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By: Rafael Uehara / @rafael__uehara

With a new sponsor and a new financial situation, the 2009-2010 season marked a turning point for Valência. Led by head-coach Neven Spahija, Power Electronics Valencia won the Eurocup title which guaranteed them a spot in this season’s Euroleague. In ACB play, they also competed, reaching the postseason with the fourth best record but then losing to Unicaja in the first round.

After a winning season, second tier teams typically struggle to maintain the core that brought them to relevancy. Valência wasn’t any different. They were still able to keep important pieces such as Nando De Colo and Victor Claver but Spahija left for Fenerbahçe  Ülker, Matt Nielsen signed with Panathinaikos Athens and Kosta Perovic signed with Regal FC Barcelona.

Yet, Valência was considered by many an underrated pick to challenge for the ACB Finals and make some splash in Euroleague play. Eight games among Europe’s elite and 10 games of ACB play in and it’s easy to realize Power Electronics was neither equipped nor prepared to reach those expectations.

After starting 1-6 in the ACB and 0-2 in the Euroleague, Valência’s season was imploding. Combining both competitions, they’ve been 6-3 since and before Wednesday’s game against CSKA in Moscow, Power Electronics stood at 3-4 tied for fourth place in Group D and with a realistic chance of advancing to the Top 16.

But their 73-63 loss to a CSKA team whose season has gone to the tank for a while now proves that Valência’s reemergence on the last few weeks is not for real. Their six ACB losses came to Barcelona, Real Madrid, Caja Laboral, DKV Joventut, a surprising Blancos de Rueda Valladolid team and a solid Bizkaia Bilbao Basket team. In Euroleague play, their losses came in the hands of Panathinaikos, Efes Pilsen in Turkey, Armani Jeans Milano at home, at Union Olimpija and CSKA just yesterday.

Valência’s only quality win of the year came in Greece against Panathinaikos. They’ve been pounded by every other good team they’ve played this season. Their terrific shooting hasn’t been able to save a ship that’s sinking due to their inability to protect the paint. After struggling to maintain the talented, balanced core that brought them to relevancy they, like second tier clubs before them, have struggled to keep themselves among the powerhouses.

They’ve got two games left to turn that around.

Rafael Uehara is a scout for NetScouts Basketball and the managing figure of ‘The Basketball Post’, his personal website. He’s a contributor for ELA and can be followed on twitter @rafael__uehara or reached via e-mail at [email protected]

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2 Responses

  1. Jeff Taylor

    I’ve seen this Valencia team play a lot the past two years, both with Neven Spahija, then Manuel Hussein and now with Svetislav Pesic. They are a top-eight Spanish ACB team and probably good enough to get into the top four. When you’re in the same league with Barcelona, Caja Laboral, Real Madrid, Unicaja Malaga, Cajasol Sevilla, Bilbao, etc - this is no small feat. Remembering they began this season with an untested coach in Hussein, an injured De Colo - it wasn’t surprising to see them struggle. Last year, Spahija said it was remarkable what his Valencia team had accomplished because they should be nowhere near as good as they were. He said that before they travelled to Vitoria to win the Eurocup.

    They were awful in some games early this year, particularly against Milano in the Euroleague. Confidence suffers. That was the final straw and Hussein was shown the door. Valencia have made a masterstroke by bringing in Pesic. He’s led Germany to a EuroBasket title in 1993, the former Yugoslavia to European and world titles in 2001 and ’02, and Barcelona to the famous Euroleague, Copa del Rey and ACB treble the following year. Anyway, Valencia with Pesic are an entirely new team. They now play with confidence. They could have won in Moscow and maybe would have had the bench not been slapped with a game-changing, momentum -shifting technical foul early in the fourth quarter that led to five CSKA points. By suggesting they are overrated because they travelled to a 1-6 CSKA team and lost is way off the mark. CSKA, the week before, almost beat Panathinaikos. CSKA should regroup, win the Russian title and be a great team again next year. The only quality victory for Valencia came against Panathinaikos in Athens? I think a home win over Efes Pilsen is quality win, too.