Guershon Yabusele, the burly French winger who received a five-match ban in the Euroleague, is as good at judo as he is at showing muscle to save the furniture at a Real Madrid that flirted with disaster. His 27 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 recoveries (37 rating) led the white team to the third game with a 1-1 draw. La Penya missed Kyle Guy’s three-pointers this time (only 1 in 5 attempts).
After Tuesday’s surprise, Real Madrid needed an intimidating start. Thanks to a gigantic Yabusele, he challenged the Youth. The seasoned French had a brutal start that was a preview of what he would offer: with two free throws, a layup, a block and a triple he put a deterrent 7-0. El Joventut wanted to cut back with the triples, but this time it didn’t count on Tuesday’s huge hit from a missing Kyle Guy. A far cry from his festival numbers from the first game (8 three-pointers) or against Baskonia (9), the American escort received a suffocating defense and took 25 minutes to score the first three-pointer (48-48 in the 3rd quarter).
Joventut knew that winning at the Wizink Center happens once, but two in a row in two days is almost miraculous. Even so, the team from Badalona held the type in the first quarter (22-14) thanks to a heroic Joel Parra with his pirate eye with blue and patch (for a strong blow in the first game) with 8 points . The pearl of the green-and-black squad put the team on his back in a huge second quarter, hand in hand with Feliz (13 points in that second half). The two were the architects of the tsunami that ravaged Madrid in the 6m50s until the break: a devastating 7-20 half that brought a promising 36-40 to the intermission.
“We can’t stop defending, we are defending key men like Tomic and Guy well, but others are right”, lamented the Madrid coach, Chus Mateo, during the break to Movistar. However, Madrid lost the battle of rebounds (19-17) and had more turnovers (10-7); two key aspects.
That’s why when he came back from the dressing room he came out more aggressive and more revolutionary with Chacho RodrÃguez in charge. El Joventut withstood the blow and managed to lead until 56-59 (with 2m14s to go in the last quarter) thanks to the success of Elleson’s triples, making Guy without a success.
But it was a mirage. The 7-0 half-time (63-59 to close the third quarter) and the 12-4 at the start of the last, with Rudy Fernández’s three-pointer (75-63), finished melting the Catalan resistance . Yabusele completed his recital of power, seconded by Hezonja (15), and Joventut took 17 which does not reflect the 30 minutes of equality. Badalona now has the floor.
