Everything that Sergio Scariolo could not achieve in a long season, Pedro Martínez has accomplished in a couple of weeks. A title for Real Madrid, the 100th in its history, more than a year after the ACB in Valencia with Chus Mateo. Putting this novel and strange European Supercup into perspective, it is not something to celebrate wildly, but neither to undervalue. Above all, it is a joy, a great way to start an era. In how he defeated Olympiacos in the final at the Etihad Arena lie the first strokes of what the veteran Catalan coach wants to achieve. [89-93: Commentary and statistics]
A small great revenge and many smiles. And 31 assists. And no protagonist above the rest. Andrés Feliz was decisive, a guy who seems fundamental for what Pedro Martínez intends. Jaime Pradilla was tremendous throughout the tournament, as if he had been wearing white all his life. Campazzo was good in the final (nine assists), although having to shoot threes almost out of obligation does not seem to suit him very well. Tavares was key (MVP) – with him in the Athens final… – and some of the new signings, like Luwawu-Cabarrot or Jantunen, also stood out. All that to finish, not without suffering, with Olympiacos.
New tournament, the usual final. Or almost usual. An Olympiacos – Real Madrid is a classic, the great continental rivalry of recent years. Nothing better to inaugurate this Supercup in Abu Dhabi, as luxurious as it is lacking in substance.
Madrid is in the early steps of a path that demands urgency, that of adapting to the basketball proposed by Pedro Martínez. Different, aggressive, brave, and frenetic. It can be fun or it can be chaos. On his board, those who don’t shoot are punished. Those who don’t fly are not welcome. Not all profiles are suitable. Bartzokas’ Olympiacos proposes almost the opposite. There is no better touchstone.
This could be seen in the first half, clearly dominated by the whites. Not even seven minutes had passed and Pedro Martínez had already used his 12 men (this time Llull was not one of the discards and Damian Jones debuted with good notes). Bartzokas barely moved the bench throughout the first quarter. Fournier, his reference, and Jean Montero, his star signing, took almost 10 minutes to appear.
Madrid ran, shot, clearly dominated the rebound, and only turnovers weighed down their good performance. They led by 10 on a couple of occasions. Another problem was Tavares’ third foul and the way Fournier gradually took over the scene. With the appearance of Ndiaye, one of the Athenian reinforcements, by halftime the advantage had practically vanished (43-47).
Despite two consecutive threes from Deck, Olympiacos was now the one dominating the scene. These were the worst minutes for the whites. Their first disadvantages arrived and Luwawu-Cabarrot committed his fourth foul early. A 2-11 run, with Maledon at the helm and Pradilla becoming important again, kept Madrid afloat before the moment of truth.
That reaction was important, as was the 7-0 start in the final quarter. The double-digit lead returned to the scoreboard (72-82) and Olympiacos advanced erratically and with little of their usual cunning. Two baskets from Feliz were decisive, because Fournier and Vezenkov insisted on pushing the duel to the limit.