He Barça plays tonight (8:30 p.m. CET) the penultimate game of the regular season in Euroleague, in which you will visit the BMW Park of Munich to measure up to Pablo Laso’s Bayern.
The coach from Vitoria started a new era in the German team last summer, and for the moment, things are not going badly for him: Cup champions, current leaders of the Bundesliga with only four defeats in 24 games, and with options to get into the ‘Play-In’ of the European competition, Although it is true that the calendar is terribly demanding, with the duels against Barça team, Panathinaikos and Monaco on the horizon, but with only three days left to play.
A renewed project with new faces
Laso has brought together many new faces in Germany in his staging, and players like the ex-Azulgrana Leandro Bolmaro, Sylvain Francisco, Devin Booker or Serge Ibaka They have decided to bet on the Bavarian project and continue their careers on German soil.
Ibaka, a renowned signing
Ibaka’s arrival was one of the most media that was experienced last summer in the European market. After almost 15 years of experience in the NBA, in which he was proclaimed champion along with Marc Gasol with those Toronto Raptors in 2019, The doors of the best basketball league on the planet were closed for the Hispanic-Congolese, international with ‘La Familia’, and winner of the Eurobasket de 2011 and of the London 2012 Olympic silver.
Serge Ibaka, with the Spanish team / EFE
Punished for injuries
In recent times, Ibaka had had problems with the injuries, with knees that have given him headaches, and that last season, he was only able to wear shorts in 16 games. But, at 33 years old, last summer there was a call de Laso, with whom he already met at Real Madrid during the NBA lockout in 2011, which marked a radical turn in his career: Ibaka was still useful, and Bayern ‘dreamed’ of his arrival as one of the great claims and heavyweights for the new project.
This is how his signing for Bayern came about
“We were in Granada, and after playing a preseason game, I spoke with him. I met a person who wanted to play basketball. And for me that is the most important thing, I have never doubted Serge. He himself is aware that he is not 20 years old, that he does things better, others worse, but he wanted to play. When I finish the videoconference, I tell my assistants: “Hey, this guy wants to come, he’s going to come.” That’s why it hasn’t surprised me that he, from the beginning, has shown that predisposition,” Laso told this newspaper about the negotiation of his signing.
Serge Ibaka, in match action with Rolands Smits / Euroleague
Laso, satisfied
“No one doubts his quality and what he has shown is that he was not here to fulfill the file or to get a contract. “Serge, you come to a team that may not be the one with the most budget, we don’t know if we can pay you the money you deserve, but you are going to find a good organization, a club that believes and bets on you and that we are aware of what what you can give us.” Both parties have fulfilled what we talked about that day. Sometimes we thought we were taking him to the limit, but we won the last game thanks to a block from him. As a coach, I am very satisfied with the performance he has given to the team,” Laso recently revealed in an interview with SPORT.
As a coach, I am very satisfied with the performance he has given the team.
His numbers with Bayern
As for his numbers this season, Serge Ibaka is averaging 12.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in the Euroleague per game for 15.4 rating, all this in something more than 24 and a half minutes per game. In Bundesliga, he contributes 10.1 points, 5.5 sacks, 1.1 blocks and 12.5 rating credits. In the first round match at the Palau, he scored 13 points.
This is how Ibaka plays with the Bavarian team
The truth is that Ibaka, accustomed to seeing him as a power forward, He has already ‘shifted’ his game towards the zone, playing ‘5’ taking advantage of its two meters and eight centimeters, but also a physical condition which makes him a reliable center near the basket. Although age weighs a little, Ibaka is still very intimidating on defense, sealing the rings and loading the rebound well. All this without forgetting his external threat, which he does not abuse, and which allows him to have a very good 46.7% correct from beyond 6.75. In December, at home against Olimpia Milano, Ibaka scored a triple to force overtime, in which they managed to beat the Italians 91-84.
Many doubts in Bayern’s internal game to receive Barça
Barça will do well to have Ibaka under control to whom they can add even more work, given the doubts that Laso has so much Devin Booker like Danko Brankovic. Ibaka enjoys a ‘second youth’, and Bayern clings to it to continue with its options in Europe.
2024-03-28 18:20:01
#reborn #Serge #Ibaka #threatens #Barça
