The painful continental goodbye of Baskonia, sealed in the last corner of the Euroleague after the defeat in Piraeus and the victory of Zalgiris in Munich, drastically reduce what until now was a busy schedule of two and even three commitments per week.
The team from Vitoria has eight commitments left in the regular phase of the ACB, starting with the one that this Sunday will be played in Santa Cruz de Tenerife against Lenovo, the prelude to the following duels against Obradoiro, Fuenlabrada, Breogán, Gran Canaria, Joventut, Barcelona and Girona that will determine if the people from Vitoria face the fight for the title from the vantage point of the classification in tough competition with Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The ‘Top 8’ passes by for Baskonia
Well, there is a player on whom the questions weigh from here to the end of the campaign. In the hands of Joan Peñarroya is the determination that Daulton Hommes can wear the Barca shirt again. The American power forward is left in a very difficult situation after the bitter end of the Baskonia season in the Euroleague, the only competition in which the natural open ‘four’ from Bellingham (Washington) has taken part since February.
His case can change at any time and it is not unreasonable for the Catalan coach to sacrifice another player in these last days of the regular season in order to make a place for him again on the ‘roster’ and thus not lose the much-needed competitive rhythm . However, It escapes no one that Hommes is at the gates of a stage full of dark clouds As for the possibility of already being an important piece once the fight for the fifth league crown in the history of Baskonia starts.
the american player He played his last league game on January 29 in the victory harvested at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia against Sito Alonso’s UCAM. That day he barely got 5 points and 4 rebounds and since then he has been the piece sacrificed in the ACB by Joan Peñarroya.
The Catalan coach must do without one of his nine players without quotas in the squad every day to comply with current legislation and it is clear that Hommes is the weakest link in the chain
The Catalan coach must do without all the days of one of his nine players without quotas in the squad in order to comply with current legislation. And it becomes clear that Hommes is the weakest link of the chain despite the fact that other Barça members such as Heidegger or Enoch are offering, in general terms, a disappointing performance.
Alternatives in the template
During the last two and a half months, Hommes has only played in the Euroleague, where there are no restrictions of any kind regarding the nationalities of the basketball players. His loss in the ACB is mitigated by the recycling to the position of ‘four’ of CostelloWithout forgetting that other players on the squad such as Dani Díez, Giedraitis himself or even the now injured Sedekerskis are also capable of acting in his position.
Peñarroya has even formed at some point an inner couple made up of Enoch and Kotsar, so there are enough alternatives in the Barcelona squad to compensate for the absence of Hommes. His averages in the 16 ACB games this season amount to 10.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
The American power forward became one of Baskonia’s bets last summer from the American Development League. Alec Peters saw the exit door open to Olympiacos due to the urgent need to free up the wage bill and the one chosen to replace him was a player like Hommes with little experience in European basketball after a lonely stint in the 2019-20 season for the Italian Vanoli Cremona.
His almost chronic knee problems, which date back to his time in high school when he was only 15 years old, have reappeared at some point in this experience in Vitoria. In fact, heand forced in November of last year to travel to Italy to obtain a second medical opinion.
This fact can also weigh his own when Hommes, with a contract in force until June 2024 –Baskonia, yes, did not specify if his second year is guaranteed when he announced his signing-, be the discard of Peñarroya for the start of the ‘play off’ for the title.
