Por Redaccion 
First, the Unicaja coach reviewed the physical condition of the team: «Initially, Alberto is doing very well, they have done some tests and we are very happy. I don’t think he will make it to the Sunday game, a bit as a precaution, but we are very pleased. Yankuba Sima has improved, as has Jonathan Barreiro. They still have some discomfort, but they have improved a lot. Dylan Osetkowski continues to have quite a few problems and pains in the joint and cannot train at 100%, and Tyler Kalinoski gave us a scare in the first training session, yesterday he was a bit better, but we have to be very careful. I could almost have told you who the healthy ones were and saved time.»
Regarding how to digest the aftermath of the Copa title, Navarro is clear that «we need to digest quickly because this doesn’t stop. We would all like the season to end now and celebrate, but it doesn’t stop. I think the days off may have been good for us to try to reset, but we return to competitions with opponents who will demand a lot from us, both Baxi Manresa on Sunday and what’s coming in the BCL.»
On the suitability of the opponent, he states, «We can discuss which is the best opponent to return to competition. In my opinion, it’s not Baxi Manresa, a team that will demand us physically for the entire 40 minutes, a team that has a level and a number of passes in their attacks that demands a lot from you, that touches the paint very easily, that is capable of switching the ball from side to side two or three times in each attack… They attack you in the first few seconds, they generate a lot of destabilizing sensations in the first few seconds. Additionally, they have a player like Derrick Alston Jr. who forces you to have players out of position. They are a very uncomfortable team, who if they also have accuracy from outside, play with a lot of confidence. They are a super uncomfortable opponent for us.»
Perhaps the result of the first round (Unicaja lost by 40 points) can serve as extra motivation: «It’s one way to see it. Hopefully, but I don’t think about that, I’m just thinking about basketball and what Baxi Manresa will make us do, which is not the most comfortable for us. Hopefully that mental aspect exists, but it’s not something we will cling to in preparing for the game. We have to think about the level of basketball we have to play to compete with them, and that leads us to a very high level of demand.»
Now begins a very demanding part of the competition with 9 games and 5 away trips in the month of March: «From this week onwards, we won’t have much time to train. The games are what will give us competition rhythm and game rhythm. We are doing a job that may lead us to not have very good legs on Sunday, but that’s what we have to do to carry a bit of the load for this month. We won’t have much time to train, to be honest, and it will all be about preparing, playing, recovering, and preparing again. So, what we have done this week has to serve as an investment.»
Regarding Mario Saint-Supéry returning to Carpena for the first time with another jersey, he states, «I think he is a very young guy, so you might think it will affect him, but he is also quite more mature for his age than usual, so I don’t know. Surely he will want to have a good game, surely he will want to help his team win, and if it’s with a good performance, even better. But I don’t think it will affect him much.»
Regarding Traoré, Baxi’s new signing stated that «he is a player that, although there is a lot of talk about him being an interior reference as a 5, I think he will help them more in the post, as a 4. But we have to see how he fits in. I think he is a good player, who will give them intimidation and athletic ability, above the rim. We have to see how they fit him in. The downside is that we won’t be able to see him until we have him right in front of us. But well, I think Baxi Manresa is a very authored team, so to speak. So I don’t think they will change their way of playing with the arrival of a player.»
Statistics show that Baxi Manresa is the team that loses the most balls and Unicaja is the one that recovers the most. That could be one of the keys to the match. «I think it’s a team that loses many balls because they also take a lot of risks. And in that risk, they gain a lot of credit. I think it pays off for them. I also think it’s a team that feels very comfortable under ball pressure, in passing lanes, because they are used to that. They train that way and are very good at space occupation, off-ball movement, dynamic receptions… I think it’s an important factor, but I don’t think it’s more important than, for example, rebounding, which is something that can greatly influence the pace of the game and the control of rhythms. Although both teams like to play at high possessions, I think rebounding can make a difference in terms of who manages and feels more comfortable with that rhythm.»