Joventut downed its Spanish rival for the second time in about two weeks
Joventut still breathing after beating Gran Canaria again
Go back to December 11, 2024 and it looked like an almost certainty that the illustrious Joventut Badalona would miss the BKT EuroCup playoffs. Fast forward just more than a month and the Spanish side is alive and well in the race for the post-season after knocking off Spanish rival Dreamland Gran Canaria.
Joventut used a balanced attack to defeat Gran Canaria 77-83 and improve to 6-9 in Group A - just one victory behind both Buducnost VOLI Podgorica and Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius for the last spot in the playoff zone.
“It’s a good feeling for us. We knew this was a must-win for us. We knew it was a big game on the road. I’m proud of the team, the way they executed. The game plan was solid. We came out and attacked from the beginning. And I liked that about the group,” said Joventut playmaker Devon Dotson, who collected 9 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists in the win. “Hopefully we can keep it going in the coming weeks and try to make the EuroCup Playoffs.”
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Thoughts of the post-season were fading fast back on December 11 as Joventut lost 88-102 at home against ratiopharm Ulm to fall to 3-8.
The 2008 EuroCup champion has turned its season around with three wins in the last four EuroCup games. Add the Spanish League and Joventut is 9-1 in its last 10 games. And two of those wins came against Gran Canaria - beating the islanders at home in domestic league action 89-78 on December 30.
“It was the third time we were playing against this team. We adjusted some different things,” said Joventut coach Daniel Miret, whose team lost to Gran Canaria 76-78 after overtime at home in Round 6 of the EuroCup.
“We need to keep the momentum. We are in a sweet moment. A lot of players helped the team. We are close to the team that we want to be. We just want to focus on the things that we can control,” added the coach.
One of the main reasons Joventut prevailed was getting the better of Gran Canaria’s three-point defense. Jaka Lakovic’s team had allowed opposing teams to shoot 31.0 percent from long range - good for fourth best in the league. But Yannick Kraag, Kaiser Gates and Miye Oni all made 2 three-pointers as Joventut converted 47.6% of its three-point attempts. That was much higher than the 33.6% the team had been shooting coming into the game.
Seven players scored at least 8 points for Joventut and the team from the Barcelona suburbs is right there in the playoff race - something many thought was next to impossible just more than a month ago.