In a Conference C of the EBA League in which the great favorites are living up to the expectations that they had aroused during the summer (Palmer Basket Mallorca has only lost one game, Pajarraco Santfeliuenc and Barça Atlètic are beginning to distance themselves in the lead in Group C2) , highlights the performance of CB Vic-Universitat de Vic, which, with one party more than Palmer, is at the top of Group C1, tied with another of the great candidates, Mataró Homs. With a continual squad and facing various casualties throughout the season, Osona’s men have barely suffered two defeats and have become one of the surprises in the category, to the happiness of the fans of a club closely linked to its people . We talked about all this Sergi Fortes (Barcelona, 1992), the coach who continues for another year in charge of the project and who is behind this successful league start.
Basketball Zone – CB Vic- Universitat de Vic is the leader of C1 (although with one more game than Palmer Basket), which makes it one of the revelations of the EBA League 22/23. Did you expect to be so high at this point?
Sergi Fortes – The truth is that we did not expect it, especially because of the level of the teams in the league and also because of the casualties that we have been dragging. I suppose that the rivals have also had problems, but we have not been able to be the 11 on any day, nor have we all been in good shape to play, and this also gives much more merit to getting such good results.
ZdB – How do you feel being the leaders?
SF – Really leading are Palmer, who are missing a game that is behind and so far they have only lost once. In any case, we all prefer to be above than below and, at the level of the environment, it is living with a lot of euphoria (the club, the fans…). That they are very happy is the beauty. We are very clear about who we are and that we are enjoying it every day, working with enthusiasm, knowing that the season will progress and the teams will get to know each other better, so they will make it more and more difficult for us, but the fun thing about basketball is that you they are making difficulties.
ZdB – You keep many players from last year in the squad, plus the signing of Toni Rodríguez, who is doing a good job inside, and Adrià Baiget, although he has already lost several games. Is it an advantage to start with a continuist block?
SF – It certainly is. Starting with a group that is already mostly known helps a lot. In addition, it makes the new players, like Toni and Adrià, who already knew people from the club, which he had previously been through, adapt more quickly. Thus, we began the construction of the team game a couple of steps above the usual. In addition, the group is fantastic, they are very united, they help each other and have a good time together. This is very important so that new players can perform as quickly as possible. But it is also a factor that ends and does not end up being decisive as the season progresses.
ZdB – In addition to Adrià, you have had more absences throughout this first round (David Vidal, Pujolreu who returned on the last day, Coderch). I suppose that the contribution of the players of the second team and young people who settle in the EBA has been important.
SF – As you said, in addition to Adrià, David Vidal, Coderch and Pujolreu have also been absent. In addition, Jordi Boix could not do the preseason. All this has made the others take a step forward; Since we have a very choral way of playing, this makes this a bit easier. The truth is that people have responded very well, wanting to take that step further. And, obviously, the importance of the Senior 2 boys. Not only in matches, we have needed them to compete when we were with 7-8 players, but also on a day-to-day basis, helping to maintain the level, to continue growing as a team and continuing to evolve. The casualties we’ve had have been important people and they’re noticeable, but this is a global issue at the club. We have a game model, an identity, a way of doing things… that is extrapolated to Senior 2 and Senior 3, with joint work with Joel Sabido and Gérard García, who are their coaches, to line up training sessions, do joint training sessions, work mixed… that give us this plus at the beginning of the season.
ZdB – Is the work done with the youth of the region especially important for the club?
SF – For the club it is very important to work with people from home, with young people. Our idea is that the maximum number of players trained at home or from the region can reach our Seniors, knowing that it is very complicated. Whenever a need arises, whether it be from the EBA League, the Catalunya Cup or the Senior 3, we first look inside and we will have time to look at players from outside, whether local or who have not been at the club. This also happens at the level of coaches: this year I am lucky to be able to work and train Jan Sanglas, who is only 18 years old and is probably the youngest coach in the EBA League. This is our way of seeing things: a boy who has played for the club since he was little, who has been a coach in the youth academy and who, due to circumstances, has opted for him and is responding very well. Of course, we do not give anything to anyone, everyone has to earn it and has to show that they are prepared, but little by little the opportunities appear.
