From touching epic glory in the Euroleague final to one of the most resounding failures remembered at Real Madrid. From Athens to the series against Tenerife, 15 days of nightmare. The first year of Sergio Scariolo ends empty-handed, three lost finals and an unexpected and very tough elimination in the quarterfinals of the Liga Endesa that he dominated. Total disappointment in contrast to the Canarian heroism, the penultimate lesson from Marcelinho Huertas, 43 years old, speechless. [95-107: Narration and statistics]
The victory of some will be remembered as much as the defeat of others. Because what La Laguna Tenerife achieved is as resounding as what Madrid lost is disappointing. The eighth seed, as broken by injuries as their rival, eliminating Scariolo’s team from the fight for the only title they had left, pure impotence. No one is saved from the disaster, a soulless group, broken by the three-pointers and individual plays of Patty Mills, the unexpected Yebo and, above all, the immense Huertas.
Nothing similar had happened since 2008 (precisely Scariolo, with his Unicaja against Madrid…) and the whites had not been left empty-handed for 16 years. Deadly precedents of a reality that demands reflection. Tenerife poked at the wound, had a fantastic afternoon at the Palacio and turned the Liga Endesa upside down.
What no one could believe slowly brewed, especially after returning from the locker room. Tenerife endured the physical battle and let loose, as if the Palacio were a dance floor, in the final stretch. And Madrid, the team of impossible comebacks, completely blocked. No trace of their leaders, neither Campazzo, nor Hezonja nor anyone. When Yebo, a center recently signed due to Shermadini‘s arrhythmia, grabbed his umpteenth rebound and scored with two and a half minutes left, it was all over.
Having accepted (and forgotten) the review of the second game, Txus Vidorreta‘s team arrived at the Palacio with the poise of decisive matches, those that remain in memory, those opportunities that don’t come around so often. Aware of their virtues and their flaws, few like them in knowing how to enhance the former and hide the latter. The appropriate script demanded a dawn that marked territory, that warned Madrid that it was not going to be easy. And so it was. A shower of signature three-pointers, Doornekamp, at 40 years old, like a machine gun. Only Hezonja (the first 10 white points were his) was able to weather the storm.
Very soon a tense, physical game, full of blows and protests, was revealed. A final. Madrid reacted with the energy of the second unit, infected by the warrior fervor of Andrés Feliz, capable of driving Marcelinho himself crazy. Vidorreta was already boiling. A 9-0 run and a couple of good plays from Kramer gave the first local advantages (31-27), but from there until halftime, with Mills’ electricity (nine points in a blink), Tenerife recovered with clear intentions. Huertas’ wisdom and Yebo’s speed in the paint were impossible for a Madrid team worse with their starters.
The level was not going to drop, even more on the edge when Huertas pulled a two-handed three-pointer out of his hat at the shot clock buzzer, when after returning from the locker room Tenerife found themselves with the maximum lead (47-54) and the ball. And there, in that abyss, Madrid’s competitive rage appeared, a 9-0 run based on defense, steals, counterattacks and, finally, a three-pointer from Campazzo. They saved the first trouble and imposed their physicality, but Vidorreta’s team, dedicated to a heroic Marcelinho, was far from surrendering.
Quite the opposite, they raised the stakes with their perimeter recipe. Sastre, Mills, Yebo, Huertas… Baskets like daggers against the opponent’s endurance, against the nerves that appeared, so close to disaster: 79-89 with less than five minutes left. There was no room for a miracle, Tenerife did not falter. Madrid, the team that almost touched the 12th European Cup in OAKA, the one with the signings, Scariolo’s team, Hezonja’s team… will not even be in the ACB semifinals.