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Head-to-head: Khalifa Diop, Gran Canaria vs. Ismael Kamagate, Paris

Head-to-head: Khalifa Diop, Gran Canaria vs. Ismael Kamagate, Paris

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19 April 20235 Mins read

Head-to-head: Khalifa Diop, Gran Canaria vs. Ismael Kamagate, Paris

When Gran Canaria and Paris Basketball face off in the last game of the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals this Wednesday night, it will pit two teams up against one another with very contrasting histories in the competition. On the one side, Gran Canaria has played 225 games in the EuroCup, the third most ever, whereas Paris is in its debut campaign and has thus appeared in 19 EuroCup fixtures to date.

The history of the clubs is very different, and there's also a vast difference regarding the experience of the two teams' rosters, yet each side is able to call upon a young, athletic center who regularly makes Magic Moments: the 21-year-old Khalifa Diop for Gran Canaria and the 22-year-old Ismael Kamagate for Paris.

Diop and Kamagate going against each other will also be a duel between last year's EuroCup Rising Star award winner and one of this season's main candidates to take home the prize.

This is the third time that the two big men will have gone head-to-head against each other this season. In the previous two clashes during the regular season, Gran Canaria swept its two games against Paris, with Diop outperforming Kamagate on both occasions.

In Round 4 in Paris, Gran Canaria won 81-89. That night, Diop contributed 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 15 minutes on the floor, whereas Kamagate had 4 personal fouls before the end of the first half and finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds in 18 minutes on the floor. Curiously, both players had a +14 in the plus-minus column.

When they met again in Round 13, Gran Canaria crushed Paris 118-99, with Kamagate held to 2 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block in one of his two worst performances of the season. During that game, Kamagate was once again in foul trouble, as he had 4 fouls to his name with 2 minutes left in the third quarter. Diop, on the other hand, came close to a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds, in addition to recording 2 blocks.

Diop, who stands at 2.08 meters, has been a steady performer for Gran Canaria in what is now his third year in the EuroCup, and this has been his best campaign to date.

The Gran Canaria center has scored in double figures in nine games this season, while he is averaging 8.8 points on 66.3% two-point shooting. Diop is also pulling down a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game, including ranking ninth in the EuroCup for offensive boards with an average of 2.4 per night. He is delivering 1.0 blocked shot per contest, too.

Kamagate, who is 2.11 metres tall, is in his first season in the competition, just like his team, but he has regularly shined on EuroCup floors ever since the season tipped off in October.

The young center averages 9.2 points on 76.1% two-point shooting, the second-best figure for any Paris player, having scored 10 or more points in 10 of his 19 appearances. Kamagate ranks fourth in the EuroCup this season with 8.6 rebounds, and he ranks third overall with 2.8 offensive rebounds per game. He also enters the quarterfinals ranking second overall for blocks, with 1.5 per contest.

Kamagate is coming off an impressive eighthfinals performance in which he posted 10 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in 19 minutes in a road win over 7Bet-Lietkabelis Paneveyzs.

Diop, meanwhile, had 11 points on 5-for-6 two-point shooting, 4 rebounds and 1 block in a hard-fought home win over Frutti Extra Bursaspor.

Paris, which is tied for a EuroCup-best six road wins this season, will need Kamagate to stay out of foul trouble and be at his best if Wednesday's visitors are to defeat Gran Canaria, which is a perfect 10-0 on its home floor this season. Another high-level performance from Diop, however, would go a long way towards helping Gran Canaria keep its perfect home record intact and book its place in the semifinals.