Baskonia: The school of point guards

By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net

There is a team that both in EuroLeague and the Spanish League has always known how to reinvent itself and remain competitive despite all circumstances.

With the maestro Alfredo Salazar leading the operations, Baskonia has managed to be among the Spanish and European elite even though most of the members of the roster change almost every season, for various reasons. Despite having certain players as references inside the paint, for many seasons one of the pillars of the squads has been in the point guard position: all of them able to score a lot of points, not afraid of assuming responsibilities, (almost) all of them hailing from USA and all of them being directly responsible for the recent successes of the Vitoria team.

At Eurohoops we take a look at the players who, since the mid of the last decade, have led Baskonia‘s successes from the point guard position.

2014-15

In the 2014-15 season, the first in which the trend that continues to this day began, two relatively unknown players began their impressive journeys. Darius Adams and Mike James arrived in Vitoria to start their careers with Baskonia in the European elite: the first came mid-season from French SLUC Nancy and the second from Greek Kolossos Rhodes, two modest teams. They arrived at a team with very established players, like Toko Shengelia or Fabien Causeur, so they were never an offensive reference and the season did not go well at all. In the Spanish League, Baskonia was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Unicaja Málaga while the team didn’t make it past the Top 16 in EuroLeague.

2015-16

Things were very different in the following campaign. Ioannis Bourousis was the total and absolute star of that team, becoming the go-to man in the absence of Toko Shengelia due to injury. Both Adams and James took full advantage of this situation to shine in one of the most remembered and special seasons for the Baskonia fans. The team fell in the Spanish league semifinals against Barça after four games, but saw success in EuroLeague. After a great Top 16, the Vitoria team eliminated Panathinaikos 3-0 to reach the Final Four after eight years. Despite a great Darius Adams in the semifinal vs. Fenerbahce, Baskonia didn’t manage to move to the championship game and finished 4th.

2016-17

The departure of two of the main protagonists of the previous season was fixed with the arrival of one of the current greats of the Euroleague. Shane Larkin played his only campaign in Spain as leader of Baskonia in 2016-17. It was not the best of seasons and one that was mostly remembered for the presence of Andrea Bargnani on the team, rather than for the team’s successes: Baskonia was eliminated in the semifinals of the Spanish League 3-1 by Valencia Basket and in lost 3-0 to CSKA Moscow in the EuroLeague quarterfinals.

2017-18

This isn’t a list that looks back just at the great U.S. point guards of recent years at Baskonia, since an Argentinian player also makes an appearance. A young Luca Vildoza made the defining jump to Baskonia and despite starting as a third guard behind Marcelinho Huertas and Jayson Granger, he became a pillar of the team at the end of the season. The current Crvena Zvezda player was already owned by Baskonia in the 2016-17 season, but he continued playing in his native Argentina to continue his development. While in 2016-17 the point guard was the absolute leader of the team, 2017-18 it was all about the big men: Tornike Shengelia, without physical problems, and Vincent Poirier. The team lost in the Spanish League finals against Real Madrid and was eliminated in the Euroleague quarterfinals by Fenerbahce.

2018-19

Things didn’t change much in the following season. With the Shengelia and Poirier dominating Perasovic‘s systems, Vildoza had to settle for being a secondary option in attack. Despite this situation, he was the player with the second most minutes in the Spanish League (which was complete disaster for Baskonia due to its elimination by Zaragoza in the quarterfinals) only behind Shavon Shields and his numbers in the Euroleague (Baskonia was eliminated 3-1 against CSKA in the quarterfinals) practically doubled compared to last season.

2019-20

In the end of the decade, reinforcements arrived for Vildoza at the point guard position. After a great year at Unics Kazán, Pierriá Henry made the jump to the Euroleague with Baskonia, who welcomed Dusko Ivanovic in the middle of the season for his third stint on the Baskonia bench, replacing Perasovic. The change went great (ignoring the bad season in the Euroleague with 12 wins and 16 losses), and it was with Henry and Baskonia at the helm that the team’s enjoyed a major success: Winning the Spanish championship title in a “bubble tournament” that took place in the Valencia because of the COVID situation. Despite his physical problems during the season, Vildoza returned when it mattered most to be crowned MVP of that final phase, while also scoring the winning basket with a layup to remember.

2020-21

After helping Baskonia win the Spanish league title, captain Toko Shengelia left the team for CSKA. The loss of the total and absolute leader was inevitably a blow for the team, which once again was left out of the Euroleague playoffs (but having an improved 18-16 record) and suffered an upset in Spain, falling in its mission to defend the title by losing in the quarterfinals against Valencia Basket. Luca Vildoza left the team right before the playoffs started, something that really shocked the team.  Despite how turbulent (and disappointing) the season was, both point guards managed to reach their best numbers in both competitions.

2021-22

The claws of the NBA and teams with higher aspirations punished Baskonia. Luca Vildoza had already started his adventure in the United States and Pierriá Henry signed with Fenerbahce, so a strategy similar to that of the 2016-17 season was decided. The man chosen for the task of re-energizing the team was Wade Baldwin IV, a player of unquestionable quality but with a more than special character. The bet was risky and despite having good secondary options (Alec Peters, Simone Fontecchio, Rokas Giedraitis or the Enoch–Costello pair under the rim), the desired results did not arrive: Baskonia was again left out of the top eight in Europe and was swept on the Liga Endesa semifinals.

2022-23

And until today. With the return of prodigal son Pierria Henry, a trio of U.S. players who joined forces together for the first time was formed in the Baskonia. Markus Howard has a very specific function on Joan Peñarroya’s systems as the primary scorer and that does not “count” for our list as he is more of a shooting guard than a point guard. Howard is normally the one who finishes plays (with a bucket) and not the playmaker, a role that for the past few weeks has been shared almost exclusively by Pierriá Henry and Darius Thompson.

Despite making his debut in the Euroleague -after shining in the Eurocup- and being a newcomer to Baskonia, Darius has become the undisputed leader of the team. His vision for the game, intelligence and ability to contribute everywhere have helped him establish himself as the man to follow and the man to look for in important moments. And when he is not there, Pierría Henry jumps in, with a perhaps more defensive profile (without reducing anything from Thompson’s defense; he averages 1.6 steals in the Euroleague, for example) and more focused on creating plays for his teammates. These two are the “brains” of the team that together with Markus Howard form the perfect balance in the backcourt. So far things are going well: 5-2 in the Spanish League, 4-3 in the Euroleague and, what is most important, the feeling that this team is able of beating anyone.