By Juan Cobos
Eurohopes will will be attending this coming weekend Madrid’s U-18 Final Four featuring Real Madrid -some of its players at the pic-, Estudiantes, Fuenlabrada and Torrejón. Within the new frame of the Spanish National Championships, where there are no sectionals, three teams from Madrid will advance straight to the final round of 32, which will take place in Galicia next month. Joventut, Manresa, Barcelona or Easo San Sebastián, are some of the teams already waiting for the national event. Madrid’s final four will actually be a round robin event, with a double header each evening, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Real Madrid is the main and pretty much unanimous favorite to win the championship. Despite injuries and some burocratic issues, it has lost only one game during the whole season (against Fuenlabrada) and now comes with all its players healthy and ready. Spanish national team guys like 6’2’’ PG Jorge Sanz (’93), 6’8’’ SF Dani Díez (‘93), 6’8’’ PF Julen Olaizola (’93), 6’9’’ C Guillermo Hernangómez (’94), 6’4’’ SG Kiko Jiménez (’94) and 6’6’’ SF Jorge Sánchez (’94) will be helped by two international prospects: 6’7’’ SF Modou Mbaye (’94) from Senegal and 6’9’’ C Placide Nakidjim (’94) from Chad. Strong and deep team with experience and / or physical abilty in almost every spot. Sanz, who missed the L’Hospitalet Tournament, will be one of the keys, as he has been practicing with the first team, and is the only player in this U-18 roster which regularly plays with the EBA (4th division) team. Javier Rodríguez (’93), Sergio’s younger brother, will be backing him up. Majadahonda’s Arturo Cruz ('93) did a good performance as a guest at L’Hospitalet in the absences of Sanz, but the latter is clearly regarded as a better prospect. Alfonso Llanos (‘94) will provide deepness to the backcourt. He was at Spanish u16 NT camps last year.
Estudiantes is always a traditional contender for the Madrid crown, and the current champion. A youth-team biased club, this will hurt them considering they are missing PG Jaime Fernández ('93). Fernández, widely considered the best Spanish player within his age group, has an EBA license and has been playing with the ACB team all year long . After struggling through the regular season, they have managed to make it to the final four and they will be now looking for redepmtion. They must show they are not an easy target and rely on the FIBA experience of their Spanish NT players 6’7’’ SF/PF Javier Medori (’93), 6’7’’ C Sebastián Saiz (’94) and 6’7’’ SF Edgar Vicedo (’94). 6’1’’ PG Alberto Pérez (’94) will lead the operations on court. Croatian SF Filip Cvjeticanin (’93), Danko’s son, a 6’8’’ sharpshooter, is an intriguing prospect.
Fuenlabrada, missing the high-profile (at the national level) players they have had in previous editions like Adrián Laso, Nacho Guigou or Alberto Jodar, has managed to get to the Final Four after a competitive regular season and a solid playoffs performance. Led by 6’1’’ PG Pablo Arce (’93), he finds a good partner in the ability of Santiago Villena (’94), a 6’4’’ SG who took part of some Spanish U-16 NT camps last year. 6’4’’ Portuguese-Dutch SG Jonah Callenbach (’93) brings his FIBA experience as a member of the Portugal NT while 7’0 Dylan Johns (’93) provides size in the frontcourt. Johns, who made it to the Spanish sectionals last year as a member of European College Majadahonda, is the most EBA experienced player in this Fuenlabrada team.
Finally, Torrejon, which is becoming an alternative powerhouse in the Madrid area, comes back to the Final Four after another solid season. The 5’11’’ PG Sergio Herranz (’93) – 6’9’’ C Gaston Diedhiou (’93) duo is the reference of the team. Herranz decides when to score and when to assist while the Senegalese is their main option in the paint.
All in all, a nice occasion to enjoy the game of a few top prospects while they face classic local rivalry.
Games will be played in Casarrubuelos at the Pabellon Municipal, starting at 18.00 and 20.30. For more info about the schedule, visit www.fbm.es
Photo: Real Madrid
