Valencia and Baskonia play the pass to the Endesa League final

Valencia Basket and Baskonia will play this Sunday at the Fonteta (20:00 h.) The pass to the Endesa League final 2019-2020, after the host team finished first in their group and the Vitoria second, after the Barca.

Baskonia coach Dusko Ivanovic said on Saturday that in a game as important as the semifinal matchup against Valencia Basket “there are no excuses”, referring to the availability of his players.

The Montenegrin, who appeared at a telematic press conference, said that they are where they wanted to be and that now it is their turn to “take a first step to reach the final.” “It will be very complicated, but we already knew that,” he said.

“Valencia Basket has shown in these first five games that it is a very talented team, it moves the ball very well and has an excellent outside shot and offensive rebound,” said the Balkan, who focused on defending his group to get the victory.

Dusko Ivanovic also highlighted the concentration of his team and the use of his own weapons to bring the duel forward.

“Right now neither Valencia nor we think who is the favorite in the match,” he said. We only thought about how to win the match with the own weapons of each team, with two somewhat different styles, “said the Barça coach who has managed to turn his mind around since he arrived.

For his part, the forward of Valencia Basket Fernando San Emeterio assured that the three-month hiatus as a consequence of the coronavirus crisis and the preseason carried out after the confinement has allowed Dusko Ivanovic to implant his ideas in Baskonia, to which this Sunday in the semifinals of the Endesa League.

“The Baskonia has the Dusko seal fully implanted. They have recovered injured or touched players, they are a complicated team with a very aggressive defense and they always play to the limit. What are Dusko’s teams, ”he explained at a press conference.

The player from Santander said that Valencia’s philosophy is similar and that they will try to impose it on a difficult team, since “in an ACB semifinal it was not going to be easy.”

San Emeterio analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of this final phase being played in the Fuente de San Luis pavilion in Valencia for knowing the track but also because when playing behind closed doors, the low presence of more managers or of the pavilion workers It gives them a small favorable audience.

“It might help to know the track, but it is rare to be on your track without your people or on a different bench. Outside those sensations we would not have had them, but if you give me a choice I prefer that it be in Valencia, “explained the Cantabrian player, who recalled that” everyone has the right to put the same managers by protocol but those here have more facilities to come”.

San Emeterio said that they should try to recover well from the accumulated efforts and although he recalled that Baskonia have had one more day of rest and in the last game nothing has been played, he noted that “sometimes you do not know if it is better or worse to lose the competitive spark ».