Gio Shermadini argues with the referee during the match against Unicaja.
/ BCL
Three years ago in Malaga, CB Canarias could end the 22/23 BCL season with a smile thanks to their victory over Unicaja in the consolation match. It earned them a bronze medal, some measure of revenge for the Copa del Rey final defeat three months earlier, and a €100,000 prize for the club.
In the last two editions of the FIBA tournament, the story has been very different for the team from Tenerife. They suffered harsh and clear semifinal defeats, and then stumbled—twice—when they had the bronze in sight during the third-place battle. First in Athens and now in Badalona, CB Canarias has been the ugly duckling of the Final Four. This scenario fuels the debate over whether such matches should be played at all. And in this regard, the island club openly supports their elimination.
“The players’ opinions don’t count for anything.”
Txus Vidorreta acknowledged after Saturday’s defeat that he would have “preferred to be home since Friday.” Bruno Fitipaldo also spoke about the match against Unicaja, calling it “the game nobody wants to play.” “If it were eliminated, nobody would complain, honestly,” added the Montevideo native, who hopes he “won’t have to play it again.”
But the clearest voice came from Jaime Fernández. Just a day and a half earlier, the Madrid native spoke bluntly about CB Canarias’ clear intention to lift what would have been their third continental trophy… only to settle for fourth place. “You can’t approach this game with the same spirit as a semifinal or final,” he said after losing to Unicaja.
Frustrated with the competition format, Jaime raised his voice. “First of all, I think it seems like the players’ opinions don’t count for anything. No matter how much we try, they don’t take us into account much. That’s my first thought,” he expressed in a disappointed and direct manner.
For Fernández, the third-place battle is “completely avoidable,” because in his view it “serves almost no purpose.” “I would get rid of it,” the guard insisted. “Obviously I got the short end of the stick since I lost; Unicaja might be happy, but honestly, playing this game is quite harmful in every sense. And it’s not just because I lost; I would have thought the same if we had won,” added the Spanish international.
Unicaja also supports eliminating it.
On the Malaga side, despite Saturday’s victory, coach Ibon Navarro referred to “the game nobody wanted to play.” While admitting that “this win can give a moral boost” to his team “for the rest of the season in the Liga Endesa,” the Vitoria-born coach lamented the physical toll that the bronze battle could leave. One such price is paid by Tyson Pérez, who aggravated his ankle problems.
These physical setbacks could be avoided, according to the protagonists, by “suppressing these matches.” In fact, on Saturday, during both the bronze game and the final, rain caused leaks on the court that had to be constantly dried by the Olimpic staff.
For Aniano Cabrera, it’s not worth it.
Aniano Cabrera has also spoken along the same lines. “Honestly, I think in a game where you’re playing for almost nothing,” says the club’s president, arguing that “the economic prize [€100,000] is absurd, because just the travel expenses alone are not compensated at all.”
For the Canarian leader, the bronze match is “more risk than benefit, neither economically nor sportingly.” Therefore, Cabrera labels it as “a game that can be avoided,” while also recalling that…
