LEB Gold thread

[Gonzaka]

Hi everybody. I open this thread to comment everything can happen in the Spanish second league: the LEB Gold. The last year, this league was the first one in the world to play with the rectangular zone and the 6,75 meters arch.

IMHO, this will be the worst LEB in a lot of years. Teams haven't got enough money to make good rosters and a some of them don't know anything about their future.

Here are the rosters.

[Gonzaka]

Teams are making new tradings. Nowadays, I think there are three teams over the rest:

- Murcia: they've got two nice foreign players with LEB experience (Coppenrath and Umeh) and a solid roster of national players (Puyada, Rivero...). I don't like some players they've got, but they are a very solid team with a good coach (Luis Guil, ex-Fuenlabrada).

- Burgos: the finalists in the last play-off are going to keep some of the important players of the last season (Lóránt, Castro, Miguel...). Chris Hernandez, injured for some months more, will not continue (guards will be wore than him, but better than Corrales, the 2nd guard last year) and Morley neither (Gloger will substitute him). The best sign at the moment is Matt Kiefer, a very talented center for this league.

- Cáceres: veteran spanish players will continue in Aranzana's team (Lucio Angulo, Francis Sánchez, Carlos Cherry...) and their new foreign players are very interesting: Jeff Xavier will make a very nice pair of guards with Cherry, Ryan Humphrey and Jelani McCoy as centers... The problem is some people thinks Cáceres overspends.

Other interesting teams are Canarias (let's see how they work without Jakim Donaldson) or Breogán, who started to sign very courageous players and young americans as Eric Hayes and James Feldeine.

I'm worried with a perennial candidate as Melilla, their signings seem riddiculous.

And other teams, like Xacobeo, didn't start to sign players yet.

PS: My english is not so good. Sorry.

[Kwijibo]

Teams are making new tradings. Nowadays, I think there are three teams over the rest:

- Murcia: they've got two nice foreign players with LEB experience (Coppenrath and Umeh) and a solid roster of national players (Puyada, Rivero...). I don't like some players they've got, but they are a very solid team with a good coach (Luis Guil, ex-Fuenlabrada).

- Burgos: the finalists in the last play-off are going to keep some of the important players of the last season (Lóránt, Castro, Miguel...). Chris Hernandez, injured for some months more, will not continue (guards will be wore than him, but better than Corrales, the 2nd guard last year) and Morley neither (Gloger will substitute him). The best sign at the moment is Matt Kiefer, a very talented center for this league.

- Cáceres: veteran spanish players will continue in Aranzana's team (Lucio Angulo, Francis Sánchez, Carlos Cherry...) and their new foreign players are very interesting: Jeff Xavier will make a very nice pair of guards with Cherry, Ryan Humphrey and Jelani McCoy as centers... The problem is some people thinks Cáceres overspends.

Other interesting teams are Canarias (let's see how they work without Jakim Donaldson) or Breogán, who started to sign very courageous players and young americans as Eric Hayes and James Feldeine.

I'm worried with a perennial candidate as Melilla, their signings seem riddiculous.

And other teams, like Xacobeo, didn't start to sign players yet.

PS: My english is not so good. Sorry.

Where did he play last year? Not in your avatar

[Gonzaka]

Where did he play last year? Not in your avatar

He started the last season with Zaragoza, but he was injured for some months. Finally, he was loaned to Tarragona where he made very nice games.

BTW, Melilla inks Óscar Yebra.

[Gonzaka]

Today, Obradoiro CAB (ex Xacobeo) signed three players: PG Andrés Rodríguez, PF Oriol Junyent and SF Deron Washington. They wanna sign to B-Hop, a very veteran player.

I think they are making a good team at the moment, but it's not sufficent to stay in the first positions. Burgos, Murcia and Cáceres are the teams I like more.

[Gonzaka]

Melilla inks Bud Eley and they can make the "youngest" starting five of the history of LEB:

PG: Jorge Jiménez (29)
SG: Juanmi Morales (32)
SF: Óscar Yebra (36)
PF: Nacho Romero (37) -he really is a center-
C: Bud Eley (35)

But they have other real young prospects like Robert Gleen or Javi Vega. I think Melilla this year is not going to be in the first position.

In other way, be careful with Obradoiro. They made some very nice signings like Levon Kendall or Deron Washington. But other people create more doubts (Bernard Hopkins, Oriol Junyent, Richard Nguema...).

And to finish, catalan teams are starting to make their rosters. Good signings in Girona and Lleida (where is the money?). Tarragona, at the moment, only resigned their young players.

