For this first tournament of the national season, Cantero will be able to count on all the players currently available to him and will complete the squad with academy player Candela Cuevas. Nadia Fingall is the main new addition after arriving in Zaragoza this week and joining training last Thursday, while the only absence, apart from Astou Ndour, who will join in January, will be Ornella Bankolé. The French forward has finished her WNBA campaign with Toronto Tempo and will not join the red-and-white side until next week.
The red-and-white team’s preparation has included four friendlies, with a record of two wins and two defeats. Casademont won both of its games against Greek side Athinaikos, while it lost to Gernika in its first friendly and to a promising Azul Marino team this past Wednesday. Regardless of the results, Cantero has used these weeks to gradually get players back and build a team that has barely been able to work with its full roster before facing its first official challenge.
The tournament will therefore provide an opportunity to assess the level of the red-and-white team and how it responds as it seeks to defend its title in a highly competitive setting. The event begins this Saturday with the Casademont Zaragoza-Valencia Basket and Innova-tsn Leganés-Hozono Global Jairis semifinals and will continue through Sunday, when the champion of this year’s Super Cup will be decided.
VALENCIA BASKET, THE FIRST HURDLE
Standing in their way will be a Valencia Basket side that is also arriving in Torrejón de Ardoz after an unusual preseason. Coach Javi Torralba will have ten professional players available for the first time after Elena Buenavida, Alexis Peterson-Smalls and former red-and-white player Helena Pueyo joined training this week. Leticia Romero will also be a late doubt because of muscular discomfort, while Raquel Carrera, Alicia Flórez and Marta Suárez remain in the United States playing in the WNBA. The Valencian delegation will be completed by junior players Paula Reynal, Isa Hernández and Amelia Alonso, bringing the total to 13 players.
The Valencian team began preseason five weeks ago with only four professionals and worked for much of that period alongside its LF Challenge reserve team. In addition to the three players competing in the WNBA and Romero’s fitness doubt, several players have had little preparation: Pueyo, Buenavida and Peterson-Smalls joined this week, while Virag Takács-Kiss and Elizabeth Balogun have only two weeks of training under their belts. Valencia have also played just two friendlies, winning both against Movistar Estudiantes (82-72) and Lima Horta Bàsquet (52-99).
