Unicaja will have to wait one more week to obtain the mathematical ticket to play in the quarterfinal play off of the Basketball Champions League. The greens have four victories in the four games played in the second continental phase, but the 77-74 victory this Wednesday of the French Cholet against the Turkish Tofas Bursa means that there is the possibility of a mathematical carom that still prevents the official celebration of the presence of Unicaja among the 8 teams that attend the quarterfinal draw next Friday, March 22.
Unicaja has 4 victories in the 4 rounds played in Group I of the Round of 16, while Cholet and Tofas Bursa both have two wins and two defeats, in those same 4 rounds. With two days still ahead, both the Gauls and the Ottomans could reach the 4 wins that Unicaja already has and in that hypothetical final triple tie, it would be the average that would decide which two teams pass and which team is eliminated. The French SIG Strasbourg is at the bottom and is already out of any cabal, which does not know victory in this second phase, with a record of 0-4.
Unicaja resumed the BCL this Tuesday with a victory against Strasbourg. / BCL-Mariano Pozo
What does Unicaja have to do to advance to the quarterfinals?
This week’s move to the quarterfinals is postponed, but it seems more than safe for Ibon Navarro’s team. It is enough for Unicaja to win any of the two games they have pending in this European league. Next week they will play on the Tofas Bursa court, in a match corresponding to matchday 5, while they will finish the Round of 16 by hosting the French Cholet at the Martín Carpena, in the sixth and final installment of the league.
If the greens win in Turkey next week, they will be guaranteed a place in the quarterfinals and would also secure first place in the standings.. In case of defeat, regardless of the difference by which the greens lose against Tofas, it would be enough to win at Carpena on the last day against Cholet to go to the play off and do so, also, as group champions.
Cholet celebrates its European victory against Strasbourg. /BCL
Sight draw
It must be remembered that Friday the 22nd of this month of March will be a key day for this Basketball Champions League. That day the draw will be held for the pairings of the quarterfinals, qualifiers from which the names of the 4 teams that will compete in the 2024 Champions League Final Four will be drawn on the first weekend of next May.
The first in each group will be seeded that day in the matchup pot of the best-of-three matches. Unicaja aspires (and is very well on its way) to finish first in its group and thus have the option of being in the group champions’ pot of the Round of 16 and thus playing a possible third playoff match at the Martín Carpena Palace, under the support of their fans.
2024-03-06 21:01:41
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