to play, we don’t even have him in mind. He has pain in both feet. In addition, we are getting Sergio (Llorente) into dynamics. The problem is that all these days our work has gone back to moving roles, changing position players. That makes it very difficult for us when it comes to getting to the competitive level”.
With Llorente the rotation system is normalized a bit, since, if there is no specific game director, Smith suffocates to unfold ordering and scoring, and Rabaseda does not seem comfortable with that role. “It didn’t make us competitive. We had to add at a very low cost. Sergio has come with the utmost enthusiasm and a lot of desire. He has the difficulty that in a short time of work he has to assimilate many things, but he is also giving us things ”, highlights the Surne coach. Bilbao Basket sees itself in the Champions League next year, but the coach from Tàrrega also regrets not knowing for sure the places that give the right to play continental competition next season. If they win they will be tenth and if they do not and Obradoiro and Breogán prevail, they will fall to twelfth place. “We are not clear about it and it is something that we would like. It is a system failure. But just because others fail doesn’t have to mean we have to, too. The objective is to return to Europe, for this we set ourselves the goal of finishing in the top ten and we are going to try”, Jaume pointed out, adding that “we deserved to play things in this last game. We don’t have our one hundred percent, but we are going to look for the prize being aware of the rival in front of us, who also has things at stake. It is the most physical team in the League when Real Madrid and Barcelona are not at their highest level and they have very intelligent things in their game”.
The coach of the ‘men in black’ has not hidden that it would have been better for them if Ibon Navarro’s pupils had landed without risking anything, thinking more about the playoff and ensures that sporting successes like this rival’s this season in the Cup are good for Spanish basketball. “It’s good that Barcelona and Real Madrid are there, but it’s also good that there are non-soccer clubs with the ambition to be champions. Unicaja has achieved this by building a very physical and well-trained squad. They are the best team protecting the ball and, in addition, they steal a lot of balls and rebound well in attack. They have a very good competitive brand. They have a very good low position, balance with their interiors, a game in transition that is very difficult to defend… ”, he has shelled.
Ponsarnau also had a reference to Madrid’s title yesterday in the Euroleague: “They are competitive beasts, They know how to win like nobody else, I give a lot of credit to this, to the work of Chus Mateo and his coaching staff, how they have adapted to the virtues of the team. They are the best at finding a way to compete, also mentally. They have gone from less to more. Maximum admiration for how competitive and winners they are”. Regarding Llull’s winning basket at the last breath, it is very clear: “Sergi is like that. I have no doubt that there is no better player to give him that last ball, the best in Spain, in Europe and perhaps in the world. He is a beast, he puts them all ”.