The Endesa Super Cup gave the around the world takes a course. In that tournament, too Organized at the Sports Palace of MurciaEddy Tavares, a great dominator in the Real Madrid paint, spectacularly blocked Willy Hernangómez, most bombastic incorporation of Barcelonain the Classic that opened fire to the season 2023-24 in official Spanish basketball competition. The Madrid He would later become a champion, but it was the image of the Cape Verdean that truly transcended. A season later, The script is similar: Real Madrid, now champion of everything in Spain and continental runner-up, plays against Barça (6:30 p.m.) at the start of the course. In Murcia, again. With UCAM and Unicaja on the other side (21:30), again. But with another protagonist, the Croatian Mario Hezonja.
There is no need to leave Murcia to understand the reason. Real Madrid defeated the brilliant UCAM Murcia in the last Liga Endesa final (3-0) and the Croatian, as soon as he lifted the trophy, declared his love for the Whites when his future was not assured. “I feel bad for having lost a title in the worst game of the year. And I would like to give that back to the fans with more titles in the coming years,” he said. the ’11’. But there was more. Hezonja had prepared his return to eternal rival Barcelonaand how MARCA advancedThere was more than just the word of the two parties. The statement of ‘Super Mario‘He didn’t please Barça, and the signing fell through. Hezonja finally renewed his contract with Madrid after a major scandal.
I feel bad for losing a title in the worst game of the year. And I would like to give that back to the fans with more titles in the coming years.
The Endesa Super Cup
Things of destiny, the start brings the two parts back together. He real Madrid The team is now in official competition with the defence of all its national titles, a lavish dominance during the last season and an attempt to regain its position of power in the continental concert, where it has encountered the obstacle of the Greeks and their excessive bet with names like Evan Fournier at Olympiacos or 50 million in the pocket of Euroleague champion Panathinaikos. HezonjaIn addition, he may be more of a protagonist because in the 3-4, positions he frequently plays, Yabusele is no longer competing after his return to the NBA.
Barça, for its part, wanted to Hezonja slam the table. It did not take shape and invested in Kevin Punter, a top-class dynamite player in Europe. He has already made a good impression in preseason (if it is worth anything) with an exercise in leadership in the match that qualified Barça -against Bàsquet Girona- for the final of the Lliga Catalana. There, the American scored a key 3+1. Together with the former Partizan player, the physicality of Metu, Anderson and Fall (who is doubtful for the tournament) and the Juan Núñez’s magic, which is more exciting after being trained by Madrid but not having opportunities in the ‘white house’.
Juan Núñez poses at the official photo session with Barcelona.
It is not a case of the extreme of ‘Super Mario’. The Croatian returns to Murcia as the ‘boss’ of the Whites within a team with leaders such as Facundo Campazzo, Edy Tavares or Dzanan Musa, and who mixes character with talent. The most dangerous side appeared in preseason, reaching the end sent off in the match against Monaco in Pontevedra. The other is decisive, as it has shown in countless clashes including the Classics, exemplified in battles such as the Final Four in Kaunas a couple of seasons ago.
Trial period
It will be, of course, a reference to follow in a clash that should not yet say who is who due to the little work done to date and the more than 80 games that must be played in 2024-25. If it is clear that Real Madrid no longer has its veterans Rudy Fernández and ‘Chacho’ Rodríguez, and adds ‘managers’ with points like Andrés Feliz or the Canadian combo – who excelled in Russia – Xavier Rathan-Mayes. Plus Serge Ibaka, Vince Poirier’s substitute and ‘old acquaintance’ in the ‘White House’, and an Usman Garuba out of action due to injury.
Even so, the White DNA is clear. An electric team that likes to run and if it plays statically it generates chaos by feeding Tavares or with the points of Musa, Hezonja or Campazzo. “The new players know the style, the way of acting and the mentality of the club. We have to be patient, but we are going for it. And we prepare the Super Cup to win it,” said Facundo Campazzo, the last MVP.
Mario Hezonja was sent off in the final quarter of a friendly match against AS Monaco for confronting a referee when he was not given a foul for a basket.
He Barça, ‘across the ring‘, trusts its course to Joan Peñarroya. Those who saw him in Vitoria know what he is capable of (he was the Euroleague leader with Baskonia for a good stretch), and he takes another step forward. He has points in Jabari Parker or Punter, the presence of Willy Hernangómez and Jan Vesely inside, and born competitors like Tomas Satoransky or Nicolas Laprovittola. Their mission will be to steal from the Madrid the Spanish domain of the last course.
“We are taking steps forward, the mission is to understand day by day what we need,” he said. Peñarroya. It is the mission of the two in one Endesa Super Cup which opens with fireworks, will measure the two transatlantic ships and lays the foundations for a long and competitive course. Hezonja to the battle of Murcia. The curtain opens.
