Valencia Basket wants this Eurocup (98-85). Not only because it would be a new title, but because It would mean a return to the Euroleague, a competition in which the entity aspires to be. For all these reasons, the seriousness with which Peñarroya’s team faced the quarterfinals of the Eurocup against the Metropolitans, which he could only watch impassively as his rivals attacked like planes. The game was more about attacks than defenses and there the taronja proved to be a team more than ever: Up to ten players scored, five exceeded ten points and the four inside players crushed the French zone.
The match started with a Valencia as hot as the atmosphere that surrounded it, It seems that the Fonteta is back to what it was after a gray season in the club-fan relationship, supported by the new Youth Tier. Peñarroya’s men scored their first 16 points without missing a shot and from very soon they marked distances. The outsiders had fun (they finished the first quarter with six triples), while that Rivero (21 points) melted the French zone both playing from behind and with powerful penetrations unstoppable. The visitors survived thanks to their great duo formed by Cummings (31 points) and McRae (20), who brought the ball together in practically all attacks, although defensively they were not capable of stopping the taronja, especially in the zone.
With the entry of the second unit on track, things only got better. Those of Peñarroya continued with the same success in the shot but also the Dubljevic-Pradilla duo managed to stop the penetrations of the French. For greater fortune, the Montenegrin played in one of those games that he likes so much, with a hot atmosphere and life or death, which resulted in his 16 points and 13 rebounds and that his team left with a difference of ten at halftime .
After the break it seemed that the French did not learn anything. Their offensive level continued to be remarkable, but defensively they were a flan. Valencia, whose defense was not outstanding either, suffered from a successful Cummings, but on the other side of the pitch the inspiration was alliedto with practically all the taronja. The last quarter was reached with +11 for the locals, but an attempt to come back put fear in the body of the Valencians, unable to stop Cummings in attack and that they suffered with the change to zone defense 2-3 that Collet raised. But it was already a late and insufficient reaction, because the taronja team was not going to let the game slip away and sentenced the match with a couple of good defenses and quick attacks.
In the semifinals, Virtus Bologna awaits, It will also be at La Fonteta and it will be for a place in the final that if Valencia wins, it will also be at La Fonteta. It is in his hand.