Sunday, May 26, 2024 | Updated 05/27/2024 00:15h.
Comment
Copy link
X
Telegram
Berlin looked like the OAKA and crowned Sloukas king of Europe. The Panathinaikos fans opened the doors of their Olympus to the player they reviled until last summer. «It was a risk but, could there be any better story than mine? He asked himself with the MVP in his hand. The eccentric president Giannakopoulos gave him a blank check and the Greek point guard, who lost last year’s final against the Madrid of Llull’s miracles, left the whites on the verge of their twelfth European Cup.
Real Madrid
Campazzo (12), Musa (15), Hezonja (8), Ndiaye (8) and Tavares (4)—the starting quintet—; Causeur (2), Yabusele (6), Rudy Fernandez (-), Llull (6), Sergio Rodriguez (11) and Poirier (8).
80
–
95
Panathinaikos
Nunn (21), Grant (11), Papapetrou (4), Mitoglou (8) y Lessort (17) —quinteto inicial—; Sloukas (24), Grigonis (-), Kalaitzakis (2), Juancho Hernangómez (5), Vildoza (3) and Antetokounmpo (-).
After a dream first quarter, Chus Mateo’s team lost its footing between the heat of the clover and the mist of the atmosphere, with thousands of excited Athenians in the stands and collapsed in the second half. With fourteen minutes of failures in the triple (0 of 10), shaken by the fouls of Tavares, Campazzo and Poirier, and the disappearance of Hezonja and Musa as outside references, the eternal Sergios, Llull and Chacho lost the duel against Sloukas and the tactical mastery of Ataman.
The controversial coach reaffirms himself as one of the best coaches today. His three Euroleague titles in four seasons put him on par with the greatest. Still ahead is Sloukas, the MVP of the final with 24 points without a field goal error (he only missed one free throw). The 34-year-old helmsman became the second player in history to become European champion with three different teams, something that until yesterday only Sarunas Jasikevicius could boast of. The Greek served as Spanoulis’ lieutenant in the 2012 and 2013 titles, triumphed with Obradovic’s Fenerbahce in 2017 and yesterday won the crown with the team he tortured so many times in his ten years in Piraeus.
Precisely the shadow of the Serbian, the most successful coach in European basketball, had been planning since the previous decade in the upper neighborhood of Athens. Obradovic, coach of five of the six stars that until yesterday surrounded the Panathinaikos shield, became a myth and left, giving way to a thirteen-year absence from the Euroleague final. More than a stormy decade of loud waste, languishing squads, crises, shameful episodes and open war against the longest-serving player in the top competition, Jordi Bertomeu.
Dimitris Giannakopoulos officially gave up his position and took it back to make a high-quality team and celebrate the proud return of the club team on the court. They recovered from an overwhelming start by Madrid, with eight points from the young Ndiaye and ten from Musa, and began to balance the final from the inside game. Lessort won the duel against Poirier, with Tavares on the bench punished for fouls, and Real Madrid suffered from a defensive effort that would lead to defeat.
A triple by Vildoza (46-45), rescued from anonymity by Nunn’s personnel, culminated an 18-5 run with which the Hellenic squad overcame the initial disadvantage. Panathinaikos were infallible from long distance (12 out of 22) and Madrid, at the moment of truth, only found Llull and Chacho. The Minorcan scored two triples in a row (71-73) and that is when the umpteenth miracle of an improved squad this year with Campazzo was foreseen. But there was barely room to imagine it. An imperial Sloukas responded with another pair of triples, the Argentine point guard was eliminated and Nunn completed the festive atmosphere for the Athenians. The meringues did not get a response and handed over the spoon two minutes before the end.
The curse of finishing first in the regular phase persists. Chus Mateo’s team, who complained about the level of refereeing, were looking for the perfect Euroleague, with a record of victories in the first phase (27), but ended up giving in to a volcanic team, capable of the best and the worst. The result symbolized a change of cycle in Spanish basketball. Juancho Hernangómez, with just a few minutes after his return from the NBA, was proclaimed European club champion the day Rudy said goodbye to the Euroleague.
Olympiacos, third
Three hours earlier, Olympiacos won (87-84) in the tortuous third and fourth place match. The Greeks dominated the first twenty minutes and held on to their advantage thanks to the shooting of Alec Peters (21.5 points and 10 of 13 in the Final Four). The relaxation in the last minutes caused a scare in the final seconds. Sanli tied the game with a three-pointer just a few tenths of a second after the final horn.
The bad news for Olympiacos occurred almost a thousand kilometers away. Keenan Evans, Zalgiris point guard with his transfer tied to the Piraeus team, suffered an injury to his left knee. A player who suffered a torn Achilles tendon two seasons ago needed help to get off the court. “He doesn’t look good,” said coach Trinchieri.
Comment Report a bug
2024-05-26 22:15:29
#Final #Sloukas #exhausts #Real #Madrids #miracles
