The worrying disappearance of Musa

Real Madrid returns to balance on the abyss, to explore the impossible, in an ACB final in which Barça has them against the ropes after the first two meetings at the Palau. To the resurrection against Partizan in the Euroleague quarterfinals, with that 0-2 that no one had ever overcome, the whites hold on. The Catalans fear this precedent, on notice of the irredeemable character of the European champion. This Tuesday the series goes to WiZink (9:00 p.m., Movistar) and Chus Mateo needs something to change, despite the fact that they have been really close in the first two rounds. All eyes are on the player who has scored the most points in his team throughout the season.

Dzanan Musa's undoubted talent so often collapses with his own anxiety, with his desire for prominence, with his lack of tactical experience when defenses close in on him.. That leadership over a leading team in Europe was one of the aspects that aroused the most expectation of his signing after his stupendous season of redemption at the Río Breogán. Jasikevicius's plan against the rival's offensive reference has not only managed to annul the Bosnian forward, it has made Musa a burden at times for Real Madrid itself and not only because of its defensive gaps.

With the impeccable work of Alex Abrines and Nikola Kalinic on him, Musa has barely managed to score seven points in the first two games of the final. On Sunday he hit bottom, completely desperate: he only made one of his seven shots and lost two balls for a rating of -3 in almost 23 minutes on the track. In none of his more than 70 white games had he assessed negatively until now. «Barcelona demands the maximum from you and you can notice a certain fatigue in the team. But we are ambitious, we have a player that we miss, “Mateo already warned after the initial duel, in which the forward only tried four pitches.

ACB PHOTO / D. GRAU

The annulment of Musa is not a trivial matter, since Madrid loses its main source of damage in the opposite ring, so many times points out of the blue when the systems do not work and it is the quality of the Bosnian that resolves one on one. The former Breogán player, MVP last season in ACB and chosen in the best five in the current season, has averaged more than 14 points this season in both the Endesa League and the Euroleague. In the current playoffs, it was above 17: only in the second of the semifinals against Joventut did it not exceed 16 (it stayed at five). And always above 40% in triples.

At the age of 24 and after a career start marked by his premature unsuccessful jump to the NBA (he spent two seasons with the Nets without shame or glory), it is not the first time that Musa has not displayed his full potential at a moment in the game. TRUE. In contrast to the winning character of Llull, Rudy, Sergio Rodríguez and company, the Balkan was not able to display his immense talents in the recent Final Four either, seven points in the semifinals against Barça and six in the final, in which Chus Mateo He only had him on the track for 15 minutes. Neither in the series against Partizán did they finish finding. If only a miracle would cause Barça to escape the league reconquest, the revival of Musa is the starting point for Real Madrid. Because, as Llull says, that mirror in which to look at oneself, “giving up is not an option”.