Real Madrid is back to the Final Four for the first time since 2019 and of course, head coach Pablo Laso is back to lead the team. Laso has taken Real to seven Final Four appearances in 11 seasons with the club. Above all, Los Blancos have been loyal to Laso's guidebook, on and off the court, playing with a certain style that honors the team's run-and-gun tradition and keeping a core of players every season.
Pablo Laso, Real: 'Right now, we're in a good situation arriving to the Final Four'
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Asked about it, Laso believes having its own identity as a team is critical. "First of all, we try to be recognized as a team. That's the most important thing. For sure, players show you the way. I'll put a stupid example: I cannot have Tavares shooting threes or defending point guards. That's pretty logical and easy to understand. And that's a great part of being a coach; you have to adjust to the players who you have," Laso told us, and went on about his team's continuity. "But at the same time, you have to keep the ideas that you want and that your team is able to do since the first day that you come to Real Madrid as a player. I'm very happy that with different players over these last 10 years, we've been able to reach Final Fours, and play for championships with different players of different characteristics. That speaks very well about the club and the team. And like I always said, this is a very important part of our success; the way you find your players to give the best for the team."
Overall, Real has done a good job of remaining competitive all these years, rebuilding the team with great patience and trusting the players that already know the system. Seven players - Fabien Causeur, Anthony Randolph, Rudy Fernandez, Walter Tavares, Sergio Llull, Trey Thompkins, and Jeffery Taylor - won the EuroLeague title with Real in 2018 and are still with the team. Players come and go, but Real always has a core that has been together for many years.
Laso believes having some players with experience and others willing to showcase their skills in the biggest scenario in continental basketball is a perfect combination. "If you remember, 6-7 years ago when we won the championship in Madrid [in 2015], the heart of the team was OK: both Sergios [Llull and Rodriguez], Rudy, Felipe [Reyes], Chapu [Andres Nocioni], Slaughter, Jaycee Carroll... Now, only two of those players are still here, Rudy and Sergi. Their experience and what they give to the team are very important to us. But we also have a bunch of new guys who are going to get their first experience at the Final Four, let's say Abalde, Yabusele, Williams-Goss. So we have different players who have to step up and they have to understand from the beginning what playing for Real Madrid means," he said.
"You have to be ready to give everything for this team because this team wants to win."
"Being in Real Madrid cannot be a case of, 'OK, we have time to make this change and, you know, progress.' We have to keep the winning mentality from the beginning, even understanding that we have young players. They have to step up and win games; let's put it this way," he added "We are missing Alocen because of injury, but these other guys have to be ready somehow to step up. Because when you talk about the championship seven years ago, only two players are staying, Rudy and Sergi. We still love them. We still know that they are very important for us, but we still know that we have a bunch of new players stepping up."
Coach Laso has an advantage in terms of understanding his players. He was a star guard in the 1990s and helped Real make it to the Final Four in 1996. His experience as a player has proved to be just as valuable as his many appearances with Real as head coach. Having Final Four experience with both roles, with the club he currently leads, allows him to guess what's in his players' minds. Above all, Real Madrid is the winningest team in continental basketball and players need to honor that tradition by being ready to keep winning, over and over again.
"I have been a player in Real Madrid, and a lot of times your goal is that: 'OK, I became a Real Madrid player.' And probably you don't understand that the difficult part starts when you are a Real Madrid player. It's not getting here or being on this team; the important thing is what you're going to do to help this team. Because this team has structure, goals, call it however you want, but you have to be ready to give everything for this team because this team wants to win," he told us. "As we said, there is no time. There is no, OK, take time, we'll wait, they will process, they will grow. No. We have to be ready to win from the first day, understanding situations, but for sure understanding also from the beginning that the Real Madrid culture is to be competitive from the first day that you arrive in this team."
Keeping a winning mentality is not always easy. It is impossible to stay strong all season long, and Real went through a rough couple of months late in the regular season. Los Blancos had a 20-3 start in this EuroLeague campaign but went 2-10 after that to rank fourth at the end of the regular season. Like all winning teams, Real bounced back when the most important games arrived, sweeping Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in the playoffs. Laso believes that despite all the circumstances that all teams went through this season, all the work the team did pay off at the right time.
