The final sprint for Chus Mateo's film
10 of 30 on two-point shots. That was the data of the Barcelona semifinal. The Barça team not only scored more three-point baskets (14), but also had a better percentage from far distance.
You never know how these life-and-death matches can turn out in a competition that is the basketball decathlon. The team that wins the Euroleague has had to be a good long-distance runner during the regular season; an excellent middle-distance runner to take the playoff crossing with lactic acid through the roof and, finally, the best sprinter in these games without a safety net that are proposed in the Final four.
The “huge beer” of Chus Mateo and the inexplicable night of Mirotic
Tavares swallows Barça and leads Real Madrid to another final
On this occasion it seemed to us that Barça could arrive with the ideal 'top speed' (less fatigue and fewer injuries) to declare it a favorite. However, the traffic jam in the last quarter was one of those that attracts attention. The entire Mirotic game had the aroma of a guy who has not rested well the previous days. Laprovittola came and went, making little obvious decisions at many times. Barça played a Euroleague semifinal in a neat, tidy way, like someone who goes to a workplace without being too convinced by the boss, with no reason to take an extra hit.. As Dr. Iglesias Puga (or perhaps it was his son) would say: “weird, weird, weird…”
The enemy reasons cannot be ignored, of which we have already spoken these past dates with admiration. Facing Tavares is going up to an eight thousand without oxygen. Curiously, Hezonja has removed the ballast with the losses of Deck and Yabusele, and played the last quarter for the three (in attack and defense), and on top of that, Chus Mateo has recovered Sergio Rodríguez for his cause, as in Hollywood movies. The Tall, the Good and the Smart. The ideal combination for such a match.
And this Sunday, what, again the European champion Madrid?
Olympiakos players are willing to die for boss Bartzokas. They turned around a semifinal that was very uphill at half-time, and they did it based on pride, motivation and individual commitment, basic ingredients for this type of challenge.. Like Madrid, they have a High (Fall), a Good (Vezenkov) and a Ready (Sloukas), ready to face the battle that is put before them. Madrid must feel favourite, but in the last sprint of the European season, Chus Mateo will have an opponent with a knife between his teeth. The perfect enemy at the gates to complete his fable of the bench. A month of work that can give meaning to a lifetime on the slopes. The happy ending of those movies.
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