By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
VITORIA-GASTEIZ — Real Madrid center Edy Tavares won’t be playing in a EuroLeague Final this season.
Tavares’ Real Madrid got beaten by CSKA Moscow in the second EuroLeague semifinal and lost the chance to defend its title in the championship game.
The “Blancos” fell after giving up a 14-point lead (51 – 65) they had grabbed in the mid of the third period.
“I think the problem was that they shot too many free throws,” Tavares told Eurohoops after being asked about what went wrong and CSKA evaporated his team’s advantage. “We didn’t control that. They got too many fouls. We played great defense but they always got a foul to shoot a free throw. I think that was the problem.”
While CSKA Moscow was chewing more and more pieces of this deficit, Real was unable to keep up.
The “Army Men” overpowered their opponents 30 – 17 in the fourth period to get the win.
“We tried to do our best,” Tavares said. “They are a great team but we tried to do our best to play our game. Sometimes we get stuck and that’s what happened tonight.
“It is what it is,” the 2019 EuroLeague DPOY added.
Tavares also commented on the controversial technical foul that Pablo Laso was called within the fourth period.
“It wasn’t a technical foul. I don’t know why they called it and they took such a decision. It was not. He was talking to the coaches and threw the towel at the bench. I don’t know why they called the technical.”