Tempo di lettura: 5 min
With the new year, the Euroleague Team Focus branded L’Occhio Sportivo also returns. After talking about Ettore Messina’s Olimpia Milano, this time it’s the turn of one of the four Spanish players present in the top continental club competition. We’re talking about Alex Mumbrù’s Valencia Basket who is back in the Euroleague after a year’s absence and who wants to stay there as long as possible.
Up: the exterior department and the “taronja spirit”
IDM Crack summer, Valencia Basket’s transfer market focused mainly on guards and point guards. In fact, both players and talent abound in these departments. The already present Van Rossom, Prepelic and Hermannsson were joined by Chris Jones, Jared Harper and Jonah Radebaugh . Above all Jones, after the excellent season with ASVEL, is the type of player who raises the whole level of the team and consequently his results also depend on his performances.

Another interesting aspect of this Valencia is that the team hardly pulls the oars in the boat. Apart from the sound defeat at home to Virtus Bologna (89-59), in the other matches both where the “taronja” were defeated and in the victories at the last second, there was always a prompt response from Mumbrù ‘s men . In fact, the Spanish team has won several matches, recovering several points (the most striking example is the victory in Piraeus against Olympiacos ), demonstrating character and mental stability.
Down: too many injuries and lack of a dominant centre
News from a few days ago is the forfeit of Jasiel Rivero and Jared Harper in the Valencian ranks. The two players (the first with a sprained right knee, the second with a muscle injury to the right quadriceps) will have to stay away from the parquet for about a month. Two heavy absences for coach Mumbrù which are added to the already well-known long-term patients Martin Hermannsson and Sam Van Rossom, as well as Victor Claver who has been out for about ten days now. The situation linked to Chris Jones does not bode well either . The American point guard has had a knee arthritis problem for some time which is limiting him a lot.
Valencia is certainly a very discontinuous team both in terms of results and in the game . In addition to the problem mentioned above with the injuries, we cannot fail to mention the fact that the team clearly has a notable lack under the planks. Kyle Alexander has shown that he is not a player for these levels, as well as having a small enough physical build to be a center.

Bojan Dubljevic (che è diventato da poco il terzo giocatore di sempre ad aver indossato la maglia taronja) sta reggendo la baracca tra i centri praticamente da solo anche se lui predilige il gioco ad aprire il campo e non ha nelle sue caratteristiche la presenza costante sotto i tabelloni. Pradilla invece ha talento ma è ancora acerbo per questi lidi. La mancanza di un centro forte fisicamente e dominante a rimbalzo (dato in cui Valencia è senza dubbio deficitaria) è senza dubbio un elemento fortemente negativo e che potrà risultare caro alla fine alla squadra spagnola.
Player focus: Chris Jones
Il player focus per Valencia non può che essere incentrato su Chris Jones. A mani basse il miglior acquisto della squadra taronja. Il play americano naturalizzato armeno, acquistato la scorsa estate dall’ASVEL, sta producendo medie importanti: 14,5 punti, 5,1 assist, 3 rimbalzi, per una valutazione complessiva di 17,8. Jones sembra essere arrivato a quella maturità tale da essere proprio il leader della squadra. Un’evoluzione arrivata forse un po’ tardi vista l’età (ad aprile compirà 30 anni), ma che lo proietta come uno dei giocatori più determinanti e completi dell’intera competizione.

His goal is to take Valencia to the playoffs , but the road is quite difficult. It’s true that practically the entire second round is missing, but for now there are two victories to recover for the playoff area and the injury situation certainly doesn’t help. Speaking of injuries, it should be considered, as previously mentioned, that Jones is currently out due to knee arthritis . The hope for the fans, but above all for the Valencia fans , is to see him back on the pitch as soon as possible.