By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Missing Chima Moneke, the Baskonia player with the highest performance index rating in the 2023-24 installment of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, the team coached by Dusko Ivanovic was forced into a 2-0 hole in a best-of-five series opposite defending champion Real Madrid.
Following Round 31 of Spain’s Liga Endesa Regular Season, the ACB participants will resume the series in Fernando Buesa Arena on Wednesday. The club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz needs a home win to force Game 4 in the same venue on Friday. Two wins in a row would set up a deciding Game 5 in WiZink Center on 8 May.
However, concerning news on Moneke makes a comeback seem improbable. “Not very much,” confessed head coach Ivanovic after Game 2, responding to a question about the 28-year-old forward’s chances to be cleared for Game 3.
The former Basketball Champions League MVP has been sidelined since spraining his left ankle in the Play-In encounter opposite Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on Tuesday, 16 May. During his absence, Baskonia clinched the eighth seed in the EuroLeague Playoffs bracket by eliminating Virtus Segafredo Bologna last Friday, but went on to lose three straight away games, against Unicaja in Round 30 of Liga Endesa on Sunday and both meetings with Los Blancos this week.
Also on the injury list, Senegalese center Khalifa Diop (left wrist surgery) has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Barring a setback, all remaining players will be available for Game 3 versus Madrid.