BC "Prometey" - BC "Joventut Badalona" (Spain). February 1. 19:00. 7DAYS EuroCup. Group round. Group A. 13th tour. Riga (Latvia). Arena "Riga". Broadcast - "DIVISPORT BASKETBALL" YouTube channel.
Two days long, on January 31 and February 1, the games of the 7DAYS EuroCup 13th tour will take place. And the central one, out of any doubts, will be a confrontation of our “Prometey” and Spanish “Badalona in Riga. The teams are currently sitting in two first places of the group tournament standings; herewith, Spaniards have a better point difference. In our group, 66.7% of wins also has French “Bourg”. In terms of the point difference, French team is in third place.
"Prometey" will hold its second match against the most titled club of this year's 7 DAYS EuroCup championship. The club from Badalona is a 4-time champion of Spain (1967, 1978, 1991, 1992), for the 8 times, "green and black" won the national Cup.
As for European standards, “Joventut” is quite a titled club. In the 1980/1981 and 1989/1990 seasons, Spaniards became holders of the Korac Cup, the third prestigious European tournament of those days. In 1994, “Joventut” conquered the main top of the European club basketball. Defeating in the final Greek “Olympiakos” (59:57), “Joventut” became the second team, after Real, who won this tournament. Some successes also did not passed by the “Prometey” rival in the new millennium: in 2006, the team became the winner of the FIBA Challenge Cup (now FIBA European Cup), and two years later - the ULEB European Cup (now 7DAYS EuroCup).
This season, “Joventut” is called by many experts the main contender for victory in the 7DAYS EuroCup. The best club of Ukraine was able to make sure of the opponent’s power in the confrontation of the first round in Badalona. Herewith, at that time it turned out to be a match of equal rivals, where “Prometey” was inferior by just 5 points (77:82).
Opponents are approaching their second confrontation with great feelings. “Prometey” has repeated the Group A record of the current season in the length of an undefeated streak, which belonged to Italian “Reyer Venecia” until the last week and consisted of 5 matches. Carles Duran's team, after the failure in their first match of the 2023 7DAYS EuroCup in Italian Brescia, have notched up two clutch wins at home. First, "Joventut" minimally beat "Frutti Extra Bursaspor" (83:82), and last Wednesday - Slovenian "Olimpija Cedevita" (96:91).
The ending parts of these games turned out to be different for Spanish team. If in the confrontation with a representative of Turkey they were about to lose the victory in the last minute, leading by 5 points, the other wat around, in the last match with Slovenians, they entered the last 5-minute segment conceding by 6 points. In the decisive moment, “Joventut” used most of their trump cards. First of all, it’s worth to note the way the team from Badalona moves the ball in attack. Exactly this component allowed them to gain such needed and decisive points.
Upcoming match in Riga promises to be a “fiery” one in terms of both a basketball level and a plot of confrontation. Both teams have a direct tournament motivation. If “Prometey” takes revenge, this win may allow them to take a lead in the Group A tournament standings (however, quite much will depend on the match between “Bourg” and Italian “Brescia”). In case of Spaniards’ success, they very likely to keep the leading position.
To follow the course of events in the match “Prometey” – “Joventut Badalona”, watch the live video broadcast on YouTube channel “DIVISPORT BASKETBALL” on February 1 at 19:00.
