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Dominance in rebounding would increase Bilbao's chances massively

Unicaja are the top table team in the league and the favorite but the fact remains that Bilbao have what it takes to make this a very interesting game

Unicaja continued their winning streak in the league and thus became the top seed in the Spanish Cup. They are still top table and despite seeming to struggle in each match, always somehow muscle their way through towards the wins. Coach Plaza is not particularly happy with his team's previous performances and knows that the win at this tournament will require much more. 

- The team is not a computer - I can't say we're at 75 or 80% but it's obvious that we need to improve all aspects of our game ahead of this tournament. We are very critical of our performances but you need to strike a balance between criticisms and the ambition we clearly have.

Unicaja, as the leading team in the Spanish championship, have every right to aim for the top places but it needs to be pointed out that their head-to-head matches with top Spanish teams displayed a lot of shortcomings in their game and Plaza knows it full well.

- We didn't do best against the best teams. We have our brilliant moments but we never managed to do well from start to finish. That has to be our objective today.

Bilbao may not be Barcelona or Real level but today's game is very important and Plaza is preparing the team as if they were meeting the top European opponent:

- We have a great deal of respect for them because they improved massively in the last month on both ends of the floor. They have a lot of well-experienced players like Hervelle, Lopez, and Mumbru,who have the experience necessary in these kind of games. Bilbao will be a very tough oppoennt today.

Plaza' praise for Bilbao is justified since they're one of the most pleasant surprises of the season in Spain. They are in place 3 in the table and if it hadn't been for the defeat to Sevilla last round, Bilbao would be able to say that they're having a perfect season. The defeat to Sevilla was not expected since Axel Hervelle, an extremely important player, go back on the team. But not even he could help against the awakened Sevilla.

Hervelle will play a massive role today, with the rebounding always being one of the key aspects of any game against Unicaja. Todorovic, Hervelle, and Willams have been doing very good in that aspect this season and another good performance on their part would increase Bilbao chances significantly. They partly managed to stand up to Unicaja in rebounding last month in Malaga, but without Hervell.

- The game today has to be different to the one in Malaga. We need to be better physically because we know how powerful and aggressive they are. If you fail to stand up to them in that same manner, Unicaja become invincible - coach Sito Alonso said.

Bilbao know what to do today. They need to slow the pace down as much as possible and that can create a lot of problems for Unicaja's offensive end. Bilbao's defense is great this season and with Harvell to take the rebounding to the next level, it seems we're in for a more exciting game than you might thought at first. 

I think Unicaja are overrated in this match. They may be the leading team of the league, and deserve respect, but many of their game were barely won, mostly because the opponents could not parry them physically. Bilbao certainly can, led by Williams and Todorović in the pain and recovered Hervelle on power forward. They also have Mumbru at small or power forward, who can be a really good counter to Kuzminkas, through whom Unicaja give a lot of trouble to their opponents. Bilbao are an extremely experienced team playing great basketball this season, primarily on defense, and they know how to win matches such as this one. The last 8 away matches Unicaja played they did not match this margin and even if they win today I doubt it will be a decisive victory. Playing under on Unicaja points is equally good, and to those feeling brave I can recommend playing on Bilbao surprising with a clean victory.