BAXI Manresa travels to Menorca to play the Ciutat de Maó
On Saturday at 20:30, Pedro Martínez's men face the hosts, and the rival of Sunday's match will come out of the match between Girona and Gran Canaria.
BAXI Manresa 2022-2023 will take part this weekend in the Ciutat de Maó tournament, which will take place at the Menorca Pavilion in this town. Pedro Martínez's men will play the second semi-final against the host team, Hestia Menorca, on Saturday from 20:30. Martínez will be without Elias Valtonen and Juampi Vaulet, who are still focused on their selections. The match can be followed live on the Basketball Menorca YouTube channel.
In its fifth season since the refoundation, Hestia Menorca plays in the LEB Plata, the third category of state basketball. Trained by Javier Zamora, this year they have been strengthened with the additions of Álvaro Sanz, Luis García, Joshua Tomaic, Nacho Arroyo, Pol Molins, Maxime Yomi and Josip Popic. However, the most well-known face of the Balearics will be that of the Ukrainian Viacheslav Kravtsov. The center, with experience in the NBA and the ACB, is doing the preseason with the team.
The first semifinal of the tournament will be played on Saturday at 18:00 and will face Gran Canària and Bàsquet Girona. The Canaries have incorporated coach Jaka Lakovic and players Ferran Bassas, Vitor Benite, David Mutaf, Damien Inglis and Rubén López de la Torre. For their part, Girona, just promoted from the LEB and who already faced the Bages team in Sant Julià de Vilatorta, count on Marc Gasol as a great reference. The third and fourth place will be contested on Sunday at 18:00, and the grand final at 20:30.
Before the duel, Dani Pérez, who played in Menorca, and Jerrick Harding made statements. The Barcelona guard declared that "what we need is to keep improving, the result will be anecdotal and that's the least; it's always nice to return to places where you've been good, it's been 11 years since I played in Menorca». On the other hand, American player Jerrick Harding said that "the adaptation is going well, we have to adapt to the coach's demands, but we are adapting well; we have to start having the whole team complete, with the teammates who have to return; I love Manresa, the people have given me a great welcome».