Marco Spissu still knocked out in Zaragoza, return to Italy closer, but a candidate has jumped

Defeated on the friendly parquet against Valencia, which only needed to up the tempo to take home the 86-98 victory, Casademont, the Zaragoza-based team in which Marco Spissu plays, will seek salvation on Friday in Lugo, but a victory may not be enough to stay in the ACB.

This is the current picture of a team that continues to fail to win, even in games like Tuesday night’s, in which it at least struggled without giving up. At the end of the match came both whistles and applause, and now a miracle will almost be needed to win permanence in the top flight.

To further complicate an already troubled season, the Aragonese club had decided in mid-May to exonerate Joan Plaza in a desperate attempt to right the course. The Catalan technician, who arrived on the red and blue bench last February 17, had directed his first official game on March 7 against MoraBanc Andorra, finishing with a record of only 3 wins and 9 losses in 12 Liga Endesa matches. The technical leadership was then entrusted to Gonzalo García de Vitoria, until then Plaza’s vice-coach, with Rodrigo San Miguel and Jorge Serna in the role of assistants for the last games of the season.

Whatever the outcome of the salvation race, Marco Spissu’s future in Zaragoza appears to be sealed anyway: the Sardinian point guard is considered to be on his way out even if he stays in the ACB. Fortitudo’s name had been mentioned in case of promotion but the Felsinei had no chance with Alessandro Ramagli’s Scaligera Verona.