Βy Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
After a loss you can find many scapegoats to blame for. Especially after a failure like that suffered Real Madrid in the Euroleague’s final against Maccabi. The Madridistas missed the chance to return to the throne for second season in row though they were in both cases favorites.
After the loss in London Real’s board decided to trust this project. Coach Laso and the whole core of the team stayed in Madrid and the only addition was Giannis Bourousis. The almost unbeaten team during the whole season (until the playoffs game against Olympiacos, Real had only three loses) failed in the most crucial moment. Maccabi is a less talented team but in its roster there more hustle players who weren’t afraid to fight and win.
Real was about to get the job done, having in the second half of the final only two of its stars in good night. Among the four players who have double digits in average scoring in the Euroleague (Sergio Rodriguez has 14 ppg, Rudy Fernandez 13,2 ppg, Nikola Mirotic 12,4 ppg and Sergio Llull 11,4) only the MVP of the regular season and the young forward stepped up in the second half.
In case you didn’t notice it, Sergio Llul had 0/1 2ps & 0/6 3ps in 35′ and dished 8 assists, but 6 of them came in the first 13 minutes. After that he didn’t score and didn’t pass effectively. The biggest problem for Real Madrid though was Rudy Fernandez. He was probably the MVP of the first half and until the 21st minute he had scored 13 points being the leading scorer of the game up to this points.
During the next 24 minutes of the game, he played in 22 of them and had 2/2 free throws, two missed two pointers (in 38′ and in 40′) and one missed three (in 43′)! During all this time, his team had scoring problems but he took the responsibility to shot only three times! While Llull was bad at shooting, Mirotic scored his first basket in the 25th minute, Rodriguez was alone in scoring and only the front line duo of Reyes and Bourousis supported him.
When you want to be called “Galacticos” who destroyed Barcelona two days earlier, you should play 100% until the end… Otherwise Maccabi will bounce back. Because they know how to do it and they know that Real once again couldn’t keep up until the end. Last season in a Euroleague final.