Last season for Real Madrid was marked by a series of serious injuries and the failure to qualify for the Euroleague Final Four, but also to win the title in Spain. There Barcelona came back stronger, winning the double and throwing their eternal opponent to the canvas with 6 consecutive wins in an equal number of duels inside and outside the borders.

The “queen” was left with winning the Supercopa at the beginning of the season (in the only game Barça beat) and after the triumphant 2-0 win in favor of the Catalans in the ACB final, many spoke of the end of the season for the top team that Pablo Lasso made .

They forgot that injuries crushed Real throughout the season, who lost successively to Kozer, Yul and Rudy, saw Randolph play until December (when he tore his Achilles tendon and was out) while joining the Trey Tombkins in May. As if all of that wasn’t enough, Facudo Cabasso made the move to the NBA straight out of the start of the year, while following the end of the regular season in the Euroleague, Gabriel Deck’s route to the USA was taken!

Lasso had to adjust his plans two or three times in the same season, finally playing 18-year-old Usman Karouba (No. 23) a few months before his call-up and placing the immature Tristan Vukcevic in the Euroleague playoffs.

The truth is that the 55-year-old coach had both reinforcement and gradual renewal of Real’s squad in mind. Carroll has already retired, Reges too, Yul and Rudy are slowly approaching the end of their careers and with Madrid’s infrastructure being the most attractive destination for any young basketball player in Europe, there are a handful of players who are ready for anything.

CSKA’s defeat in Madrid, when Real were decimated by the coronavirus but beat the Russians with 17-year-old Slovenian Klavjar, is proof. But Lasso does not trust (and does well) only the children of the second group.

Since last year he had added Vincent Poirier to replace Tavares while this year he trusted two Barcelona players. The ‘unruly’ Tomas Hertel, sidelined by Jasikevicius last year, and the dynamic Adam Hanka, also sacked by the ‘Blaugrana’ (Barça favored Nicolas Laprovitola, left by Real in an unprecedented summer of alternations). He brought with him to Madrid Nigel Williams-Goss, the former Olympiacos playmaker who went through the NBA without much success.

The key signing of the summer was, of course, Gerson Jabuzelle, who now looks like a photocopy of Boris Dio after last year’s superb season with Villeurbanne. Not just the physique, but also the many things he does on the pitch.

Somehow Real took the lead in the Spanish league, with 13 wins in 17 games so far, the second-best record in Lasso’s 11 years (17-0 lead in 2013/14 season) and following in the footsteps of Barcelona’s Euroleague races. The Catalans have 16-4 and the Madrid follow with 15-3. Real need to turn the tables because this year they lost in a European derby (93-80 in Barcelona), while their only win came in the final of this year’s Supercopa (88-83).

They returned with three additional weapons

In his bid to dominate again in Spain and return to at least the last four, Real will have three extra weapons among the 10 European trophies. The two players who were badly injured last season but also the one who left Madrid for Oklahoma City come back stronger and now make the Queen almost invincible.

Ένα Almost a year after the Achilles tendon rupture at the Peace and Friendship Stadium, Anthony Randolph stepped on the floor again. The American, who scored in the 12/18/2020 match against Olympiakos at SEF, returned wealthy and healthy on 12/14/2021, scoring 13 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in the Real-Alba 87-64 game.

Last week against Baskonia he was even better with 12 points. and so many more rebounds in twelve and a half minutes of participation: “I’m trying to find the presses and rhythm that will get me in the state I want. I will have ups and downs, but I believe that eventually I will stabilize my performance‘ commented the 33-year-old American.

Needless to say, the 2.11 forward height is important, making Real’s already granite frontline even stronger. Very good when Randolph plays defense over the hoops with his huge hands, he has plastic movements and of course terrible long-range shots (38.5% career percentage in threesomes).

✒ But he is not alone. Back on the Ramparts has been found Trey Tombkins (32:2:08) who was doubted that he would no longer play basketball! The American had an arthroscopy last May. Real gave no details about the operation, but the fact that it was the left knee, which was problematic when he (didn’t) play for the Clippers (2011-13), led to endless paraphilology about his return.

However, Tombkins returned. Against Basconia (15/1) he played in a match after eight months and scored 10 points with 4/7 shots: “I’m tired from training“said Tombkins happily after the game, adding:”I had a long way to go, it was very difficult not to be next to my teammates, neither on the field nor on the plane“.

Lasso also smiled after the game when he saw another player who lost last year return. Suddenly, the ‘4’ position played by Tombkins became Real’s main battle tank, considering Randolph also plays there, but Yabouzele also plays if need be.

✒ But Lasso had the opportunity to get his… blood fully back. The opportunity to take him again Gabriel Deck appeared to him suddenly (when the player left last year) as the Argentine stood between wear and tear until the Thunder finally erased him from this season’s squad.

Deck was besieged by CSKA and Efes, but he was sure he would return to where he knew it best. Real are ready to sign a contract with him until the end of 2024 and the dynamic striker, who plays equally well in both ‘3’ and ‘4’, is ready to become a protagonist again.

Lasso managed to drop his nail for deck picks last year: “The only problem is that he has been a regular basketball player since last August when he played for the Argentina national team at the Olympics“Obviously the 17 games he’s played in the NBA aren’t to be taken seriously by the Real Madrid coach!

Deck’s transfer is expected to be announced later this week.

All about Mirotic

Real is getting powerful now. Writing down the names of your players, if all are available, will make Lasso a headache in forming the dozen. Attention: The Madrid team has Hertel, Goss, Yul, Alosen, Rudy, Abalde, Koser, Hanga and the power forward centers of Yabouzele, Randolph, Tombkins, Deck, Tavares and their power forward centers. Two have to stay outside.

The strength in “3” and “4” is there and Real’s strong response to Nikola Mirotic. The player who makes the difference for Barcelona. This time it will not have such an open field. The Clasico now takes on another dimension and on the 23rd of the month, in the duel between the two teams at the Wizink Arena, it takes on an even more special color. Unless the coronavirus manages to postpone it as Mirotic and Tavares have already been declared positive cases.