Caleb Homesley is the choice of Jaka Lakovic to act as a point guard when Andrew Albicy needs to rest. At least, that will be the decision made by the Slovenian during the Dreamland derby against La Laguna Tenerife on Sunday morning (12:00 p.m. #Come on).
This approach will not be a hasty experiment, as Homesley has previously fulfilled the role of point guard at certain moments this season when Jaka deemed it feasible to combine a trio with a prominent offensive presence on the court, including Joe Thomasson in the shooting guard role and Nico Brussino in the three.
It is anticipated that Albicy will need to log considerable minutes in the Arena, being the only pure point guard remaining for Lakovic, as the option to exclude one of the international players to accommodate Mehdy Ngouama does not appear to be a leading consideration.
Marce-Fitipaldo, Assistants
All of this is occurring as Txus Vidorreta’s duo of point guards are in extraordinary form, maintaining the Tenerife team in fourth place on the league table. Marcelinho Huertas currently ranks as the second highest assist provider in the competition with an average of 6.6 assists per game, while Bruno Fitipaldo is fourth with an average of 5.4. Together, they contribute eleven assists, six fewer than all those recorded by Granca, which totals 17 per game.
Consequently, careful selection of the moments when Homesley can assume this role will be essential, for while the American excels offensively, his defensive efforts have been notably lacking. Undeniably, it would be challenging to counter the direct lock that Vidorreta has utilised effectively in recent years.
What is evident is that Caleb has the chance to remedy his recent performance in the last two league matches, where he was particularly underwhelming against Barça due to his lack of defensive diligence, scoring six points but with five three-point attempts failing; as well as in the loss against Lleida, where he managed nine points and four further unsuccessful long-distance shots, culminating in nine consecutive missed three-pointers.
Their Performances in La Laguna
He will endeavour to replicate his performance from the La Laguna Tenerife court during the first half of the league, where he achieved 15 points and secured 5 rebounds, being one of the key players who lifted the team during challenging moments to recover from a poor start, trailing by eight points (20-12).
This court has previously witnessed Homesley’s exceptional outing in the last edition of the Basketball Champions League, where he achieved 26 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, leading the Turks to a 90-81 victory, thus forcing a third game in the tie.
This performance sparked the interest of CB Canarias, who sought to recruit him via Aniano Cabrera in the previous summer transfer window. However, the financial proposal and the programme that Gran Canaria offered ultimately persuaded him, and he ended up donning the yellow jersey.