[Get Rich Or Die Playin]

Lobe Huesca signed Latvian NT PF/C Rolands Freimanis

[Gonzaka]

Lobe Huesca signed Latvian NT PF/C Rolands Freimanis

Nice sign.

CB Sant Josep signed Mateo Kedžo, ex-Ventspils. Can you tell something about him?

[Get Rich Or Die Playin]

Nice sign.

CB Sant Josep signed Mateo Kedžo, ex-Ventspils. Can you tell something about him?

He's solid player for this league, can hit three and get some points. Probably 12-13 point, 5-6 rebound guy in LEB Gold.

[Gonzaka]

Strange notice: by sponsorship reasons, Sant Josep Girona will be renamed as Girona FC.

Tomorrow starts the pre-season with the Catalan LEB League.

[Gonzaka]

Girona FC won Tarragona 2017 by 81-59 in the first pre-season game. This was a match of the LEB Catalan League; the winner of this one, will enjoy the semifinals of the ACB Catalan League with FCB, Joventut and Manresa. Nice game of Middleton with 16 points and David Navarro with 18.

[Gonzaka]

Preseason continues: Tarragona win Lleida, under construction team, and Palencia, Burgos and León played last week the CyL Cup with Valladolid.

Better sensations with Palencia, nice team but they need another 4-5.

Burgos not so good as people want. It's too soon, but Burgos will miss a lot Chris Hernández. I expect Matt Kiefer and Péter Lóránt to grow up in this league.

León bad. They will be in the last positions of the league.

[Gonzaka]

Obradoiro CAB signs Maceo Baston... How will he arrive to Spain?

[Gonzaka]

Bud Eley is injured for all the season. Melilla doesn't start good: they lose a very important player.

[Gonzaka]

Some LEB vs Portugal matches:

Obradoiro CAB 74-54 FC Porto
Ovarense 71-78 Cáceres 2016
SL Benfica 85-65 CB Plasencia (LEB Silver)

[Luíz for 3]

Some LEB vs Portugal matches:

Obradoiro CAB 74-54 FC Porto
Ovarense 71-78 Cáceres 2016
SL Benfica 85-65 CB Plasencia (LEB Silver)

Portuguese basketball top teams sucks a lot! Not new for me that LEB Oro is better then our "semi-professional" league, what worries me more is that things will continue like they are now in Portugal. Benfica and FC Porto only sign americans and portuguese veterans in order to win the national championship!! Yes, because our teams barely can make it to the European Competitions. Why don't they put some new blood in their rosters, even if our young generations aren't that good (in youth competitions, Portugal is a mid-level Division B NT)?
FIBA Europe gave us a chance to join the elite next year in Lithuania, let's see what kind of job will be done to get the ticket...

[Gonzaka]

Who's going to be the new portuguese coach after Moncho's departure?

PS: Benfica won Cáceres 78-70 yesterday.

[rikhardur]

Who's going to be the new portuguese coach after Moncho's departure?

Still not known, but everyone is thinking about Mário Palma.

[Gonzaka]

Curtis Withers

Curtis Withers is a 2.03 center who is going to play in Melilla Baloncesto, when two days before he signed with Lobe Huesca.

The story is Curtis signs with Huesca, two days after, this players don't take the airplane to Spain due to "personal reasons". And other two days after, Melilla announce they agreed terms with him.

Now, Melilla say in their official website they knew nothing about Huesca's offer.

Lobe Huesca is going to report it to the FIBA.

[Gonzaka]

Tomorrow starts LEB Oro league.

The first matchday will be this. All times are CET:

Friday, 1

20:45 CE CIP LLEIDA BASQUETBOL - CACERES 2016 BASKET
21:00 CLUB MELILLA BALONCESTO - PALENCIA BALONCESTO
21:00 CB MURCIA - LECHE RÍO BREOGAN
21:00 C.B. TARRAGONA 2017 - FUNDACION ADEPAL ALCAZAR
21:00 FORD BURGOS - LOBE HUESCA
22:00 UB LA PALMA - GRUPO IRUÑA NAVARRA

Saturday, 2

11:45 INS OFTALMOLOGICO C RICON - AGUAS DE SOUSAS OURENSE
20:30 BALONCESTO LEÓN - ISLA DE TENERIFE CANARIAS

Sunday, 3

19:00 GIRONA FC - OBRADOIRO CAB

Yo can watch tomorrow friday at 21:00, here, the game between Murcia and Breogán. I hope every game televised, as in past years, but in this first week there will be only one televised match.

I will watch live the Burgos-Huesca, with Micah Downs and Rai López as last Burgos signings and Stevie Johnson (LEB Silver MVP) and Rolands Freimanis as more important players in Huesca.