Real Madrid certifies its rampant crisis in Belgrade

Euroleague

day 20That's how it was

Red Star

65 62

Finalized

Real Madrid

Real Madrid is stiff.

Dry and unwise as he is not remembered in the 11 years of the Laso era.

In the mythical Sala Pionir (now the Aleksandar Nikolić pavilion), two kilometers from the Stark Arena —where the Final Four will be played between May 19 and 21 (after the Euroleague moved the event from Berlin to Belgrade) and where the whites conquered the Décima in 2018—, the madridista team certified a galloping crisis.

Between mistake and mistrust, between physical thickness and mental blockage, the duel against Red Star became another ode to folly (with a scandalous 9 of 37 triples and 16 turnovers) of a team unhappy to the point of calamity , until the final 65-62.

Thus came the ninth loss for Laso's team in the last 16 games, the seventh in the last 10. The 100th for the coach from Vitoria in the Euroleague.

Symbolic number for a deep pothole.

A collapse occurred in a month and a half of rising haze.

45 days of black cloud in which, trying to stop a superior Barça, Laso's men gradually lost their rhythm, their ideas, their solidity, their style, their aim, their automatisms and their solvency.

Llull played the last possession, but the triple that would have forced extra time did not touch the rim.

The ball flew in free fall, like Madrid these days.

In the rescheduled Round 20 clash between @kkcrvenazvezda and @RMBaloncesto, the home side pulled out an impressive 65-62 to keep them well in the playoff race

Highlights... pic.twitter.com/ZaX02Qn3zV

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 8, 2022

Laso's team, which until January 23 led the ACB and the Euroleague and had combined a sequence of 21 wins in 22 games, has now become an unrecognizable team in substance and form, in play and sensations .

Williams-Goss, Abalde, Hanga, Yabusele and Tavares appeared tense in Belgrade, as applied as they were misguided (0 of 6 in triples in the first six minutes, 6 of 21 in field goals in the first quarter) in a starting quintet of stiff faces.

However, Laso's men had the virtue of tying Kalinic up short (two points at the break) and, with that and mastery of the rebound, they began to compete among the thicket (16-15, m. 10).

But attitude was not enough.

Neither Poirier on the inside nor Rudy on the outside found the necessary points to grease the machinery in the relays.

Just two three-pointers by Llull and another two by Thompkins (4 of 20 by then) brought some relief to the brittle morale of the Madrid team, who once again reissued their traffic jam facing the rival hoop (31-26, m. 17).

The oversights of Heurtel and Williams-Goss certified the nerves in the engine room and showed the seams of the visiting side, who arrived at intermission with 11 assists and 10 turnovers in statistics, and more doubts than certainties in their roadmap.

Another picture of dilemmas and anxiety, with many errors in released shots, repeated failures of concentration, lack of solidity and lack of continuity.

To recover from the defeat in the Cup final against Barça (59-64) —the third against the azulgrana in less than a month— and the historic collapse in Kaunas against Zalgiris (68-47; the worst score of the whites in the Euroleague), Madrid had 10 days without competing.

Without noise, to escape from the couch and the stretcher.

“The team was a bit exhausted and needed to recharge their batteries”, acknowledged Laso on the eve of the league match against Baskonia on Sunday.

“We have trained very well.

This time has been worth us to remember things, rest and recharge energies.

Now we have to endorse it”, explained the Madrid coach.

However, far from marking a turning point, his team certified the acute crisis with another puncture (72-80).

A quagmire that becomes more serious as the photo approaches: with Belgrade, there are already nine defeats in the last 16 games, eight in the last 13, seven in the last 10... Data that includes four consecutive defeats in the Euroleague ( with only 57 points in favor on average), and four league defeats in a row at WiZink, the highest figure in the Laso era.

The Whites did not lose more than three games at home in the ACB in any of the previous 10 seasons.

There are already five in this one: Gran Canaria, Barça, Andorra, Valencia and Baskonia.

An unprecedented sequence marked by the stress that Jasikevicus's hegemonic command in the Clásico entails for the madridistas (there are already 10 wins in 13 duels —including six victories in as many visits to the Madrid stadium—) and the growth of the culé showcase .

A hole from the triple

The Cup that the whites won in February 2020 in Malaga, on Campazzo's bike, opened up an abyss.

That conquest is still the last

of the whites.

Since then, two years ago, two Super Cups for them and two Cups and a League for Barça.

An imbalance accentuated in direct duels this season.

Based on chest blows, Laso's men managed to compete in the Granada final, but the blanket that sheltered a brave defense could not cover an alarmingly weak attack.

Among the nine defeats in just over a month, three with starving figures: with 51, 59 and 47 points (and two more in the 60-point range).

With a hole in the perimeter: 6 of 30 three-pointers against Fenerbahçe, 4 of 23 against Barça, and 1 of 15 against Zalgiris respectively (4 of 24 on Sunday against Baskonia, with 48 points at stake and 24 free throws ).

Against Estrella Roja, 9 of 37 in triples (24%), with five hits by Llull and 0 of 7 by Rudy.

In Belgrade, Laso's men only reacted when they found themselves facing another abyss.

From 42-34 in minute 25 to 43-42 with which the third quarter closed.

With Williams-Goss out of action, after taking a blow to his left hand, and Abalde, Yabusele and Thompkins weighed down by three fouls.

With Tavares as eternal but insufficient sustenance.

An ordeal in which the Madrid triples crashed into the hoop (or not even that) and the free kicks were celebrated almost like penalty goals due to the alarming lack of success and fluidity.

Dobric responded to Yabusele's three-pointer with another whiplash that allowed Estrella Roja to stretch their dominance in a leaden duel (55-48, m. 34).

Llull and Abalde hit two triples that turned the 57-50 into a 57-56, but six points from Davidovac (four from the free throw) left everything as it was (63-56 at 1m 20s).

Llull himself quickly fouled Ivanovic, who scored the two free throws.

And once again Llull played the last possession.

The Menorcan raised the ball, who launched a forced triple after contact with Davidovac at the exit of the blockade.

The referees did not whistle anything.

At Madrid the leads jumped again first and the alarms later.

A galloping crisis with 9 losses in the last 16 games.

45 days that have transformed a solid, expert and solvent team into an unrecognizable group, overwhelmed and out of focus like never before.

Despite such a sequence, Madrid is second in the Euroleague (20-7 to Barça's 21-5) and first in the ACB (17-5 to Barça's 16-4, with the best winning percentage).

On Thursday, Milan from Messina and Sergio Rodríguez arrive at the Palace to measure the Madridista fever.

You can follow EL PAÍS DEPORTES on