|
|
The Club Scene: Real Madrid
|
 Real Madrid has the biggest story of all European basketball teams. Not only have "The Whites", as they are known in the Spanish capital, lifted the European title more than any other team on the continent, eight times. They have also won 28 Spanish Leagues and 22 Spanish Cups, giving them a trophy collection that rivals any basketball club, and a legendary status worldwide to match. Nevertheless, few people have stopped to think about those seasons, such as the current one, in which Real Madrid did not make it to the top European competition. While this season's team still has good chances to advance in the ULEB Cup from Group A, where it is fighting head-to-head with Breil Milano, Lukoil Academic and the Opel Skyliners, history is on Real Madrid's side. That's because, in another feature of the club's remarkable history, every time Real Madrid has played in any other competition different than the Euroleague, they have always reached the finals.
European club championships, under different formats and names, have been going on for 47 years since the first edition in 1957-58, and Real Madrid has only missed the main continental competition 11 seasons, including the current one. Only in the 1959-60 season, when there was no second-level competition to join, was Real Madrid out of the European scene. The next season in which Madrid did not qualify for the top competition was 1981-82, when it took part in the Cup Winners' Cup, losing the final game 95-96 against Cibona Zagreb, led by Aleksandar Petrovic and veteran legend Kresimir Cosic, who still managed to dominate in the paint. Two years after that, in 1983-84, Madrid joined the same competition and clinched its first Cup Winners' Cup by beating Simac Milano, led by Mike D'Antoni and Dino Meneghin, 82-81 with key last-second free throws by sharp shooter Brian Jackson. Later on, in 1987-88, Madrid reached the two-game Korac Cup finals against Cibona Zagreb, led by Drazen Petrovic, who scored 47 points in Zagreb, but could not prevent Madrid from lifting the trophy.
The following season, 1988-89, Petrovic joined Madrid and led his former opponent and new team to win the Cup Winners' Cup by beating Snaidero Caserta, 117-113 in overtime, in arguably the best game European basketball has ever witnessed. Petrovic led Real Madrid with 62 points, while Oscar Schmidt and Nando Gentile had 44 and 35, respectively, for Snaidero. Madrid didn't make the Euroleague for the next three seasons, either, but always managed to reach the finals in another European competition. Michael Ray Richardson stopped Madrid from winning the 1990-91 Cup Winners' Cup, which they lost 79-74 to Knorr Bologna, while Pace Mannion and Roosevelt Bouie led Cantu over Real Madrid in the 1991-92 Korac Cup finals. Real Madrid took over next season against PAOK Salonica, beating them 65-63 in the Cup Winners' Cup final with a buzzer-beater jumper by Ricky Brown. Finally, the last whole season in which Real Madrid was out of the top competition was 1996-97, in which Dejan Bodiroga, Alberto Herreros and coach Zeljko Obradovic took the team to Saporta Cup victory against Riello Verona, 78-64.
Real Madrid is facing the final two games in Group A with another advantage besides history: Madrid only depends on itself to make it to the next round. If Madrid can advance, of course, that history will make it a really dangerous opponent to any team in the ULEB Cup. It is not only all the trophies they won, but what they have been able to do every year they have been out of the top competition at clubs level.
|
Friday, November 14, 2003
Javier Gancedo, ULEBcup.com
|
|