Youth player Eli Ndiaye brightens Madrid’s morning

Madrid, which reserved troops and saved some energy for what lies ahead (Efes, Milan and Baskonia in just six days), continues as sole leader of the ACB after defeating a Surne Bilbao Basket (86-65) they rioted out. The precaution did not prevent Williams-Goss from suffering a muscle problem in a thigh in the sixth minute that could lead him to miss a game, although it is still pending evaluation. Chus Mateo’s men won two quarters and lost the other two, but in the second and third they swept: 53-26. So the last one was left over and the first one was left in a (very) bad start already forgotten (11-15), in which the Whites lost seven balls and missed 12 of their 16 shots. With Hanga at the helm and then Sergio Rodríguez in express contribution (8 points and 4 assists in 13:53), more Abalde, Deck and a fantastic Eli John Ndiaye (14 points and 4 rebounds in 19:49), Real reversed the trend and took off to victory. The third act was that of Causeur (12 of his 16 goals then), well accompanied by Chacho.

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Neither Yabusele nor Tavares entered the call after having gone through physical problems (knee and ankle, respectively), so Abalde returnedwho was left out against Valencia, and, above all, Eli Ndiaye, 18 years old. What Madrid needed, a player involved, hungry and physical who would give the team an extra in one of those interwar gamesbetween a double day of the Euroleague, the last one, and another mounted on the march after the relocation of the postponed against Efes (this Tuesday in Istanbul) and the visit on Thursday of Armani Milan, which has chained six wins.

Let’s go back to Ndiaye, her presence as five with Abalde and Deck on the court, he launched for the whites. The youth player helped a lot to change the pace with his activity, his falls towards the hoop and his hit. At 7:15 of the second quarter he had 10 points without a miss on a 3-pointer and 15 PIR. Madrid, who had gone from losing 9-15 to winning 34-22 (partial 25-7), then got on track for victory. A section that shows that Ndiaye is there to lend a hand, at least in the League. The merengue bench crushed a Surne Bilbao as willful as it was fair in resources, and even more so if Adam Smith isn’t fine. The weight of the rotation, which with performances like Ndiaye’s (and also for financial reasons, of course) forces us to ask questions: Is it worth maintaining squads of 15 players or more and chips close to a million euros in a hypothetical third quintet? Or would it be preferable to leave a little more space, a couple of licences, for younger players? The answer is difficult and giving it today can be advantageous. What is unquestionable in all the candidates to win the Euroleague is that the increase in income in the last ten years does not balance the increase in the wage bill of the squads, forced up by the greater number of matches.

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Before raising the debate, Madrid had already ended the clash, they did so definitively in the third quarter, when between Chacho (8) and Causeur (12) they accumulated 20 points to double their rival in those 10 minutes (26-13) and put the +23: 64-41. Now, the carousel of failures and losses (6) was carried out by the men in black. Only Álex Reyes and Kyser saw some hoop. Ndiaye was returning and he gave the stands another couple of very good offensive actions: a movement with his back and a dunk.

Bilbao Basket, while preventing the deficit from going much further than 20 goals, was already thinking about its imminent trip to Turkey, where it will face Darussafaka in the FIBA ​​Champions League this Tuesday, and in the visit to Miribilla del Girona on next Sunday. In the last seven league games, six defeats. He is moving away from the playoff, although he is still in a comfort zone. Madrid will close the week on Sunday at the WiZink Center against its black beast, Baskonia: three duels three defeats. The current one fires her again as a solo leader.