Manresa - Bilbao

Basketball

We are looking forward to Manresa's victory against Bilbao in Spain in an absolutely key match for those of Bages.

It will be played at the Nou Congost in Manresa, a 5,000-seat pavilion that will be full and is one of the most exciting nationwide.

Manresa (2-9) had a start to the season to forget but I think that with the new signings they can take a step forward and get out of the hole. They play fast basketball and in many points which in my opinion can hurt a Bilbao that doesn't like running at all, Manresa's problem is clearly their defense, where they have a hole. In my opinion they don't have a bad team and they have players of level like Harding, Vaulet or Waczynski who have been joined by Ferrari, Robinson and Geben as new (and successful) signings to provide what is required by a Pedro Martínez who knows about the importance of today's match and the fact that he is a great coach.

Bilbao (6-5) is one of the revelations of the season, they play good basketball and win games. Team in favor of a slower and more defensive pace of play than Manresa, but as I said it suffers against teams that make it run. Interesting team led by Hakanson and Withney (which in general terms do not seem better than Manresa) but rather superficial and which will most likely be tired given that this is their third match in six days, except the last played on Wednesday in Istanbul against Bahcesehir.

In summary, I think that today Manresa have a great opportunity to win again against a team that doesn't seem better to me in terms of squad and general level and that will arrive tired due to the accumulation of matches and away games.

In this match Frankie Ferrari will have the opportunity to show what he's made of.

Frankie is a point guard who, since arriving in Manresa, has been averaging 12 points in 23 minutes on three greens for one red.

Player who has been another player since arriving at Manresa from Zaragoza and who has taken on a leadership role with Pedro Martínez who is doing well for him right now.

Furthermore, Bilbao are a team that, while good defensively, usually have problems with rival playmakers:

- against Bahcesehir: Smith 13p

- against Obradoiro: Scrubb 13p

- against Gran Canaria: Bassas 13p and Slaughter 7p

- against Igokea: Crawford 17p and Ray 8p

- against Zaragoza: Ponitka 11p and Wright 8p

In short, I think it's because of Ferrari's role and because of Bilbao's problems in defending foreigners.