"It was a difficult year with lots of games back-to-back. There were weeks when we played even three or four games a week. So we knew it was going to be important to somehow build what we needed at the right moment," Laso admits. "And I think that Maccabi series was a great moment for us. We understood from the beginning that it was going to be very difficult to beat Maccabi because they were coming on a roll. But it's true that after the Spanish Cup, for us, it was difficult because we had injuries, we had people coming in, coming out. And let's say, not just because we were losing -- but it was true that we were not winning -- but we were not worried just because we were not winning. We were worried because we had our difficulties, but at the same time we were convinced that we could get back and get ready for the playoffs, and that's what we did. Right now, we're in a good situation arriving at the Final Four."
All of a sudden, Real fans went from being a bit worried to feeling extremely confident ahead of the big 'Clasico' against FC Barcelona in the semifinals. Laso, however, believes that his team had to battle hard against Maccabi and that taking one game at a time helped Los Blancos sweep the series.
"For us, the first game was very important, because Maccabi was on a roll. They won like six in a row. They were playing great so for us, that first game was very important. On the second one, also, we understood that we need to go to Tel Aviv ahead 2-0. And then we wanted to finish the series, and we played a great third game there and we won," Laso recapped. "But that doesn't mean the series was easy. We swept, OK, very good. But I don't think that series was easy because Maccabi was playing great basketball, and we had a lot of respect for them."
"We were convinced that we could get back and get ready for the playoffs, and that's what we did."
Real has faced Barca three times in the Final Four semifinals, and Laso was always there. In 1996, Barca topped Real 76-66 - Laso had 2 points and 3 assists in a losing effort. As head coach, Laso led Real to back-to-back semifinal wins against Barca in 2013 and 2014. Los Blancos rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final 8 minutes to beat Barca 67-74 in 2013 and trashed its archrivals in 2014, 62-100. At the same time, Barcelona has won its last five showdowns against Real this season, including the 2022 Copa del Rey final.
Laso is not hyped up about his Final Four wins or worried about his team's recent losses against Barca. "For me, every game is different. I would be very stupid to think that a basketball game is going to be the same as yesterday. I think we have a great game, a great sport that obliges you to do something different and do it well," he told us. "Talking about 'El Clasico', the easy thing would be to think, OK, it could be like the last game we played together. No. It's going to be different. They're going to make adjustments, we're going to make adjustments, and probably even the players are not going to be on the same form, that's for sure. So, for me every game is different. I'll take the result that we had in the previous 'Clasico' at a Final Four, for sure, but I know it's going to be a different game."
Like all top-class rivals coming from the same country, Barca and Real face each other many times each season. Both teams' recent success adds more value to their already legendary sports rivalry. Above all, Laso believes that having two teams in the Final Four is nothing but good news for Spanish basketball. Real and Barca combine for 27 Final Four appearances, the most - by far - for two teams coming from the same country. Panathinaikos OPAP Athens and Olympiacos Piraeus are a distant second, combining for 21 Final Four appearances.
"I would be very stupid thinking that a basketball game is going to be the same as yesterday."
"First of all, two teams in the Final Four speak very well about Spanish basketball. Barcelona and Real Madrid have been very consistent the whole year. We played the final of the SuperCup, we played the final of the Spanish Cup, and now we're in the Final Four and we're going to play each other again," Laso said. "So that speaks very well about Barcelona and Real Madrid, despite everything, and of basketball in Spain. I think our fans, for sure Barcelona fans, and all the fans in Spain, they're proud of two teams that are going to be in the Final Four and we're very happy to be here in this position."
Last but not least, it is hard to ignore that Real won its 10th EuroLeague title in Belgrade barely four years ago, in 2018. Laso doesn't think that it will play a big role but again, seven of his players know how it feels to lift the EuroLeague trophy at Stark Arena. Laso just hopes to feel just as good as he did when the 2018 Final Four was over and confetti hit the floor with him and his team on top of the podium.
"You always think about karma. And now, let's say it's a fashionable word. And I hope it helps. But I don't know. As I said, it's going to be different games, different situations. But for sure, my thoughts about that weekend in Belgrade before are great, and I wish that my thoughts in the future about this coming weekend, will be the same."