Alicante, a pending account for Cáceres

A round has passed, but in Cáceres, as a matter of pride, the unmitigated defeat suffered on the Alicante court on December 5, when the Extremadurans bit the dust by 31 points difference (89-58) still stings. This time with the presence of their fans, Roberto Blanco’s team will have this Thursday at the Multiusos (9:00 p.m.) the opportunity to make amends and, at the same time, strengthen their chances of playing in the playoffs for promotion to the ACB.

After the good image shown last Sunday at the Estudiantes fiefdom, despite the defeat, Cáceres will try to make the improvement in the collective game bear fruit against an Alicante that has become a direct rival, since the visitors, with the same days played, They have one more victory than the Verdinegro team.

In Roberto Blanco’s opinion, Alicante «is a rival that caused a small bomb in the locker room and it is a game that we face with great enthusiasm. We arrived very evenly matched and we want to endorse the improvement we saw the other day in Madrid. It is a slightly different team from the first round, but the essence is the same. They have a well-balanced team in all their positions and a coach who knows the competition perfectly, ”explained the green-black coach at the public appearance this Wednesday at the Quercus Dental Clinic facilities.

The Cáceres coach pays special attention to Llompart, the handle of Alicante: “He is a player who is very clear about what he needs to play at all times and will be one of the key pieces,” warns Roberto Blanco. However, the black-and-green coach maintains that, before his rival, Cáceres must look at himself: «We have to worry about ourselves. We have to be aware that, by doing our job well and playing our game, we have many options to be able to compete to win the game.”

The group led by Gonzalo García de Vitoria has accumulated three consecutive victories as far as correlative days are concerned and has just beaten Almansa (95-94) with a great performance by Van Zegeren, who slipped into the ideal quintet of the day with his 22 points, 9 rebounds and 27 PIR. However, the real protagonist was the former green-and-black Rolandas Jakstas, who got the victory from Alicante literally on the buzzer.

The Cáceres coach is confident that his team can give its best version in this final stretch of the regular season: «We have a cycle of matches that are very important to continue having real options to fight for the playoffs. Both the players and the coaching staff and the fans are aware.” Even with eight games to go and with an upper middle area of ​​the table where equality prevails, the Cáceres coach does not dare to give a number of victories in which the cut for the promotion phase may finally be.

A good atmosphere is expected in the stands of the Multiusos for this Thursday’s match against the Alicante team, as the entity chaired by José Manuel Sánchez has organized a party aimed at the city’s university public. All those who previously download the invitation on the club’s website will have free access to the meeting if they present their university card. «The club is moving in an exceptional way so that people go to the pavilion. I hope that the university students, with their animosity, give us a little more energy. It will be a nice show”, predicts Roberto Blanco.