To say of a sporting event that it will be ““the most something” is almost always risky or simply wrong. But in the case of the basketball year that is beginning –which has already begun, in fact, after the celebration of the Endesa Super Cup last Sunday–, it is its own protagonists who affirm that this season will be “the most equal” and, therefore, the most exciting and spectacular in history. Why do they say this? Because of the quality of all the squads and how well trained they are, because perhaps the playoff The Endesa League’s prospects are more open than ever, due to the return of coaches like Pablo Laso, the epic that will most likely be played by clubs like UCAM, Unicaja and Baskonia, the debut of Leyma Coruña and Hiopos Lleida, the attack on Valencia Basket’s reign in the Endesa Women’s League… Added to this are short-format and extremely intense competitions, such as the LF Endesa Super Cup or the Copa del Rey. Nothing is missing. This is how three protagonists of national basketball explain it.
Ibon Navarro | Unicaja Malaga coach
Last Sunday, Unicaja Málaga lifted the Endesa Super Cup, its first title of the season, after beating Real Madrid in the final. The competition was full of tension and equality: no match was decided by more than ten points. Ibon Navarro, the coach of the Málaga team, predicts that these millimetric differences will be the tone of the season that begins: “We are facing the most equal and highest level league in history. There are 18 very high-quality squads. It is difficult to know which teams will be in the competition.” playoff Or, rather, who will not be. And it is much more difficult to know who will be a candidate for relegation.”
The main reason, in his opinion, is the quality of the players in the Liga Endesa, both those who remain and those who arrive. “There are many new faces and very interesting people. In addition, the squads are very well made and trained,” says Navarro. And he highlights several milestones: “There are three projects that are committed to continuity, both in their backbone and in the coach: Real Madrid, UCAM and Unicaja, ourselves. At Real Madrid we have to see if Ibaka [ganador de una anillo con los Toronto Raptors en 2019 y plata olímpica en Londres 2012] and Garuba [ex-NBA, internacional español y oro en el Europeo de 2022] compensate for the progress of the Chacho “Rodríguez, Rudy, Yabusele… On the other hand, Pedro Martínez’s Valencia plays a very attractive basketball style, and Pedro can now apply it to a very talented group. At Barcelona, we have to keep an eye on the arrival of Juan Núñez, Anderson and Punter, with whom Joan Peñarroya, the new coach, will propose a very lively basketball style.”
In total, and to date, the Endesa League has officially confirmed 114 signings and 55 renewals among players and coaches. The teams that have strengthened the most are the recently promoted Hiopos Lleida (ten signings), BAXI Manresa (ten signings) and Río Breogán (nine signings). The competition has also registered 139 departures. The total number of moves amounts to 308.
Pablo Lolaso | Writer and contributor to the program Hanging from the hoop by Endesa
Pablo Lolaso, writer and contributor to the program Hanging from the hoop by Endesa –a comedy and basketball news programme–, refers to the award-winning coach Pablo Laso –who inspired him to come up with his stage name– and his return to the league bench: “Laso going to Baskonia is top. The fact that he is returning home and closing the circle of what began 30 years ago is very striking. He has been welcomed like a messiah. He will be under pressure and it will be difficult, but he has the necessary resources to do very well and give the club a strong identity again.”
In addition to Laso, a coach who won two Euroleagues and six league titles with Real Madrid, there have also been three other coaches: Barcelona, where Joan Peñarroya arrives to replace Roger Grimau; Valencia Basket, where Pedro Martínez returns –the second coach with the most games officiated in the Endesa League–, where he already won the domestic championship in 2017; BAXI Manresa, with the signing of Diego Ocampo, who already promoted the team in 2018.
Lolaso also talks about one of the most talked-about signings of the year, that of former Real Madrid player Juan Núñez, a 20-year-old international, gold medallist at the 2022 European Under-20 Championship and winner of the league with Real Madrid that same year, for Barcelona, the club where he is set to take the helm. “I’m looking forward to seeing Juanito. I have a personal affection for him. And I’m looking forward to being able to tweet him congratulations if he wins titles. And if he doesn’t win them, I’ll tweet him to piss him off, because we have to give life a little spark,” he says.
