Unicaja – Joventut
ACB League Round 5
Malaga, October 14, 20:45 CET
Pistol Pete
Unicaja is already in a must-win situation, in Malaga against Joventut in the Spanish ACB League round 5.
The home team has a clear motive against the Catalan club on Saturday, this team welcomes the rival fresh because they had six days to prepare the match. The club that was third in the ACB league last season now has an unexpectedly poor record of 1-3, and Joventut seems like an ideal rival at the moment.
Behind the visitors is a difficult match, a victory over Slovenian champions Cedevita Olimpija in Eurocup away game on Wednesday, 88:87 after overtime. The impression is that fatigue was already felt in the Joventut team, which came to victory much more difficult than expected. This team has four wins in the last five matches, and four times it was exciting duels that were decided in the last minute. The impression is that the host will enter Malaga with a significantly fresher squad, while behind Juventut is a long journey from Ljubljana back to Spain on Thursday.
Unicaja lost three matches in a row in the ACB league, and the impression is that the team was burdened by the pressure of expectations in the final minutes of those duels. Especially in the last one, the 76:69 loss away to Gran Canaria the previous weekend in Las Palmas.
However, it is clear that individual quality is on the side of Unicaja, when it comes to the main players of their system - and even more so when it comes to a complete rotation of 12 players. The Spanish basketball public expects the host to have an impressive offensive performance on Saturday in Malaga.
Last season, Unicaja beat Joventut 78:69 in April. In May 2021, they defeated this rival 102:93 on their home field. Now the home team is expected to win by close to two digits or with a bigger margin. Since Joventut is a dominantly defense-oriented team, we should not expect a large number of total points in the match. In this situation, it is safer to predict the victory of the Malaga club in a match that will be decided even before the last minute.
In the home team, the excellent all-round playmaker Perry is expected to take responsibility again, as well as the American Osetkowski under the basket. More than in previous games is expected from Bosnian guard-forward Djedovic, as well as from American Kalinoski, and especially the famous power forward Will Thomas.
Unicaja is counting on the great support of the local fans, who feel that the team is in a delicate moment and that they need support. The quality of the team is indisputable, absolutely at the level of squad from the middle of the Euroleague table, it's just a matter of when they will start a winning streak.
On the other hand, the game of Joventut primarily depends on players like Slovakian Brodziansky under the hoop and American Thomas - as well as the experienced Croatian center Tomic. Unicaja has more than enough quality players to stop them and achieve a relatively easy victory.
The Basketball Expert
After opening the season with an impressive win against Tenerife (98:75), Unicaja suffered three consecutive losses. The schedule was not in their favor, but the defeat against Zaragoza is something this team cannot afford. Unicaja won the Copa del Rey last season and reached the semifinals of the Endesa League. They also qualified for the FIBA Champions League Final Four, and during the summer, the goal was to retain all key players. Except for Dario Brizuela, who signed with Barcelona, everyone else remained. This was supposed to ensure that Ibon Navarro's team would be at the top of the domestic league from the very beginning, but they are currently at 1-3 and they need to improve quickly.
Joventut is at 3-1, and the table shows that they are in a much better position than Unicaja. However, the club from Badalona has not shined in their games either. They came close to losing to the very weak Cedevita Olimpija in the EuroCup a few days ago, and in the first round, they were shockingly defeated by Besiktas in front of their own fans. It's clear that the departures of Kyle Guy, Simon Birgander and Joel Parra won't be easily replaced. Players like DeShaun Thomas, Chinanu Onuaku and Andrew Andrews should be enough to maintain the team's quality, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Joventut has a lot of work ahead to be a contender in the EuroCup and to replicate their results in the Endesa League from the previous season.
In this game, it seems that Unicaja must emerge as the winner. They had much more time to prepare for the match, which is not negligible. Joventut played overtime in Ljubljana and spent more energy than anticipated. Unicaja is a better team than Joventut, they are playing in front of their fans, and the motivation will be immense to avoid a fourth consecutive loss and fall to 1-4. Joventut might keep up with the rhythm and pace in the first half, but all of Unicaja's advantages should come to fruition at some point.