Not only Real Madrid is the defending champion, but it is the one team that is literally dominating this EuroLeague. Undefeated on its own court, Real Madrid lost once in Barcelona and once in Istanbul-Fenerbahce plus in Monte Carlo when the roster was decimated by absences. Generally they never had major problems even in emergency situations, overcoming the numerous absences of Gabriel Deck and Guerschon Yabusele, for example. In the last few games Real Madrid was without Sergio Llull and Edy Tavares but both should be available in Milan. Real Madrid is also preparing for the Final Eight of the Copa del Rey and would like to put minutes into the legs of its stars. The difficulty level of the game needs no clarification: Real Madrid has won 12 games by double-digit margins, six of them by more than twenty points. After the big win over Barcelona, Olimpia has suffered two painful defeats in Athens and Istanbul. Unfortunately, on the one hand the team continues to show quality (twenty times out of 25 they ended the first quarter ahead in scoring and the average is +3.1 points per game; Olimpia went ahead in Madrid too) and on the other hand they don’t maintain their leads and the third period syndrome sometimes has been paid dearly. However, this is a game that goes beyond the win-loss record. The game involves the most iconic team of European basketball, in a sold-out Forum. Sergio Rodriguez will be on the court to lead Real Madrid: even if it won’t be his first game back in Milan, that was celebrated a year ago, it will always be an emotionally touching moment for everyone here. Tip-off time will be on Thursday at 20:30.
THE REFEREES – Matej Boltauzer (Slovenia), Emin Mogulkoc (Turkey), Tomasz Trawicki (Poland)
COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “We face the defending champions and we intend to compete with great respect and humbleness for what they are and represent. At the same time we firmly want to improve the quality of our game for the entire 40 minutes and we will give our best to try to win a very prestigious game.”
REAL MADRID OUTLOOK – Facundo Campazzo, returning to Madrid, improved the guards play of Chus Mateo’s group and should be considered among the MVP candidates of the season. He averages 11.9 points per game and adds 6.5 assists. Real Madrid uses three players at the point man spot: in addition to Campzzo, there are Sergio Llull (8.4 points on average), who is the club record holder for points scored, and Sergio Rodriguez (4.1 points and 4.3 assists per game in 15 minutes of playing time). At the guard and small forward positions, there are countless solutions. Frenchman Fabien Causeur (5.8 points per game, 38.8 percent from three) has 14 appearances in the starting lineup. The Croatian Mario Hezonja was called up seven times (13.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game; 42.5 percent from three) who obviously can play as a small forward too. Argentine Gabriel Deck, who is a 3-4 player, averages 10.5 points per game on 63.8 percent on twos. Finally, Dzanan Musa, fresh from being named player of the month and having a contract extension, boasts 20 appearances in the starting lineup and top-notch numbers, i.e. 13.6 points per game, shooting over 60 percent from two and over 40 percent from three. There are also six appearances in the starting five for Alberto Abalde. Clearly what will be Mateo’s choices among the perimeter players are unpredictable. Campazzo and Musa are quite sure but the third man could be anyone. Rudy Fernandez is obviously also an integral part of the rotation (17.1 minutes of average playing time in the year in which he will turn 39). The situation among the big men is clearer. When Guerschon Yabusele was available he always played a lot at the power forward position, averaging almost 22 minutes with 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 48.5 percent shooting on threes. At center there is Edy Tavares (10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds on average as well as 1.6 blocks), a player with an overwhelming impact on both ends of the court. Frenchman Vincent Poirier is probably the best back up center in the entire competition (9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds on average). He is even more accurate than his teammate in shooting two-pointers (71 percent). The recovered Carlos Alocen among the guards and the young rising star Eli Ndiaye complete the team.
