COD – Fuenlabrada appeal for calm over Biyombo

MADRID (ACB) – Spanish top-flight side Fuenlabrada accept that they have a real jewel in their squad in teenager Bismack Biyombo.

It’s undeniable.

Four games into his senior team career at the club and the 2.04m center already has a season’s worth of highlight reel plays, from blocked shots to dunks.

However, the club has appealed to fans and everyone in Spanish basketball to remain calm, fearing the increased exposure could disrupt the player.

"He only has played four games at the top level,” Fuenlabrada sporting direct Ferran Lopez said.

“He has a lot to learn.

“I just ask for people to let him work calmly as he has done for the past year and a half, away from pressure."

Hype around young players in Spain is nothing new.

Regal Barcelona guard Ricky Rubio has been monitored closely since his days as a 13-year-old at DKV Joventut.

He started for Spain in the 2008 Olympic Games final and last year was the playmaker for Barca in their Copa del Rey and Euroleague winning sides.

Biyombo, who is Congolese and didn’t join Fuenlabrada until the age of 16, is different to Rubio.

He plays a different position, comes from a different country and, until this month,  was a virtual unknown.

Yet the interest in basketball in Spain is at an all-time high and Fuenlabrada fans believe they could be looking at youngster that could go on to be a great one.

"He is a product made in Fuenlabrada, that under normal conditions, will remain in the team for at least until 2014, when his contract expires,” Lopez said.

“Biyombo is, above all, a product of his excellent work ethic, of the incredible work that Sergio Jimenez did with him in our LEB Plata team, of the professionalism of Armando Gomez and Fran Hernandez, two club coaches that every day train technique with him individually and Salva Maldonado, the brave ACB coach that gave him an opportunity to play."

On Saturday, Biyombo and Fuenlabrada, who are seventh in the ACB, will host Meridiano Alicante.

FIBA