Edy Tavares explains his role in big man revolution, talks matchup vs Fall / News - Basketnews.com

Tavares said that the stage where he plays gives him more motivation to dominate against Barcelona. He told that just being himself was the key to influencing the big man revolution that's been seen recently. Tavares complimented Moustapha Fall and looked forward to the matchup against him.

Credit: Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS Credit Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS

Real Madrid overcame FC Barcelona in the semifinal's El Clasico on Friday and advanced to the final following a dominant performance by Edy Tavares. Barca didn't find ways to stop him once again, losing the second EuroLeague semifinal in a row.

Walter Tavares

MIN:24.72PTS:11.18 (71.66%)REB:6.79As:1.49ST:0.87BL:2.21TO:2.1GM:39ProfileEuroLeague2022/2023

Tavares was a menace on both sides of the court. He scored game-high 20 points, grabbed game-high 15 rebounds, drew 9 fouls, and registered a whopping 39 PIR, his second-best result only trailing his terrific performance against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in Game 3 of the quarterfinals this year.

Looking forward to the final against Olympiacos Piraeus on Sunday, Tavares shared how he's battling with the physical demand that the Final Four presents.

"I feel great. I feel the tiredness is on the second plan," he said before the team practice on Saturday. "I try to tell my body that I'm not tired as much as possible so I can do my best to help the team. We know that it's the Final Four, it's only one game, you rest for one day, and you get back to it again on Sunday. We came prepared to play and prepared to sacrifice everything."

His performance against Barcelona in the semifinal wasn't a fluke. Last year, he also dominated against the Blaugranas in the Spanish Liga Endesa (ACB) Finals. Barca have two stretch fives - Sertac Sanli and Mike Tobey - to combat Tavares' inside presence by giving head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius the ability to attack from behind the three-point line but it didn't prove to be successful in the semifinal.

What's the secret behind such outstanding performances against Barca? The answer lies in the game beyond the game, Edy says.

"It's not because of Barcelona, games against them are always important regardless of the stage you play in," the Cabo Verdean big man told. "You always play like it's an important game, like it's a final, we always fight for first place in the season. It's always going to be a tough matchup against them, sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but we always try to do our best to win."

Real Madrid / Schedule

FC Barcelona Real Madrid66-78 Olympiacos Piraeus Real MadridSun17:00

When Tavares arrived in Europe, he entered the basketball scene that was changing. More and more, the teams were trying to play small ball, to get more mobile and stretch the floor with big men who can shoot.

Now, Tavares is often seen as the best center in the EuroLeague and the one who the opposing teams have to plan against. As such, more than a handful of teams have signed big men of a similar profile in the EuroLeague in recent years.

Nevertheless, Edy doesn't see himself as a player who influenced the change in player selection.

"The game has been changing a lot, many things are still changing right now. They like stretch fives now, stretch fours that can shoot. I stick with my style of game," Real Madrid's star said. "I like to play big, I like to play like a [true] big man, and I try to do my best to be me. With all the changes, I know it's going to be hard on defense and you're going to have a long time to recover, it's tough."

Similarly, a tough matchup is coming for Tavares on Sunday as he'll be facing off against Olympiacos Piraeus big man Moustapha Fall, a player who's highly similar to him.

"I see it as a great matchup. He's a great player, and he's going to make things hard for me. I'm going to try to do my best to stop him because I know he's one of the main players for them," Tavares concluded.

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