A dominant offense and a fantastic defense, loads of experience and veteran leadership, a team-first mindset instilled in every single player and a comfortable lead atop the standings. Those are all Real Madrid's advantages so far in 2023-24 season.
Case for the Final Four: Real Madrid
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6 Mins read
Making the case to reach the Final Four for a reigning champion, which has won 22 of 26 games this season, a team that has all but clinched a playoff spot and has a four-win advantage atop the standing, does not appear that hard of a task.
Such is even more true when that team has dominated the current EuroLeague campaign both offensively and defensively the way the team in question, Real Madrid, has done this season.
Statistically dominant
After 26 rounds, Real impressively ranks first in scoring (89.0 ppg.), assists (21.2 apg.) and team PIR (108.3), second in rebounding (36.7 rpg.), two-point shooting (58.1%), three-point shooting (37.9%) and free throws shooting (81.4%). And that's just on offense.
On defense, Real leads the league in blocks (3.7 bpg.) and defensive rebounding (27.0 drpg.), also holds the opposition to the lowest two-point (49.6%) and third-lowest three-point (33.2%) percentages. It also holds opponents to 77.4 points per game, but without that 4OT game against Anadolu Efes Istanbul, where it allowed 126, that average would be nearly 2.0 points lower.
Of course, that season-long effort would be in vain if Los Blancos suffer a bad stretch at the wrong time of the season, like in a best-of-five playoff series.
However, there are many reasons to believe not only that the talent and quality of this team make these numbers and success sustainable through March, April and into May, but that Real Madrid is positioned to succeed come playoff time.
Veteran leadership
One of those reasons, of course, is the experience of the star-studded roster where every single player has won the title. Real Madrid players know how to win games, series and championships. And while the majority of the team's title-winning experience came last year, five players – Sergio Llull, Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez, Fabien Causeur and Walter Tavares - have won multiple EuroLeague crowns with Real.
Remember, that's the crew that lifted Real to the title last season after coach Chus Mateo trusted them with more minutes, especially at the end of the biggest games of the season.
Tavares was the Final Four MVP and arguably MVP of the entire 2023 playoffs. Rodriguez averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 assists at the Final Four, Causeur shined with 11 points in the championship game, while Fernandez's energy was unmatched. And, of course, Llull hit the title-winning shot.
And those players keep leading the way.
The soon-to-be 32-year-old Tavares is in the prime of his career and ranks third in rebounding (6.8 rpg.) and second (1.6 bpg.) in blocks, while averaging 10.1 points. Rodriguez leads the league in assists per 40 minutes (11.2). Meanwhile, Llull has already scored more points and hit more three-pointers than in all of last season.
Real is set up to be in the same position to be able to lean on those guys in key moments once again. Maybe even more so, because Rodriguez and Llull are both having a better regular season than a year ago, while Fernandez has been healthier and already has almost as many appearances as in the entire 2022-23.
And if you think there should be a worry these veterans could be too tired come playoff time, here's a good reason to think again.
Los Blancos' rested legs
Yes, experience does come with age and the core of Real Madrid's roster is one of the oldest in the competition. However, that should not be much, or any, burden to this team come playoff time.
The reason is that the only Real player averaging more than 25 minutes per game is Facundo Campazzo (25:29), who ranks 37th in the competition. Campazzo is one of only two Real players, the other being Dzanan Musa, who has played in each of the 26 games this season. No other playoff or play-in contender has its leader in playing time with such low average minutes.
In addition, Tavares averages 23:09 minutes, second most on Real, while every other team currently in the top eight has at least two players averaging 25 or more minutes.
When it comes to total minutes played, Campazzo is the only Real player in the top 50, while Musa and Mario Hezonja are the only other Real players among the top 75 players in minutes played that season.
Mix in the fact that Real is about to secure its playoff berth, and will likely soon clinch home-court advantage for the playoffs, one can expect these players to be fresh in late April and May.
Production from everyone and everywhere
Last, but not least, we circle back to the talent, team quality and depth at every position. In Real's case, the entire roster seems to have been delivering this season.
Real has five players averaging double figures in points, and eight different players scoring more than 8.0 points per game. The dominance on the boards comes thanks to four different players posting at least 4.4 rebounds per game.
That group is led by Tavares and Vincent Poirier (5.2 rpg.), who also happen to be the league's top two shot-blockers. But when it comes to controlling the boards, the likes of Hezonja (4.4 rpg.) and Guerschon Yabusele (4.9 rpg.) come up huge and both are often ready to dominate, especially on the defensive glass.
Campazzo runs the offense with a league second-best 6.5 assists per game and Real also has Rodriguez delivering 4.3 assists. In high-stake playoff games, at least one of the two will be on the floor, guaranteeing Real's offense keeps humming.
Remember, Campazzo was voted MVP for November, Hezonja for December, and Musa was January MVP.
Add to the mix the likes of Causeur or Fernandez, veterans who have for years been unmistakably delivering in clutch situations late in the season, and it is hard to see Real Madrid getting stopped on its way to reaching the Final Four for the third consecutive season.