With 16 down (56-72) and 13 minutes to go in the game, Sergio Rodríguez took to the court. The point guard, who was one of the engines that ignited the comeback in the tie in Belgrade, also I was going to be the commander who would lead the Madrid ship to a good port in the fifth game of the series. For it had two lieutenants with which it has been hardened in a thousand battles: Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez. were minutes of deja vu in the Palace of Sports. Spectators rubbed their eyes. For a moment no one knew if it was in 2023 or 2013, when the still young project led by Pablo Laso began to dominate Europe with the same three surnames at the helm. Rodríguez, Llull and Fernández.
More than a decade has passed since the three met for the first time on a basketball court wearing the Real Madrid jersey. Went to end of 2011, when the lockout of the NBA allowed the white team to have Rudy for a few weeks. That brief passage through the Spanish capital was going to be an incoming. The main dish would be served from the following year, in the 2012-13 season. Rudy settled in Spain and the three would share dressing rooms for four years, until in 2016 Chacho would try again to make the Americas. At that time he had just turned 30 years old. Rudy was 31 and Llull was 28. Together they had lifted 3 Leagues, 3 Copas del Rey, 3 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Intercontinental Cup and, of course, 1 Euroleague. The Jewel in the crown of Laso’s first stage on the bench.
Now add more than 100 years between the three and the passing of the minutes, the injuries, the fatigue, the age… are factors that keep the three from being far from their most glorious moments as players. The season is not being easy for any of the three. the chacho He returned to Madrid in the summer to try to give stability and seniority to a base position that had become lame, but averages less than 15 minutes per match. rudythe oldest of the three, weighed down by injuries, he has lost 44 of the 74 games that Madrid has played so far. AND lullwho ailments do not allow him to pick up rhythm, he is posting his worst scoring numbers since 2008. these three mencloser to retirement than to their zenith as players, once again lit up the WiZink Center in a way that only the greatest can.
The last quarter of the three white legends, three of the best Spanish players in history with all of the law, It was for framing. Chacho’s 13 points to boost his team, in addition to his assists and his pace of play. Llull’s triples to confirm the surprise to Partizan, two stab wounds in the rival’s morale, at the moment that hurt the most, that nobody knows how to give like him. Without forgetting the fundamental defense of him on the star of the Serbs, Kevin Punter. And, last but not least, Rudy’s quartermaster, who without scoring a single point was the soul of the team with his defensive intelligence, his steals and his attacking rebounds. A combination of factors that is increasingly difficult to see, but that appeared yesterday at the best possible time.