After the FIBA BCL Final Four, it is time to take stock, beyond staying with what has been the punctual performance in this tournament, extending that analysis to what has been done so far and what remains to come.
We know that the team that was least counted on (because it was playing against Unicaja and the confidence in Ibon Navarro’s team was intact) was victorious, that both its coach, Tuomas Iisalo, and its best player TJ Shorts have been named as the best of the tournament and that the Jerusalem fans have taught an unusual way of cheering and that has had an impact from the first moment.
Everything apart from Unicaja’s performance, something that, due to the two defeats suffered, has brought up opinions even calling it a failure, criticizing the team’s performance, the punctual attitude in the matches, and even the approach to the season that comes, extending to the leadership for the renovation of a large part of the current campus.
Taking into account that the absolute truth has a volatile price, the loudspeaker of social networks makes it easier to air opinions, and worst of all, to leave anonymity to the cowardice of each one, despite which, for some, truthfulness is not lost.
I don’t think anyone is happy with the performance of our Unicaja and that there are reasons that explain the two defeats, but the truth is that the level displayed before the event is moving away from that of the Copa del Rey in Badalona. I don’t think it was caused by the team’s attitude, far from it, because modifying the effort allowed them to re-engage in games and arrive with options at the end of both. Perhaps too late, because, leaving aside the match against the Canary Islands (which, in my opinion, should not take place, but there we would come into conflict with the business-show), despite the fact that the Germans have been fair winners, the idea Seeing them as an accessible rival is not going to go out of his mind.
I don’t know if with time Tuomas Iisalo and TJ Shorts are going to get closer to the prestige and the career of Zeljko Obradovic and Sasha Djordjevic, which is at the level that some put them, and having time ahead, gaining a place at the top becomes difficult. , but it is a “malaguita” axiom: since they have been very good against Unicaja, they will reach the firmament (and if we sign them, better).
What worries me the most is knowing if the headache that this tournament can cause will last beyond the return to competition. I am clear that the last to rejoin (Alberto Díaz and Darío Brizuela) will recover sensations as they return to training and competition. It makes me think more about others, who are far from the performance they showed, being able to place almost everyone.
It cannot be ignored that the rivals look at the team in a different way and although Ibon Navarro works to recover the good that was offered, the passing of the year wears us down because we are talking about humans who are demanded an increasingly automated performance and it would be unfair to stay with what is seen now and the discomfort of recent defeats, forgetting what they experienced nothing ago. It would also be unfair and dangerous to disdain that group of matches (minimum four, maximum fifteen) that could remain until the end of the season.
Because this is not over yet, although the renewal of the bulk of the squad is criticized (it must not be forgotten that it was not guaranteed to continue in Malaga). I would love to see real proposals to see the acceptance of the public, but feasible things, that to change the Alberto Díaz-Kendrick Perry couple for the Kostas Sloukas-Thomas Walkup I have to get horizontal, lower the blind and enter the REM phase.
At the end of this great basketball occasion, yes, everything can be improved, starting with the referees, because if I have the idea that there are no level players for three or four truly remarkable European competitions, the level of refereeing has had disconcerting moments. And as a final detail, I think that we cannot leave out the Israeli fans, who with details that they do not like, such as the flares inside, are not one to go home smelling of moraga from San Juan, they have been recognizable protagonists for cheering without ceasing, even in the worst moments of his team.
For me, who observe and am proud to see how the recovered compositor hobby rises brilliantly and shows signs of believing so many times, it would not hurt to think of a degree of animation. I know that to the historical Mihitas and the personal impulse of many -and I am not going to cite because I would forget someone and it would be terrible-, a new rock is now joining, called Infierno Verde, I hope that there are more and more people there, because there are always people will be missing And if this goes from decibels and being heavy until you have the YALLA HAPOEL! still stuck in the head after living a game with them, however uncomfortable they may be, the Israelis made themselves noticed, a lot.