He hopes that UCAM Murcia, one of the revelations of last year, will consolidate “this great season”: “They have to show whether they came to stay among the greats or whether it was a one-hit wonder.” And regarding Unicaja, champion of the regular phase in the 23-24 season, he says that “he is looking forward to seeing Ibon Navarro’s plan this year: they are a team with the capacity to reach many finals and the fans are going to demand more from them.”
Lolaso gives one more name, this time of another ex-NBA and ex-Real Madrid player, to keep an eye on: “The veteran Trey Thompkins, who is coming to the recently promoted Leyma Coruña. It will be nice to see if the investment that the city has made in basketball bears fruit.” And he closes with a curious fact: “This year Derrick Alston Jr. is making his debut with Manresa, whose father played in our league for many years and whose first team in our country was also Manresa.”
Iyana Martin | Perfumeries Avenida Player
Iyana Martín, an 18-year-old Perfumerías Avenida player, is one of the greatest talents of her generation. An international in all of Spain’s youth categories, the point guard has just won bronze at the European Under-18 Championship last summer. Today she faces what will be her first season in the Liga Femenina Endesa, her debut in the top category: “It was something that seemed super far away and now I’m here. Playing alongside my teammate Laura Gil [cuatro títulos de liga, una Euroliga y tres Europeos con la selección española] or against Queralt Casas [vigente campeona de liga con el Valencia Basket y ganadora de dos Europeos con la selección española] It’s amazing, they are players I admire a lot… And to play in the Euroleague! It’s an incredible change,” she says.
So far, the women’s league has registered 116 new players. SPAR Gran Canaria (11 signings), Cadí La Seu (nine signings) and SPAR Unigirona (nine signings) are the teams with the most new arrivals. Some of the stars to watch are the young Noa Morro (BAXI Ferrol), Awa Fam (Lointek Gernika) and Iyana Martín herself (Perfumerías Avenida), and the established Alina Jahupova (Valencia Basket), Tanaya Atkinson (Casademont Zaragoza) and Sika Koné (Perfumerías Avenida).
Martín’s year begins with the LF Endesa Super Cup, which will be held on 28 and 29 September in Alcantarilla (Murcia) and in which Perfumerías Avenida will participate: “It is a tournament of the best teams in the league and few people have the privilege of competing. It is a very intense weekend that you have to experience.” With the eyes of a beginner, Martín points out two other milestones: “I am looking forward to seeing the Valencia derby and visiting the Girona stadium, which I have been told is a cauldron,” he explains.
Marcelinho Huertas | Player from La Laguna Tenerife
Apart from the dazzling young talent, in the Endesa League there is a good list of players with a thousand battles that bring veteran status and cohesion to the teams: Ante Tomic (37 years old, Joventut Badalona), Aaron Doornekamp (38 years old, La Laguna Tenerife), Pau Ribas (37 years old, Joventut Badalon)…. Leading this group is Marcelinho Huertas, at 41 years old the oldest player in the competition, Brazilian international and ex-NBA player, who faces his sixth season with La Laguna Tenerife: “I couldn’t be happier to be here. A place where I feel welcomed by the people and the club,” celebrates the point guard, the foreign player with the most games played and sixth in the general classification.
Huertas, the competition’s all-time top assist-getter by beating current coach Pablo Laso last year, talks about candidates for victory, but also about equality and possible surprises: “Madrid and Barcelona start as favourites, as always: due to history, squad, signings… But Unicaja, which has already won titles, cannot be ruled out. Neither Baskonia nor Valencia with their new coaches, nor surprises like UCAM Murcia or the one we gave last year. It’s more difficult every year,” he analyses. With La Laguna Tenerife will seek to repeat (and surpass) the result of the 23-24 season, where the club finished sixth in the regular season and qualified for the playoff“We are ambitious and we want more. We set the limit with our daily work,” he concludes.
