Derbi LEB Oro: A party based on triples

With a month of delay caused by the positives in Covid-19, but the day of the Gipuzkoan basketball derby has arrived, unprecedented in such high categories since the end of the last century with Askatuak and Muebles Martín and Urbina-Maltzaga in contention until Acunsa Gipuzkoa Basket and Juaristi Iraurgi have decided to meet this midday at 12:00 in Illunbe.

The San Sebastian club, as the tip of the territory’s basketball pyramid, starts with the greatest squad potential and that makes it the favorite for victory, but if the Azpeiti-Azkoitiarras are showing anything, it is that they have the gall to care who they face. They beat Estudiantes, Coruña and Oviedo at home and they arrive at their best moment of the season after being uncovered away from home against none other than Lleida, so the wolf pack must be taken into consideration.

Lolo Encinas’ men, meanwhile, today end a tour of five matches in fifteen days hoping to do so with a positive balance, since so far they have two wins and two losses. It is the last effort before a much-needed break, since next day’s match against Granada has been postponed to April due to the ACB Cup dispute in the Nasrid city.

Juaristi is the team that shoots the most triples per game and is followed by Acunsa Gipuzkoa, which does it with greater success to be the king of the 6.75 meter line. He could not show off that quality against the excellent defense of Estudiantes and it is expected that today will be a game with speed, rhythm and more spaces where Oroz, Mallers and Simons for the local side and Hanzlik, Savkov and Ansorregi for the visitor can stand out and lead to their respective teams.

The reference to the pre-season game at the Euskal Kopa in September, when Acunsa Gipuzkoa won 82-66 despite the fact that Juaristi started 19-26 in the first quarter, is worth little or nothing. The two teams were taking the first steps in building their identity and team play and in these more than four months that have passed, both have grown a lot. The people from San Sebastian are gradually establishing themselves in defense and achieving regularity, while the Urolatars could have had another victory if it hadn’t been for the problems they had to close several games, the result of their inexperience that they have been polishing.

Hanzlik and Savkov are in charge of bombing the rival rim and Hevia of organizing his team’s game against a Cissoko that has come down in recent days, with Dijkstra as the only inside player after Thiam’s injury.

We will have to see how players like Oroz or Beraza, who come out of injury, arrive physically. In the case of the player from Azkoitia, he ended Wednesday with cramps.

IDK loses 66-50 in Tarbes

IDK Euskotren lost 66-50 in a friendly against Tarbes. Score after each quarter: 23-13, 39-23 (halftime); 56-34 and 66-50.