The Joventut of Badalona and the Baxi Manresa They play this Wednesday (9:15 p.m.) in the Palau Olímpic a Catalan derby with a playoff flavor, since both are in the positions that give access to the qualifying rounds for the title, with the Penya best placed to achieve it.
The green and black are seventh with seventeen victories, while the Manresa, with one most played game, are eighth with two fewer wins when they have five and four games remaining respectively to finish the regular phase.
In the duel of the first round, the Bages defeated the Badalonese (85-80), in a very close match that was decided by small details. One of them, the offensive rebound with the 17 sacks of the manresanos for the 9 of his rival.
In this sense, the technician of Baxi Manresa, Pedro Martinez, believes that “few conclusions can be drawn from that game” because they played it a long time ago.
“It will be a different game, we both know each other better and I sign now that it is even. Our duty as always is to compete and execute the game plan,” he added.
Both teams arrive at the meeting at a good time. The Joventut won the Lenovo Tenerife (90-85) and took a big step forward to certify his presence in the qualifying rounds for the title. The Baxi Manresa won in extremis at Students (102-101) with a decisive basket from the pivot Scott eatherton.
In order to Pedro Martinez This derby is just one more game: “I don’t think it will be a key match to play in the playoffs, although it is very important like all those who remain. We are focused on preparing for the game and then whatever comes we will face it. We are in a good position, but there are still many encounters. “
For his part, the coach of the Joventut Badalona, Carles duran, commented that his team in the last two games against him Real Madrid and the Lenovo Tenerife “He has found his best feelings and knows that in this section of the league there are very important things at stake and all the rivals have something at stake.”
The victory, if it can be accompanied by the ‘basket average’, against a direct rival, would leave the Penya with a foot and a half in the playoffs. “We depend on ourselves and our mind should only go through playing our best basketball against him. Manresa because, if we don’t do it, it is impossible to beat them, “said the coach.
In order to Last, Manresa are the team with “the best rhythm of the game in the League” and that his team has it “very clear”. For this reason, he urged his men to “play the 40 minutes with great intensity and with the best of intentions”, as he already achieved last Saturday against the Lenovo Tenerife at the Olímpic.
While Pedro Martinez you will have at your disposal all your players, Carles duran he will not be able to count on the forward for the game Xabi López-Arostegui and the bases Demetrius Jackson Y Arturs zagars, the three long-term injuries.
The Catalan derby has been played a total of 83 times in the ACB League, with a favorable balance for the green-black team of 55 wins to 26 for Manresa. Two games ended in a draw.
This season, the Baxi Manresa has only been able to beat one of the top seven in the table, precisely at Joventut of Badalona.
In the statistical aspect, both teams are among the five teams in the competition that commit the most losses per game. The Baxi Manresa leads this classification with 15.25 per game, while the Joventut he is third with an average of 14.90.