MADRID, 1 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Real Madrid basketball coach, Pablo Laso, confirmed that both Anthony Randolph, who has not played for a year, and Trey Thompkins, who has not played since May, could “play” already this Thursday against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Euroleague, but that, without confirming their presence, “it is absurd to think that they are at their best level”, while he recalled that the duel against the Israeli team is “a big game” due to the history of both.
“If you saw them train, yes, I think they can play, but I also think it would be absurd to think that they are at their best level. We have to have time for them to feel ‘well’ within the team and recover better sensations,” said Laso Este Wednesday at a press conference.
The coach praised “the recovery work” carried out by the medical staff and the physiotherapists, who have spent many hours with both who now “shine”, but warned that he can not put “30 minutes” against Maccabi because “they are not for that “and that although they have trained” normally, they are in different states of form. “
“We will see within the calendar how we can give them entry into the team, which from tomorrow can be any day,” said the Vitorian, clarifying that he does not rule out any, but without ensuring that “they enter the call.”
In this sense, the Madrid coach regretted that “the only day” that he has been able to train with all his players was last Monday, since the point guard Carlos Alocen suffered “a small problem in his foot” that makes him have to stop “some days”. “It affects him because he had been unemployed for a while and the first day he returns he has to stop for something totally different, but he is strong and will be recovered in 15 days,” he said.
Laso also thanked this international break that has allowed them to “rest physically and mentally” after having had “a very demanding week and with very continuous efforts.” For this reason, he gave his players “a couple of days off” to “recharge their batteries” for an “important” month of December for a large number of games against “complicated rivals” such as Barça, CSKA, Armani or Fenerbahce, ” but not decisive. ” “We can lose them all and be champions of the King’s Cup, League and Euroleague,” he said smiling.
“MACCABI IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFERENT TEAMS IN EUROLEAGUE”
Regarding Maccabi, the Real Madrid coach said that it is a “well-built” team and “based on a point guard that manages the rhythm of the game a lot and that has danger in the shot of three” like Scottie Wilbekin, whom “they complement well. “other players like” Evans, Taylor or DiBartolomeo “.
“Then he has Nunnally, who is his other outside that grows and you see few mistakes, Zizic, who is having possibly his best season in Europe since his return from the NBA, Reynolds who is a proven player and Williams who he has a lot of scoring ability, “he added.
Laso is clear that the Israeli team “competes very well.” “He has a very energetic style, with many shots, very open, he is ‘uncomfortable’. In the Endesa League you probably do not see a team like Maccabi and in Europe it is one of the most different,” admitted the former player.
The duel against the Maccabean team is considered the ‘classic’ of continental basketball due to the number of times it has been repeated (63 with that of this Thursday) and Laso remembered his memories in these games.
“I remember one as a player who ‘painted our faces’ there and as a coach I have had good and bad, the worst, probably, the final of 2014, for the result. It is a ‘classic’, a great game and it is for the people of Israel, because I have perceived it that way, and for the people of Madrid. We received a great team of which we all have memories, “he confessed.
As for his team, the Basque prepared considered that they have had “very good offensive and defensive moments” and that they have shown “competitiveness”, but that they still lack “continuity in the game” and that they are “having a harder time taking the situations longer playing time. “
Finally, Laso referred to the 800 games that he will complete this Thursday. “I knew it because they told me, but I do not give it more importance. There are a lot of games and I am very happy, but I only think about making the best possible game,” he said.