The departure of the Senegalese center, Khalifa Diopheading to Baskonia last summerafter depositing the amount of his exit clause, was one of the most traumatic moments for the fans of the Dreamland Gran Canariawho has missed the presence of his prodigal son in the paint in a campaign in which the yellow team’s main duty so far is in their interior game. So much Ben Lammers as Ethan Happthey are losing for the moment in the eyes of the yellow tide that misses both the Senegalese and his companion in fatigue, Olek Balcerowski, It seems that things are not going too well under the orders of Ataman in Panathinaikos.
Granca visits the most basketball city in Spain, Vitoria-Gasteiz, this Sunday (3:00 p.m., Movistar Deportes), to face a Baskonia apparently in low hours, which decided to defenestrate Joan Peñarroya to recover the everlasting Dusko Ivanovic, Khalifa’s new boss.
With Peñarroya at the controls, the Senegalese has played five ACB matches, with an average of just over 14 minutes on the court, in which he has achieved a discreet average rating of 7.2, contributing 5.2 points and 4.6 rebounds. Some figures somewhat lower than those achieved by the young value raised in Vega de San José last year, in which he played 36 games, with an average of 20 minutes on the court, with an average rating of 9.2, contributing 7, 6 points and 5 rebounds on average per game.
A life in yellow
Born in Guediawaye (Senegal) on January 15, 2002, his sporting career as a baloncesto It is undoubtedly due to Dreamland Gran Canaria.
At the age of 15 he made his debut in the EBA League with the reserve team, beginning a career of records that led him to become the top rebounder in the 2017 Spanish Cadet Championship, he was designated as MVP of the Cadet Club Championship in Lérida (2018), champion and MVP of the Ciutat de L’Hospitalet Junior Tournament in 2019 and participated in the NBA Basketball Without Borders.
His debut with the first yellow team would take place until March 28, 2019, at the age of 17, in a Euroleague match against Maccabi, but it would not be until 2021, when the Senegalese interior would become part of the first team, after alternating in previous years his presence in the subsidiary, with the seniors.
In the summer of 2022 he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 39, but the player preferred to stay on the Island to continue growing, also giving up last season a succulent offer from Valencia Basket to wear the taronja shirt. His stay on the Island allowed him to be crowned champion of the Eurocup with the team of his life, under the orders of Jaka Lakovicthe coach who was able to bring out all his power.
700,000 euros definitively broke his umbilical cord with Granca who could face him this Sunday, as long as the pain in his back, which has kept him away from the playing fields in recent games, does not prevent him from dressing short against his former teammates. .
Vitoria and its Fernando Buesa Arenaone of the favorite squares of the yellow fans, where the Gran Canarian team won their only Spanish Super Cup, will serve as a meeting point between the Senegalese center and a club that forged him over a slow heat in its magic pot, to turn him into one of the interiors destined to dominate painting in Spain and Europe in the coming years, while the NBA awaits him.
On red alert by John Shurna
The preseason injury to John Shurna slowed down his set-up and when it seemed that the power forward was beginning to find the way to become important again in Dreamland Gran Canaria, the worst possible news came. In a rush, preceded by a push from a rival, to defend a rival, he suffered a strain in the calf of his left leg, which forced him to abandon the clash against Lietkabelis last Wednesday. There is little optimism within the Claretian entity with the physical condition of the player, who must wait for the bruise he has in the injured area to subside in order to undergo the MRI to clarify the severity of his illness. Everything indicates that it could be a fibrillar tear in the left calf, the severity of which will depend on its length. | S. I.
2023-11-03 00:28:48
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