Barça relives its European nightmare against Tavares’ Madrid

Barça returned to bite the dust in the Final Four for the third consecutive year. Tavares’s Madrid made him relive his European nightmare and dwarfed him, making him leave the field with a blush, just like what happened a year ago in Belgrade. The Barca project, designed to reign in the Euroleague, and placed with care in the hands of Jasikevicius, crashed helplessly (66-78). Madris will play the European title this Sunday against Olympiacos, Monaco’s executioner in the first semifinal (76-62).

In a semifinal intense in emotion and adrenaline, but not at stake, the character of Chus Mateo’s team prevailed, personalized in its three veterans, Chacho, Llull and Rudy, above talent and illusion, but above all in the figure of a giant like Tavares (20 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks and a PIR of 38) who made the absence of three key pieces in the white team anecdotal: Yabusele, Deck and Poirier. Quite the opposite happened at Barça, fearful, self-conscious, where Mirotic did not appear (3 points, 1 of 10 shooting), and where the centers, Sanli (did not score and 3 rebounds) and Vesely (4 points, 6 rebounds) were erased by the Cape Verdean.

Matthew’s plan

The initial script for the semifinal was very far from what Barça imagined and much closer to what Chus Mateo designed. Jasikekvicus’s bid to get Tavares away from the zone with Sanli as the starter did not work, nor did the presence of Vesely to cut the dominance of the white center’s rebound, who added 10 of his team’s 18 points and did not commit any fouls.

The two Barça pivots also took two fouls. Faced with the intimidation of Tavares, Barça failed to score a basket of two in the first ten minutes. The first came in an action in the second quarter by Jokubaitis, who in one of the match’s skirmishes received a blow and lost two pieces of his tooth, proof of dedication in each action.

The decision to use Ndiaye as Mateo’s starter also worked, clearing up the question of who would be Mirotic’s marker. The 18-year-old youth squad canceled out the Barça star who did not score a point in the first half. And if he resisted the good staging of Madrid, it was because of his impact from the triple. Six scored in the first quarter, three of them from Abrines without a miss. But Kalinic also joined the party. And that trend continued in the second quarter with the Barcelona rotations and the entry of Kuric.

Barça’s second unit worked much better, also with Tavares out, after adding two fouls, and Nnaji, who came on to give Vesely a breather, gave the team excellent minutes, to the point that Barça’s defense began to work. , while Madrid’s attack went into a drought, with three triples (two from Rudy and one from Hezonja) that didn’t even touch the hoop. The sum of positive actions ended up calming Jasikevicius’s team, which also found good minutes from Satoransky, powerful in all his penetrations to the basket, to stabilize with minimal advantages and reach the break ahead (42-36).

Chacho’s weight

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The game got very thick at the restart. Physical contact increased, defenses hardened and even came the first unsportsmanlike foul, in an action by Hanga on Vesely. But in that scenario, Barça lost their minds and fell into the rush. Without the guidance of Laprovittola and Mirotic, totally denied despite their attempts, Madrid got hooked on the fight again. Tavares gave him consistency and Hezonja the spark he needed and Chus Mateo’s team skyrocketed on the scoreboard with one of those partials that hurt, a 0-15 in favor, which led Barça to a 47-39 lead over a 47-54 against. The three-pointers from Kuric and Lapro, in the final stretch, gave the Catalans some air to face the last period (55-58).

In this scenario of maximum tension, Madrid sought the experience of its three veterans: Sergio Rodríguez, Llull and Rudy. And, the decision, could not be more accurate. Nine points in a row from Chacho gave Mateo’s team the margin (60-67) to enter the last minutes with confidence and, on the other hand, led Barça to despair, which fainted and sank its knee again, as if perpetuate a curse.