Discovering Gold: Part One

The fight for ACB

LEB Oro (Spanish word for 'Gold') is probably an unknown competition for most of you. It was for me too until this season. Though I had watched a match here and there in past years, I'd never paid attention before to this league. Bookmaker's limits are low and odds often come too late but the second level of Spanish basketball is a good option to get profit and also to enjoy this fantastic sport.

In this league there are places for veteran ex-ACB stars and even former Spanish national team players, some great foreigners looking for a chance to prove themselves and young talents on loan from bigger teams.

Now there are only three rounds to the end of the regular season, and three teams are fighting for first place that gives the chance of direct promotion to ACB without playoffs. Indeed also the fourth in the standings now, Breogán, have still mathematical chances to be first but they are so slim that it is better to analyse the Galician team in a forthcoming article about post-season.

CB Valladolid



Season Record: 23 W – 8 L

An historic ACB team that was relegated last season. After some ups and downs in the first leg of the LEB, the purple are getting great results. They have a top starting five, with two good shooters, Chris Hernández and Fede Van Lacke and a powerful center, Robert Battle.

They are in outstanding form with only one defeat (against Melilla) in the last Ten matches, not losing at home since the 8th round but their schedule is not easy. The next round could be key with a big rivalry castellanoleonés derby against León, another ACB relegated team fighting for a playoff spot. León has irregular players that can shine any day and are capable of winning or losing against any team. After that match, they will host Burgos, another team from Castilla León with playoff aspirations. The last match will be away against Gandía, a team that should be saved by then but also in form in this second leg.

Top Valladolid players:

Points - Battle 13.2
Rebounds - Battle 8.5
Assists - Dumas 3.6


Alicante



Season Record: 22 W – 9 L

During most of the league Alicante seemed the champion without a doubt. A complete squad, easy winners of the Prince Cup vs Melilla, a good defense and a solid attack with many players that can score double digits (Hill, Urtasun, Coppenrath and Jorge García average over ten ppg). Somehow this magic was lost and now they form an irregular team that has recently lost against its promotion rivals.
Alicante's schedule is the easiest: away vs Illescas, probably the worst team of the league. Their last match will be against not motivated Mallorca, a weakened team with no ambitions now. Between those matches, the only difficulty will be Clínicas Rincón Axarquía, Unicaja farm team, with many talented players that perform great against top teams.

Top Alicante players:

Points - Urtasun 13.3
Rebounds - Andriuskevicius 6.2
Assists - Uratsun 2.6


Melilla



Season Record: 22 W – 9 L

The African team has never played in ACB and it would be a landmark to be in the Basketball top division. No team from Spanish North African cities, Melilla and Ceuta, has played in the top divisions of Football or Basketball recently. African's main aim is great team play, a balanced squad with an excellent point guard leading the league in assists (Ciorciari), and a good power forward, small but quick, Victor Cuthbert, though he seems to be in a slight downtrend lately. 
Their schedule could be easy if the results help them. First they have to play in Gandía, then against Illescas and last round with Clínicas Rincón. Last two matches could be facing teams playing for nothing while Gandía should be saved even losing their encounter.

Top Melilla players:

Points - Cuthbert 13.7
Rebounds - Cuthbert 6.2
Assists - Ciorciari 6.3

In case of two teams having the same wins at the end of the season this will be the result.

Valladolid - Alicante: Valladolid
Alicante - Melilla: Alicante
Melilla - Valladolid: Melilla

Balance among them in case of a triple draw:

1-Valladolid 3-1
2-Melilla 2-2
3-Alicante 1-3

Next in the series there will be an article about financial crisis affecting this league, followed by an analysis of the playoffs system and teams classified. And the fourth part will be about some players to watch.

Teams	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	Diff
Valladolid	31	23	8	2445	2230	+215
Lucentum Alicante	31	22	9	2489	2245	+244
Melilla Baloncesto	31	22	9	2470	2298	+172
Leche Río Breogán	31	20	11	2433	2364	+69
Tenerife Rural	31	19	12	2622	2512	+110
Clínicas Rincón Axarquía	31	17	14	2428	2343	+85
Ford Burgos	31	17	14	2531	2448	+83
Villa de Los Barrios	31	16	15	2368	2337	+31
Grupo Begar León	31	16	15	2332	2293	+39
Plus Pujol Lleida	31	16	15	2509	2513	-4
Cáceres 2016	31	15	16	2326	2363	-37
Ciudad de La Laguna Canarias	31	14	17	2355	2472	-117
Vic	31	14	17	2373	2434	-61
La Palma	31	12	19	2283	2366	-83
Mallorca	31	12	19	2492	2632	-140
Gandía	31	10	21	2261	2426	-165
Illescas Urban CLM	31	7	24	2155	2388	-233
Beirasar Rosalía	31	7	24	2232	2440	-208

LEB Oro website:  (most of the matches are streamed live and there's also an option to watch past games)

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