[SPORT] Baskonia, an extraordinary champion: knock out Barcelona and win the Endesa League

[YaKuZa--BoSs]

The Vitorians conquer the League a decade later after finishing in the final with the team of a disastrous Mirotic. Vildoza, MVP and hero from Vitoria with the basket that was the triumph at Fonteta

 

 

So extraordinary was the return of basketball that the Final Phase, which was an unrealizable dream just a few weeks ago, had to have an unusual solution. Baskonia is an extraordinary champion. His throne will be as legitimate as the previous three were, but 2020's will be unforgettable for so many things. For Vildoza's basket, for example. A team completely devastated before the break by the pandemic, which not even the Copa del Rey disputed, emerged triumphant from the Fonteta after plucking a Barcelona in the final that was stunned by the strength of the boys of Dusko Ivanovic, who played with the knife between the teeth, as if the same life were in the stake.

A decade without taking title to their mouths they had been in Vitoria, a journey in the desert that was too long and with no sign of rising in the future. Who would have told them that this was their chance, that old Dusko was going to come up with the formula again. That guys like Polonara or Vildoza -MVP of the final- were going to be their heroes to remember. The day they ruined a barça gafado again, without a trace of his star, without a soul the night they had the reconquest for which they spent millions and millions at the tip of their fingers

The physical demand was going to determine everything from dawn. Playing at the limit is the norm in modern basketball, where refereeing criteria determine so many things. But in the DNA of both fighters was that aggressiveness, the one that marks the palms of the hands hitting the ground, challenging, of Pierriá Henry. Or the ability to be in several places on the court at the same time as Víctor Claver. Barça only committed two fouls in the first quarter, where only their losses (six) penalized him. He survived on up to eight free throws, although extreme equality was the keynote.

In the duel of second units, Barça was going to take the palm at that time. Because Heurtel, increasingly similar to the one before from injuries that had ruined his season, is an absolute luxury from the bench, one of the bases with more capacity for imbalance and scoring on the continent. With Oriola in command of the defense - each Baskonista point was costing him a visit to the dentist - Pesic's men jumped in, spurred on by the genius of the Gallic base, who threatened to break the game with seven consecutive points for a threatening partial of 10-0. Until he asked for the change himself, exhausted, it was a real torment.

HEURTEL, UNBALANCING
The other imbalance was marked by the triples, just one in the entire first half of Vitoria, who erred in released positions. They did the rubber, fitting blows like those of Kuric, another who joined the party from the bench. And because Mirotic was not doing anything fine, night to forget, another final without shining. And because the offensive rebound, Diop's pure battle, gave them extra lives.

Such was the vigor of the duel that nothing showed. It was like going through a jungle, not a clean basket, or an offensive without hundreds of contacts. But sometimes, even in the mud, genius emerges. Two Vildoza triples returned the tie and, when the Baskonia fully climbed on the wave (43-47), Pesic returned Heurtel to the track, who in a few actions, triple included, had already returned the vital offensive signs to his equipment.

The Baskonia began to truly believe at the start of the final act, with a triple of a Janning that had been missing for too long. This is how the feats are written: Shields had an absolutely liberated triple that would have shaken the Valencian night and on the return another great guy appeared, six consecutive points of Higgins who, like Heurtel, were a drink of water in the desert. They contrasted with the final of the great star, a misguided, unrecognizable Mirotic, ruined by fouls, orphaning his team on the home straight.

And, however, Baskonia did not finish off a Barça that lost the step, which was only able to score 28 points in the entire second half. Forces were failing, teetering like newborn fawns after seven games in two weeks after three months in limbo. The only one with clear ideas was Heurtel, but the duel was condemned to pure agony. A Polonara triple ignited Ivanovic's, but Oriola's three free throws tied with 10 seconds to go.

Then, on a blackboard, the ball fell into the hands of the Italian, who suddenly found himself alone, under the basket, to Vildoza. Kuric's mistake was anthological. Higgins then desperately missed, with Heurtel oddly on the bench. And all Vitoria rubbed her eyes to burst with pure joy.