The leader of Monbus Obradoiro on the track has his own name: Thomas Scrubb. After the departure this summer of Kassius Robertson to Valencia Basket, the spot for the player who was going to take the team on his back had been left vacant without the guard. However, a renewal until 2025 and much more prominence on the track have done the rest.
The numbers speak for themselves in the Endesa League. Melvin Ejim’s teammate is fifth player with the highest rating (17.3), only surpassed by Birgander, Feliz, Moneke and Hernangómez. In addition, Unicaja will have to be attentive because it is also the player who recovers the most balls per game (2.4), the third that has the best percentage from the triple (52.4%) and, very importantly, the most used player in the competition with 32 minutes on average.
That is to say, it is more than evident that he is the Galicians’ most important player with Artem Pustovyi on the rise in recent games. Now, that ‘only’ is at a general level. For example, On his team he is the one who rebounds the most above ‘towers’ like the Ukrainian, Blazevic or the ex-cajista and Rubén Guerrero from Malaga. It is not the one with the greatest shooting volume either, but it is the one that accumulates the best percentage.
In short, score, rebound, assist, recover… This is Moncho Fernández’s one-man band. He will be the man to watch for Ibon Navarro and the main danger for the Galicians to jeopardize the winning streak with which Unicaja arrives at Carpena.
A squad ‘touched’ by casualties
However, the Obradoiro does not land well in Malaga. Scrubb’s high playing time is no coincidence after being left without a natural replacement. Roberto Mendoza suffered in the first match of the BCL qualifying phase a fracture of the right transverse processes in three lumbar vertebrae. Therefore, he will not be able to participate against Unicaja, since he has several weeks left to recover.
The bad news for the perimeter doesn’t stop there. They will be doubt until the last minute Álvaro Muñoz and Jordan Howard -Markus Howard’s brother-. The captain retired from the last game due to ankle problems, while the guard has been on the sidelines of his teammates due to a muscle problem. Without forgetting that the base Eric Washington has left for the United States to not return to Galician lands.
A very complicated situation, but If there is a coach who can squeeze Unicaja until the last moments of the meeting It’s Moncho Fernandez. He already did it last season and will not hesitate to try again with Thomas Scrubb at the helm.