A very athletic Barcelona takes revenge on Valencia and advances to the Super Cup final

Barcelona, with few remnants of its previous squad, which was decisively defeated in the league final against Valencia, which was also a very different team from the current one, showed its new image, more physical, more powerful, to take revenge against the orange team in the second semifinal of the Supercup (86-87). Aleksander Sekulic’s group will fight for the title against Asisa Joventut (18.00; Dazn) after Kevin Punter made a free throw with 2.8 seconds left. Xavi Albert’s team paid for their inaccuracy in free throws and three-pointers: they took 36 and only made nine.

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Basketball fans were curious to see what they would find when the new Valencia was unveiled. The big question was whether it would keep that offensive speed that made it a supersonic team, and the first thing they discovered was that there was a group with a penchant for defense, very intense, pressing, and with many hands. Then they tried to run, but with a lot of imprecision, and Barça took advantage of that, with great physical power, dominating the rebound and very strong in the paint, with devastating Nebo and Mkamhpoua, to put the first wedge in the scoreboard (11-19).

But Xavi Albert, Pedro Martínez’s replacement, who was his assistant for the last two seasons and is not yet 40 years old, is not someone who loses his nerves easily and let his team insist on defense, improve on the rebound, and increase their percentages in outside shooting to balance the series. Saint-Supéry warmed up and ended up being important on both halves of the court. The Malaga native, who had a career in the NCAA at Gonzaga University, wanted to change his path to continue growing in Europe. The Little Prince’s choice was Valencia, and it shows that he intends to be important on this team.

Alexander Sekulic, the 48-year-old Slovenian coach, wants a squad that allows him to play with high intensity every minute, so Barça does not let their rival breathe, and if that is accompanied by basketball rigor, it could elevate them this season. The blue and garnet team and Valencia, who ruled out newly arrived Nikola Mirotic for this game, have undergone a deep renovation. The culés wanted a new profile to end three years of drought, and the orange team was forced to after Europe’s big clubs coveted the players who shone in the ACB and Euroleague last season. They are two teams with many new faces, and more are expected when NBA cuts happen.

Barcelona picked up speed again as soon as the second half started against a Valencia that struggled to find fluid attacks due to their rival’s good defensive adjustments, who suffered again (45-55).

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Kam Taylor, the last survivor of the backbone of the champion Valencia, tried to keep his team standing against a Barça that was starting to overwhelm them with their athletic power on both baskets. TJ Shorts and Armoni Brooks, the man who had dominated last season in Italy, signed to be two scoring references, missed many shots, which made their team suffer in static attacks.

Barcelona did not know how to finish off Valencia when they had them staggering, and Xavi Albert’s team got back in, although they struggled to take the lead due to their lack of accuracy in free throws. Sekulic’s group suffered one of the rule changes and lost Nebo, who was being a hammer under the basket, after committing two flagrant fouls — a novelty this season in the ACB —.

When the game reached the tight final moments, already in the climax, Valencia wasted many opportunities to take the lead due to their errors in three-pointers. Although Kam Taylor emerged there to tie the game before Punter decided it with a free throw.

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