The great blur of the Laso era

• Final Phase: The feat of Burgos

When last February 16, not even a month before everything collapsed due to the coronavirus, Felipe Reyes raised the 28th King's Cup in Real Madrid in Malaga , which was the reconquest of the tournament, Pablo Laso's plan, his ninth roadmap to success, marching as planned. Without serious physical mishaps, acquiring temperature for the summits of the course (12 career wins there), with great feelings for the most difficult yet, that Euroleague where Barça and, above all, Efes, seemed like fierce rivals for the Final Four in Cologne it will never be.

The virus slowed everyone down, but Madrid has failed to resume the pace, as petrified before the change of plans, before the full turn of the competition. "We knew it was a special tournament," said the white coach only yesterday, not wanting to make further analysis. A mortal sin, a blur in the Laso era. A stain with an asterisk, due to the exceptional situation. But such a serious setback, that for the first time since 2008 (that Joan Plaza team was struck in the quarter by Scariolo's Unicaja) they will not even step on the Endesa League semifinals, the one they have conquered on four of the last five occasions.

La Fonteta, precisely where the last one was left three years ago, has once again been his nightmare. After two unexcused defeats against San Pablo Burgos and MoraBanc Andorra , Valencia's victory against Gran Canaria condemned them to hell in a group that became diabolical, without even starting their match against Casademont Zaragoza. Taronjas and Burgos will fight on Saturday with Baskonia and Barcelona respectively for a place in the final on Tuesday.

Great works are also written with a few crooked lines. In nine seasons, Laso conquered up to 19 trophies - when only eight were counted in the previous 20 - including up to two Euroleagues, reconciling the club with its glorious past. Undisputed successes that made us forget small abysses. The worst, that squandered League in Barcelona in 2014, with the unforgettable image of the coach leaving the Palau in a wheelchair, expelled. Also the disconnection of the 2017 season, after falling in the Final Four and giving up the ACB against Valencia. On the podium of disappointments is the current one, which perhaps forces us to rethink a future that, before going to La Fonteta, seemed well tied.

Because except for the arrival of Carlos Alocén , Madrid was not going to move too many chips in its veteran squad, in which it recently renewed Rudy Fernández, Jaycee Carroll, Anthony Randolph and Trey Thompkins. And Felipe Reyes' most year was just a matter of public announcement. Suddenly, there are several players under suspicion, beyond the fact that the NBA does not end up throwing the glove on Campazzo or Deck. The brutal dependence on the Argentine base has been as striking as it is worrying. The lack of that defensive rhythm that made us dream, blushing. The constant loss of rebound, the worst of symptoms. And the bad faces, the mirror of the soul.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Real Madrid
• Pablo Laso Biurrún
• Saragossa
• Andorra
• Barcelona
• Burgos
• ACB League
• Euroleague
• sports

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• Themes

• Barça - Iberostar Tenerife
• Real Oviedo - Fuenlabrada
• Real Betis - Espanyol
• San Pablo Burgos - MoraBanc Andorra
• Herbalife Gran Canaria - Valencia Basket