Jorge Carot, during the Valencia Basket U22 match against Gran Canaria.
/ Eduardo Ripoll
Jorge Valero
Valencia Basket’s men’s team faces a crucial game on Wednesday that could be the most important in its history, as they have a chance to qualify for the EuroLeague Final Four for the first time after forcing a decisive fifth game in the playoff series against Panathinaikos. This goal has become the sole focus for Pedro Martínez’s squad, leading to significant changes for this Sunday’s match against Baskonia.
Given the impossibility of postponing the game—since the midweek fixture against Casademont Zaragoza also cannot be rescheduled due to ACB calendar constraints—the coaching staff is considering implementing more rotations than ever before. This would give rest to key players or those who have logged heavy minutes in recent outings.
Three young talents from the U22 team are in line to step up. Already, two players are ruled out due to injuries: López-Arostegui and Josep Puerto. Further absences might emerge as the team looks to call up three promising U22 prospects. These players have just suffered a defeat at La Fonteta on Saturday, missing out on a spot in the ‘Final 6’ of the reserve competition. Pedro Martínez can only select and use a maximum of three players from this group, as just three are currently registered and eligible to join the senior squad.
The trio consists of power forward Jorge Carot, point guard Álex Blanco, and Latvian small forward Tomas Talcis. All three will have the chance to make their ACB debut. Carot previously debuted with the first team years ago in the EuroCup and became part of the Mur dels Somnis at L’Alqueria.