The growth that is being seen at a social level is also very important for the club, in relations with the city, with a very large school project, with the social masses that are coming to us to watch the matches, the young stands, called HornSysteM, in which many young people from the club get involved to cheer, with a very good atmosphere in the matches. Many times I tell the players that they are privileged because in the EBA League, in a venue as big as we have, you can hardly play for 800 people or more. This makes it very nice for the team and that people feel that the project is theirs, with young people who are committed to it, and everything is fed back with the social part and the identity that they want to look for as a club.
ZdB – Going back to the EBA League, how do you see the rivals in the upper zone? Specifically, in the next game nothing less than Palmer Basket Mallorca awaits you, what a squad they have…
I see the UE Mataró Homs as a very solvent team, a very united group that has been working together for a long time, with a coach who has also been with them for a long time, with experience and talent. The truth is that when you see them play, you get the feeling that they win many games without breaking a sweat and this shows you the team’s potential, that they don’t need to give their all to win most games. Then there is Palmer, who is a very strong project with great financial backing, who is passing through the EBA League: a squad with top-level players, many of whom have been or are professionals, with all that this implies, globally. They have a very dominant inside game, very good shooters (who are at 47%, 40%, 37% in T3, and hitting more than two three-pointers per game) and then they have a perimeter with very good game directors, which in the end I I think they make up a squad, including those who are supposed to be the second unit, who have experience in LEB, good players in higher categories, who would have no problem competing in LEB Plata. But in the end the games have to be played and we really want to play against them at home and really see how far or close we are to their level.
ZdB – In this Group C1 we find teams of a high level, which means that several teams like Sol Gironès Bisbal Bàsquet or Prosperplast Alfindén are also looking towards you with the desire to catch up in the middle of the table.
SF – It is without a doubt a very powerful group. I suppose that those of C1 think that it is the most powerful and those of C2 also think so, but the truth is that both Bisbal and Alfindén have great teams and that they go 6-5 shows the level of the competition: it is very difficult to win games and anyone can beat you. We lost against both, although it is true that we arrived in difficult circumstances, especially against Bisbal, but Alfindénn beat us there well, with a Chabi Yo who was dominant. They have a great team and now that the signings have settled, they have the potential to be up front and I’m sure they’ll put up a lot of trouble. But there are other teams like Mataró Parc Boet, Penya B, Girona B… that have really beaten top teams and have competed well (Girona lost three in Palmer’s field and Bisbal only lost two). This level makes the league fun, because beforehand you don’t know if you’re going to win or lose and you always have to compete and give your best.
ZdB – Finally, how do you rate this calendar in which you stopped for a week at the beginning of December because of the long weekend, returned to play a single day and now have a Christmas break again?
SF – Help, it doesn’t help much to have a week off and then come back for a league game, but due to dates it was difficult for them to balance it in another way. It is what it is, we all adapt, we play and that’s it. I see more of a problem on the 7th (January), which in a league like this is a bit unnecessary, since there are holidays beforehand and that complicates training and people can’t be with their families as much as they should. Also, although in our case it affects us less, if you have players from abroad and they have to leave and return, it is more complicated. I think that holding the day a week later would make it easier for the clubs and the players to be calmer.
What should be improved is the competition format, make it more attractive, get more teams involved, for example with some playoffs to get to the phases: that the first one can go directly, but that there are some crosses with a team from the other group… some formula that makes the league more attractive and that involves more teams for a longer time. In the end, going 1st and 2nd directly to phases, without interaction with the other group (C2) and limiting only those two places, even us, even though we are very high now, can make you fall off the hook and the competition doesn’t make much sense . This is very important so that the players feel that every day they have to play for something.
