MIAMI (United States) – Out of the four Basketball Champions League Americas Quarterfinals series, the one between Real Estelí and Boca Juniors looks like the closest one. Both teams had 4-2 marks in the Group Stage, good enough for the Nicaraguans to finish atop Group A, while the Argentinians finished second in Group B. Real Estelí has reached the Playoffs in every single edition of BCL Americas, including a 2nd place finish in Season 2. Meanwhile, Boca is making their second playoff appearance and looking to reach their first Final 4. It will be a clash of styles, with Real Estelí relying on the individual talent of their stars, while Boca, as is the case with Argentinian teams, leans more on team play. The action starts on Monday, March 10th at Estadio Obras Sanitarias in Buenos Aires before shifting to Polideportivo Alexis Argüello in Managua for the rest of the series (see the calendar here).
Players to watch
Jezreel De Jesús (23.5 points per game) and Jared Ruiz (20.5) have been Estelí’s sparkplugs. They’re the only pair of teammates, at this stage, averaging more than 20 points. The team also features Gabriel Girón (14.2), who excels on defense too, and Will Daniels (8.2), who head coach David Rosario often praises for his great execution at the end of games. They’re also adding Jordan Glynn, who had a great performance last season with Halcones de Xalapa (16.1 points per game), Glenn Rice Jr. and Brazilian Joao Vitor.
Boca had 8 different players scoring more than 8.0 points per game during the Group Stage, highlighting their balanced offense. Colombian big man Andrés Ibargüen (13.3 points) and point guard José Vildoza (10.0) are the only ones in double digits, followed by Facundo Piñero (9.5), Martín Cuello (9.2), Thomas Cooper (9.0), Santiago Scala (8.5), Sebastián Vega (8.5) and Marcos Delía (8.2). Depth is clearly their calling card.
Stats don’t lie
The parity between these teams is reflected in their stats. The point production is fairly even, with Boca scoring 85.8 points per game and Real Estelí 84.5. They’re also very close on the boards, with the Nicaraguans leading 35.6 to 34.7. With similar numbers across the board, the one big difference is points off the bench. There, Boca’s reserves average 40.7 while Estelí’s bench scored just 22.0 per game. Key stat: Puerto Rican dynamo Jezreel de Jesús, with 786, is the BCL Americas all-time leading scorer. He’s played in all 6 editions (5 of them with Real Estelí and one with Venezuela’s Gladiadores de Anzoátegui).
Previous matchups
This will the first time these teams play each other at any stage. Estelí has participated in all 6 editions of the tournament, while Boca is in their 3rd appearance.
They said
"We have new guys. I played with Jordan Glynn before, but we all must adapt. We must keep our aggressive style. We know the first game is on the road, so we have to impose our style from the beginning.” - Jezreel De Jesús, Real Estelí point guard. "We expect a tough, even series. They added players of huge pedigree. We think it’s going to come down to being focused on defense, especially one-on-one. On offense we’ll try to attack their weaknesses to get them in trouble. We’re going to try to show the work we’ve put in the last 6 months. They’re just putting their team together.” – Gonzalo Pérez, Boca Juniors head coach.
FIBA