GameLab G33: BAXI Manresa-Surne Bilbao Basket

BAXI Manresa plays the last regular league match at Nou Congost in a duel against Surne Bilbao Basket that will be transcendental in the fight for the play-offs of the Liga Endesa. The Basques have nothing at stake after having achieved permanence but will seek to take the victory in Manresa and recover after being defeated by Zunder Palencia last day.

The team led by Jaume Ponsarnau, who was part of the Bàsquet Manresa staff between 2003 and 2013, occupies 11th position in the ACB with a balance of 13 wins and 19 losses. Furthermore, the 'men in black' have four defeats in the last four rounds, three of them against teams from the bottom of the standings.

Pedro Martínez's men need victory after falling in Zaragoza and losing a great opportunity with Baskonia's defeat against Girona. The Catalans will play their last regular league game in front of their fans before traveling to Tenerife to close the season.

Who contributes the points to Bilbao Basket?

Currently, Surne Bilbao has an average of 79 points per game, the second lowest in the competition. The most important figure on Jaume Ponsarnau's team is the Canadian-born center, Sacha Killeya-Jones, with 11.9 points per game.

The men who accompany Killeya-Jones as the Basque team's top scorers are: Adam Smith (10.7 points), Keith Hornsby (10.5 points), Kristian Kullamae (9 .8 points) and Melwin Pantzar (8.8 points).

The duel: Taylor VS Pantzar

Brandon Taylor and Melwin Pantzar are some of the point guards with the greatest prominence on their teams. Both players have played 31 games this season, adding great performances and maintaining an average game time of around 20 minutes.

Both Taylor and Pantzar maintain a similar note. The American point guard for BAXI Manresa scores an average of 9.1 points per game compared to Pantzar's 8.8 points. These scores are largely due to the success that both players have in their 3-point shot, where Taylor maintains a 27.7% effectiveness rate compared to 32.8% for the 'men in black' point guard. '.

By occupying the point guard position, both players are important pieces in the generation of their team's play. Thanks to this, Taylor (3.3 ass) and Pantzar (2.5 ass) give a large number of assists to their teammates.

In their performances in all their games this season, the rating averages of the two point guards are: Brandon Taylor 8 points and Melwin Pantzar 12.2 points.

The shooting %

The 3-point shot: BAXI Manresa 31.6% / Surne Bilbao Basket 33.8%

The shot of 2: BAXI Manresa 52.5% / Surne Bilbao Basket 53.2%

The free throw: BAXI Manresa 75.7% / Surne Bilbao Basket 71.9%

Background

In a total of 16 games between Catalans and Basques at the Nou Congost, BAXI Manresa has taken 9 victories compared to Bilbao Basket's 7.

In the last game corresponding to the 2022-23 season, BAXI Manresa was defeated by the Bilbao team with a final result of 76-89.

The Catalans' most recent victory against Bilbao was two seasons ago, in October 2021, when Pedro Martínez's team won 87-79.

The Old-known

Jaume Ponsarnau: He was part of the Bàsquet Manresa staff between 2003 and 2013.

Alex Renfroe: He was a player for the Manresa team in the 2018-19 season.

Melwin Pantzar: In the 2020-21 season he played a game with BAXI Manresa.