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News article on: Basketball
The new project takes shape
The foundations of the new Regal Barça 2008/09 project were established during the preseason. The six new signings, apart from the technical secretary Joan Creus, meant that the team needed some extensive preparations before the season began.
Juan Carlos Navarro was the standard bearer of this new project after his year in the NBA. Other
new faces were Lubos Barton, André Barrett, Víctor Sada, David Andersen and Puerto Rican star
Daniel Santiago, the last to arrive. Incorporating so many new players was a tough challenge for
the coaching staff – who also had to include Agustí Julbe. Andorra and Muntanyà were chosen
to host these preparations.
Catalan League first official trophy at stake
The Palau Blaugrana saw Regal Barça take part in the first official trophy of the season.
They beat the always competitive Ricoh Manresa (95-68) in the semi-finals in what was also the
team’s official presentation to the fans. Some good performances from the new lads gave
plenty of scope for optimism.
DKV Joventut was a much tougher proposition in the final and the 29 points from Mallet (USA)
and 18 from Jasaitis (Lithuania) made it an impossible task for Barça despite great contributions
from David Andersen (20 points) and Fran Vázquez (24). Joventut, coach by a good friend of Xavi
Pascual, Sito Alonso, took the final and the Catalan league (83-95).
Second trophy slips away
Just days later Barça faced the ACB Super Cup against the same opponent as last year, TAU.
This year TAU were coached by a figure well-known to Barça fans: Dusko Ivanovic. It was the first
time the two coaches had gone head to head since they worked together at Barça.
TAU put together a sensational first quarter (23-4) but the rest of the game was low scoring
and reflected the early season nature of the meeting. Ersan Ilyasova stood out for Barça with 18
points while the American McDonald chalked up 21. The final quarter was poor from both sides and
Barça could mange only a meagre 4 points to lose the game by a narrow margin of 3 points (73-70).
Fixtures 11/12
