In times of international scandals, there is an Argentine who is recognized and distinguished in Spain. He is Facundo Campazzo, Real Madrid point guard and recently elected Most Valuable Player of the Endesa League in that country.
The 33-year-old from Córdoba is breaking it in his return season with the Madrid team, in search of the quadruple crown: they have already won the Copa del Rey and the Endesa Super Cup and are classified for the semi-finals in the League playoffs and the Final Four of the coveted Euroleague, which will have him in action this Friday against Olympiacos of Greece.
“I feel good physically, good in the head, I feel very good in confidence individually and collectively. We come from a very long but good season, showing a lot of level. When the team is good, each individuality rises,” said the point guard. Tuesday at the press day of the highest international basketball competition at the club level.
“In the end this is a team sport and when the team is good each individual plays at their best. I feel very good, with a lot of confidence, and I owe that to my teammates and the coach. Personally I always want to give things to the team, make decisions in the best way, play for the player who is on fire at that moment, have good defenses, spread energy and heart,” added the former Peñarol de Mar del Plata.
Real finished first in the round-robin phase of the Euroleague (27 wins and 7 losses) and entered the Final Four after eliminating Baskonia (8th placed) winning a best-of-five series 3-0. For its part, Olimpiacos (5th) left out Nico Laprovíttola’s Barcelona (4th) in a very tight series that was only defined in the fifth game, with a Greek victory 63-59.
This Friday’s clash will be played at the Uber Arena in Berlin – home of the Final Four – from 4 p.m. (Argentine time; DSports television) and will serve as a reissue of the last Euroleague final, when Real won 79-78 with an agonizing double from the Spanish Sergio Llull.
Campazzo was not yet with the team, since he was playing for Red Star of Serbia, his first club after his time in the NBA (Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks). Less than a month after the European title he confirmed his return to the “White House” where he had already played between 2014-15 and 2017-19. Asked about how he has changed between his previous stage and the current one, the two-time Euroleague champion (2015 and 2018) expressed: “The difference is two years of experience. I have the same desire to win titles and the desire to want represent this shirt, because when you put on this shield you have responsibility and pressure. That leads you to fight for important things.
Facu was also chosen as a member of the Euroleague ideal quintet. His averages are 11.7 points (3rd on the team), 6.5 assists (2nd in the tournament), 2.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals (5th in the tournament) in 35 games played. It is worth remembering that only two Argentines were chosen as MVP of the Final Four, Manu Ginobili in 2001 with Kinder Bologna and Chapu Nocioni in 2015 with Real.
“The year has been good. We had a very good beginning of the regular phase in which we seemed unbeatable, but the good thing is that we never believed it. Nor did we believe ourselves irregular when things were not going well. We knew the things we could do when We were fine and we threw ourselves into work. That was seen throughout the season,” concluded the player who shares the team with Santiago’s Gabriel Deck, who will not be able to play due to a torn ligament in his right knee.
The other semi will face Luca Vildoza’s Panathinaikos (2nd) and Turkish Fenerbahce (6th), also this Friday but from 1 p.m. The final will be played on Sunday the 26th, with a time to be defined and the possibility of a duel between Argentines. Campazzo, like Deck, are two of only six albicelestes to be European champions. The other four are the aforementioned Manu and Chapu, and two other stars of the Golden Generation, Hugo Sconochini (Bologna 1998 and 2001) and Pepe Sánchez (Panathinaikos 2002).
2024-05-21 16:51:17
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