Joan Penarroya honest before the season: 'The squad's a mystery today' / News - Basketnews.com

Penarroya was happy with the club's addition to the roster but admitted that it's still unclear how the squad will function throughout the year.

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix

With several weeks remaining until the start of the season, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz head coach Joan Penarroya spoke with the Spanish media for the first time since the start of the training camp.

The 54-year-old specialist admitted that while the roster was assembled with his idea in mind, it's still highly unknown.

"The squad is a mystery today, but it has the capacity to be very competitive. There are players who have not played the EuroLeague or have not alternated it with the ACB. We are convinced that they have the capacity to do it well, but they have not done it yet," he said.

"We know what we are, and depending on what we can improve, we will fight more or less," Penarroya told the Spanish media.

The team has signed several new players this offseason. Penarroya expressed that the roster will improve in rebounding and physicality while singling out Codi Miller-McIntyre as an important addition.

"It's a profile that we didn't have last year and where I think we suffered the most - defending good dribbles," the coach said. "But all of this is just a sketch, and we have to realize it."

During the summer, Baskonia parted ways with the club's leader, Darius Thompson. Rokas Giedraitis, who has spent the last three seasons in the organization, left the team as well.

Baskonia is one of the youngest teams in the EuroLeague now, a situation that can be both beneficial and costly, Penarroya says.

"This has good things, like brutal hunger and ambition, and we will have to pay a toll elsewhere," he said.

"There are twelve or thirteen teams [in the EuroLeague] that double or triple our budget. My idea is the same: to fight as much as possible, but it's getting more and more complicated," Penarroya concluded.

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