Valencia Basket opens the 2018/19 Endesa League season with a big game at Unicaja’s court

Valencia Basket men’s team begins its journey in the 2018-19 Endesa League with a classic of its particular history in the highest category of national basketball visiting the Unicaja’ court (Friday 28, 9:30 p.m., Martín Carpena, #Vamos). The taronja squad will try to maintain its good dynamics of the last seasons starting far from the Fonteta in a court that has been good in the most recent time (Valencia Basket has won in four of its last six visits to Malaga). This game will mark the official debut with the taronja jersey of two of the incorporations as Matt Thomas and Louis Labeyrie, the return of Mike Tobey and the premiere on the bench as head coach in official match of Jaume Ponsarnau. In an game full with proper names willing to be decisive, point guard Antoine Diot, forward Fernando San Emeterio (discomfort in the left knee) and the long-term injured Rafa Martínez will not be available for the taronja team, so Ion Galarza will complete the twelve-player roster.

 

Unicaja arrives at this first official game after a complicated preseason but in which they ended up having a bath of confidence in his last friendly match. The Malaga squad now has Luis Casimiro as a head coach and has opted for continuity in a squad that has reached four new players. Precisely the additions have been the most prominent in the friendly game, with Wiltjer, Lessort and the point guard Brian Roberts as the best scorers of the green team in the preseason. The Málaga squad will have its full roster to face this game.

 

Valencia Basket coach Jaume Ponsarnau said that "we have confidence in the work we have done, in the implication that the group has and in the desire we have to play. I think the two teams will have doubts because the preseason has not given us the option of having many real games, with tension, with the demand and the nature of a very competitive match. We go to Malaga with confidence. Unicaja is a team that will want to play well, will want to play with energy, rhythm and intensity. I think their proposal will be more aggressive than tactical and they had incorporated balance”.

 

Rosters

UNICAJA

Nº

Nombre

Nacimiento

Posición

Alt.

2

Viny Okouo

Congo

Pívot

2.14

3

Jaime Fernández

España

Base

1.86

9

Alberto Díaz

España

Base

1.88

10

Sasu Salin

Finlandia

Escolta

1.91

11

Dani Díez

España

Alero

2.01

12

Dragan Milosavljevic

Serbia

Alero

1.96

17

Giorgi Shermadini

Georgia

Pívot

2.17

21

Adam Waczynski

Polonia

Alero

1.99

22

Brian Roberts

EE.UU

Base

1.88

26

Mathias Lessort

Francia

Pívot

2.05

33

Kyle Wiltjer

Canadá

Ala-pívot

2.08

43

Carlos Suárez

España

Ala-pívot

2.03

 

Luis Casimiro

 

Entrenador

 

 

VALENCIA BASKET

Nº

Nombre

Nacimiento

Posición

Alt.

1

Sergi García

España

Base

1.93

6

Alberto Abalde

España

Alero

2.02

7

Louis Labeyrie

Francia

Ala-pívot

2.08

9

Sam Van Rossom

Bélgica

Base

1.88

10

Will Thomas

EE.UU/Georgia

Ala-pívot

2.03

13

Mike Tobey

EE.UU

Pívot

2.13

14

Bojan Dubljevic

Montenegro

Pívot

2.05

16

Guillem Vives

España

Base

1.92

21

Matt Thomas

EE.UU

Escolta

1.96

30

Joan Sastre

España

Escolta

2.00

42

Aaron Doornekamp

Canadá/Holanda

Ala-pívot

2.01

50

Ion Galarza

España

Alero

1.96

Injured list

 

 

 

8

Antoine Diot

Francia

Base

1.93

17

Rafa Martínez

España

Escolta

1.90

19

Fernando San Emeterio

España

Alero

1.99

Jaume Ponsarnau

Entrenador

 

 

REFEREES: GARCÍA GONZALEZ - ARAÑA - ZAMORANO