Among all the intriguing angles to watch when undefeated Real Madrid and Barcelona meet to settle first place in El Clásico on Thursday, how two pairs of elite centers compete is a huge one.
Stats Review: El Clásico's centers of attention
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The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season has only just begun, but a Final Four preview is on the horizon nonetheless as the top two teams in the standings, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, extend their historic rivalry and determine who will remain unbeaten in Round 5.
Though this is a rematch of last season’s semifinals, these clubs are coming off very different processes this summer. Real Madrid is leaning almost exclusively on the core from last spring’s championship team amid a reunion with point guard Facundo Campazzo, the only new addition. Barcelona has undergone a more significant transformation with Roger Grimau taking over as head coach while Jabari Parker and Willy Hernangomez are tasked with filling the void left behind by the departure of leading scorer and recent EuroLeague MVP Nikola Mirotic.
After the opening tip, the contrast between these two powerhouses will be perhaps most apparent at the center position, where both teams rotate a pair of elite talents. Featuring a former EuroLeague MVP in Jan Vesely, one of the most dominant defenders in EuroLeague history in Walter Tavares, perhaps the league’s most impactful newcomer in Hernangomez, and one of the early season’s hottest players in Vincent Poirier, this is one of the most compelling positional matchups in recent memory.
Note: Walter Tavares missed some action earlier in the season.
At 2.20 and 2.13 meters respectively, Tavares and Poirier rank among the bigger front lines in recent EuroLeague history and hold a significant size advantage over Hernangomez and Vesely, who are not exactly short standing 2.13 and 2.09 meters. As the graphic above suggests, that translates most vividly in their shot blocking numbers and how they are used offensively – both pairs of players do nearly all of their scoring in the immediate vicinity of the rim. Given that all these players make a significant impact rolling to the rim, it will be fascinating to see how the size of Madrid’s front line allows them to create opportunities and take away angles for lobs.
Even if they are not floor spacers in the mold of Johannes Voigtmann – who has kept defenses honest with his shooting as well as any center in the EuroLeague over the last several years – Hernangomez and Vesely get more touches away from the rim and are far more likely to look to score in the mid-paint off short rolls than Madrid’s big men. How they move Madrid’s centers around defensively and look to capitalize on opportunities away from the rim is another major point of interest in the Round 5 Clásico.
Will Tavares be able to put a lid on the rim the way he did throughout last season, or will Barcelona find some opportunities in the midrange?
Will Poirier have a field day inside like the last time these teams faced off several weeks ago in domestic action?
Can Vesely use his versatility to his advantage making decisions in the midrange?
Does Hernangomez’s knack for drawing fouls become a factor in this game?
The intrigue abounds in this season’s first El Clásico and the action around the rim may ultimately tell the story.