How Real Madrid basketball team can help the club replicate its most glorious season ever / News - Basketnews.com
Credit: BasketNews/Begum Unal Credit: BasketNews/Begum Unal Credit: BasketNews/Begum Unal Credit: BasketNews/Begum Unal Credit: BasketNews/Begum Unal Real Madrid have the chance to further cement their legendary status as the winningest club in Europe.
3-pointers this season
36%9,6Points made:9,6Accuracy:35,9%Place in standings:3Record max:18Record min:1Most made 3FGs:Rudy FernandezTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedulePablo Laso's team made it to the EuroLeague final game, where they will be squaring off with Anadolu Efes Istanbul, after downing FC Barcelona in the Final Four semi-final, just like Carlo Ancelotti's football squad held off Manchester City and will lock horns with Liverpool in Paris on May 28.
This is the fifth time in club history that Real Madrid's representatives in both sports have advanced to the finals in the same season, which no other club has ever achieved.
The first time this happened was in 1962 when the football team faced Benfica, and the basketball side played Dinamo Tbilisi. Two years later, Madrid repeated this feat – taking on Inter Milan in football and Spartak Brno in basketball, resulting in the basketball's section first of ten EuroLeague trophies.
In the 2013-14 campaign, Los Blancos lifted their tenth UEFA Champions League trophy in Lisbon, while the team coached by Laso reached the EuroLeague final against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Milan. Four years later, in 2018, Real Madrid were crowned European champions in both sports after beating Liverpool in Kyiv and Fenerbahce in Belgrade, respectively.
Whether the same scenario will be repeated remains to be seen. In any case, Real Madrid's trophy case displays 13 continental trophies in football and another 10 in basketball. As chance would have it, this year, Belgrade is hosting the Final Four after four years.
Seven players currently on the team's roster were present in 2018 - Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernandez, Walter Tavares, Fabien Causeur, Anthony Randolph, Trey Thompkins and Jeffery Taylor.
Real Madrid / Schedule
FC Barcelona Real Madrid83-86 Real Madrid Anadolu Efes IstanbulSat17:00The odds look great for the Spanish powerhouse, and that's something that neither the players nor Pablo Laso denies ahead of Saturday's title game against Anadolu Efes. Similarities to what happened in 2018 are everywhere, and the Basque tactician points them out for BasketNews.
"The court, the dressing room, a Turkish rival. There's a lot. Hopefully, I will see more of these similarities tomorrow," he said laughingly in the Stark Arena mixed zone during the team's media availability.
Walter Tavares signed with Real Madrid in November 2017, coming off his G League stint. Seven months later, the big man from Cape Verde was crowned EuroLeague champ for the first time. Starting from that season to remember, Tavares has grown to become one of Europe's most dominant centers.
"There's a lot of great memories. Belgrade will always be in my heart because it was my first EuroLeague title. This is a special arena," he remembers talking to BasketNews.
Another startling similarity with 2018 is Madrid's trajectory in the season. The team from the Spanish capital ended up 5th in the 2018 regular season before eliminating Panathinaikos in the playoffs.
This season, February and March were a real ordeal for the ten-time champs. A losing streak threatened to jeopardize and derail the entire campaign since Real collected only two wins in the last ten games of the regular season. Once again, the team regrouped in time for a sweeping 3-0 over Maccabi Tel Aviv.
"Ups and downs always make you strong," Tavares maintains.
"If they don't, you're going to lose everything. They help us to keep us focused and try to get better every day."
Rudy Fernandez, now 37, won his second EuroLeague trophy in 2018. The veteran forward told BasketNews that everyone is excited after a difficult season of many ups and downs.
"We had a bad run, but in the end, we managed to surge at the right time. Us having gotten to this point, I think we have an opportunity to be able to lift the title, and we have to enjoy it," he adds.
Fernandez, who headlines the shortlist of players to have won a World Championship, the EuroBasket, the EuroLeague, and the EuroCup, is obviously very happy to return to Belgrade.
"Hopefully, what happened back then, will happen again tomorrow," Fernandez said. "It was my second EuroLeague; I was able to enjoy it with my family."
However, another detail left an everlasting impression on him.
"I really remember it as Luka Doncic's moment, with the Final Four essentially being his farewell to the team before he became a star at the global level," Fernandez added.
Credit AFP - Scanpix Alberto Abalde was only 22 and playing for Valencia when his current team won their last title. The Spanish guard expects a very tough game.
"It's really good to be here," he says about the Serbian capital. "I personally wasn't in that final, but for all the players and coaches who were here, a lot of good memories come to mind."
Abalde, who joined Real in 2020, added: "All the titles that the club has won indicate that winning for Real Madrid is something special. For me, it's a dream to win the EuroLeague."
The Spanish international is hopeful that the club can win titles both on the court and on the pitch.
"Hopefully, we'll win them all. But we have to work in order to do so."
Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix Guerschon Yabusele is a newcomer who has embraced the club's philosophy and mentality. The former Boston Celtics forward describes his experience with Real Madrid as amazing.
"Like the coaches were saying in the press conference, it's the biggest club in Europe," he further points out.
"Everything about this organization is amazing. When you come to Madrid, you really understand and see that you have a chance to win a European trophy. That's why guys like us give everything on the court."
Yabusele, who signed a multi-year extension with Madrid until 2025, knows first-hand that every player who joins the club must fight every day to keep their place.
"It's kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity," he says.
"Not everyone gets to sign with Madrid. To be part of this history, this organization, and this team has been an amazing journey for me. I'm just glad, happy, and grateful for that."
In his fifth EuroLeague championship game (a record he shares with Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez), Pablo Laso stresses that he and Real Madrid FC manager Carlo Ancelotti go through the same process.
"I think it is a pride for a club like Real Madrid to claim two European cups. It speaks very well of the work of the coach, the players, and the club. It is very important to understand and accept it, but we want more.
If you ask Carlo Ancelotti, he thinks about winning the final just like I think about tomorrow. That's the only way we look at it," he notes.
Rudy Fernandez thinks that contesting two finals in seven days is a sign of Real Madrid's greatness.
"When many people write the club off and don't think it can reach big finals, we always find the way to prove them wrong," he emphatically says.
"In the end, I think that the badge makes us fight to the end in both sports."
On several occasions, the football team has paid a visit to their basketball peers and vice versa. Rudy himself is an avid fan and follower of football.
"Sure, we have contacts with some of the players on the football team. The club tries to be a big family, and that's why titles come along. We are in touch with them, and they know that we are following what they're doing. They follow basketball a lot, too," he points out.
The last word belongs to Pablo Laso.
"Above winning, the prevailing feeling is that your team gives everything. It's the only way for the fans to feel proud of their team," the two-time EuroLeague winner believes.
"I always repeat this - everyone plays to win. But how you get the win starts with putting in the work. It all starts at the beginning of the season, and you got to have a lot of confidence in what your team can do."
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