Alberto Abalde joined Real Madrid in 2020 to be a key cog for the next generation and three years later, he helped Los Blancos climb the mountain and capture the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague crown. The victory was historic for Abalde as he joined the exclusive list of players to win both the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament and the EuroLeague championships. He was the ANGT MVP in 2013. 

Tribute to the Champs: Alberto Abalde

[Alberto Abalde](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/alberto-abalde/003733/) joined Real Madrid in 2020 to be a key cog for the next generation and three years later, he helped Los Blancos climb the mountain and capture the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague crown. The victory was historic for Abalde as he joined the exclusive list of players to win both the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament and the EuroLeague championships. He was the ANGT MVP in 2013. 

Alberto Abalde is now a Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament and a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion!

2022-23 EuroLeague season highlights: Alberto Abalde, Real Madrid

Abalda has made 93 appearances with Real over the last three seasons, including 24 this season. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in over 14 minutes per night. Abalde had a promising start to the season with a key role off the bench, getting 6 points and 4 rebounds in a Round 4 win against Crvena Zvezda MeridianBet Belgrade and 7 points in as many minutes in a Round 8 victory against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. He scored a season-high 11 points to help Real Madrid beat AS Monaco in Round 12 and amassed a PIR of 12 in a 98-65 blowout win against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. 

By the time the playoffs rolled around, Coach Chus Mateo had tightened up his rotation and even though Abalde dressed for Games 2-5 of their series against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, he did not see any game time in that series nor at the Final Four.  

Abalde is the third player to ever earn ANGT MVP honors and win the EuroLeague crown. Eli Ndiaye also joined the list this season. The only player to do that in the past was Luka Doncic. At age 27, Abalde is at the prime of his career and ready for more challenges.

Tribute to the champs

Tribute to the champs: Alberto Abalde

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade won its eighth straight Serbian League title on Sunday with a 72-82 win over FMP Zeleznik, sweeping their best-of-three final series. Zvezda was a direct finalist of the Serbian championship, and took control of Game 2 in the second quarter when it grabbed the lead for good with a 0-8 run late in the third quarter. Zvezda opened a double-digit lead midway through the fourth and cruised to a 2-0 series victory.

Luka Mitrovic paced Zvezda with 16 points, Ben Bentil scored 14 and Facundo Campazzo has 11 points and 7 assists. This is Zvezda's second domestic trophy this season, after winning the Serbian Cup in February, and will now go for a domestic triple crown against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in the best-of-five Adriatic League final series which tips off on Tuesday.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">Asistencija <a href="https://twitter.com/OgnjenDobric?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OgnjenDobric</a> za Nemanju Nedovića 📸😉<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kkcz?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#kkcz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWeCan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWeCan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreTheTeam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreTheTeam</a> <a href="https://t.co/RUbZPXXcHk">pic.twitter.com/RUbZPXXcHk</a></p>&mdash; KK Crvena zvezda Meridianbet (@kkcrvenazvezda) <a href="https://twitter.com/kkcrvenazvezda/status/1667890590044790786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 

Zvezda defends Serbian League crown

His successful return to Zalgiris Kaunas last season has seen swingman Tomas Dimsa rewarded with a new two-year contract with an option for a third season, the club announced on Sunday, after winning the Lithuanian League title the previous evening.

Dimsa (1.96 meters, 29 years old) averaged 5.9 points in less than 16 minutes per game last season, coming largely off the bench, as he helped Zalgiris reach the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs. 

 Zalgiris signs Dimsa for 3 more seasons 

His successful return to Zalgiris Kaunas last season has seen swingman [Tomas Dimsa](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/tomas-dimsa/003211/) rewarded with a new two-year contract with an option for a third season, the club announced on Sunday, after winning the Lithuanian League title the previous evening.

Dimsa (1.96 meters, 29 years old) averaged 5.9 points in less than 16 minutes per game last season, coming largely off the bench, as he helped Zalgiris reach the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs. 

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We are happy too! 🥳 <a href="https://t.co/3y4Diblb6a">pic.twitter.com/3y4Diblb6a</a></p>&mdash; BC Zalgiris Kaunas (@bczalgiris) <a href="https://twitter.com/bczalgiris/status/1667852169188392965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 

A native of Kaunas, Dimsa debuted as a pro with Zalgiris in 2013 and appeared in 25 EuroLeague games over the next two seasons. His career then took him to Frankfurt in Germany, to Varese and Treviso in Italy, and to Gran Canaria in Spain, with intermittent returns to Lithuania for Prienai, Utenos and Lietkabelis. Dimsa stood out in the 2020-21 7DAYS EuroCup season by averaging 10.2 points and 2.4 assists in 19 games as Gran Canaria reached the semifinals. 

Tomas Dimsa somehow beats the shot clock with a catch-and-shoot prayer!

Magic Moment: Dimsa's circus shot!

Zalgiris signs Dimsa for 3 more seasons

Zalgiris Kaunas reclaimed its Lithuanian League title after a one-season lapse by downing host Lietuvos Rytas 97-87 at home on Saturday to win their best-of-five final series 3-2. Isaiah Taylor exploded for 32 points, while Arnas Butkevicius had 16, Rolands Smits and Ignas Brazdeikis 11 each.

 Zalgiris takes back Lithuanian League title! 

Zalgiris Kaunas reclaimed its Lithuanian League title after a one-season lapse by downing host Lietuvos Rytas 97-87 at home on Saturday to win their best-of-five final series 3-2. Isaiah Taylor exploded for 32 points, while Arnas Butkevicius had 16, Rolands Smits and Ignas Brazdeikis 11 each. Taylor scored 19 points in a close first half, after which the hosts led 26-25. Zalgiris was clinging to the same one-point advantage, 70-69, after three quarters, but boosted it to 82-77 midway through the fourth before Marcus Foster tied it up and Kendale McCullum gave Rytas the lead, 86-87, with 2:05 to play. Over the final 2 minutes, Taylor poured in 9 more points as Zalgiris finished the game with an 11-0 run to lift the trophy before 14,000 delirious fans at Zalgirio Arena. As such, Zalgiris claimed its 24th national club title since 1994 and avenged its loss in the finals last season, when Rytas broke the Kaunas team's record-setting 11-year streak of trophies. 

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The trophy goes up! 🏆 <a href="https://t.co/MgufrQN3Um">pic.twitter.com/MgufrQN3Um</a></p>&mdash; BC Zalgiris Kaunas (@bczalgiris) <a href="https://twitter.com/bczalgiris/status/1667574140553887745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 

Zalgiris takes back Lithuanian League title!

For Real Madrid, the end of the 2022-23 season provided a hint of déjà vu. Just like they did in 2014-15, Los Blancos found themselves in the championship games of both the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the Adidas Next Generation Tournament. And, as happened in 2015, Real came away with both trophies on the same day.

Real Madrid: From one golden generation to another

For Real Madrid, the end of the 2022-23 season provided a hint of déjà vu. Just like they did in 2014-15, *Los Blancos* found themselves in the championship games of both the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the Adidas Next Generation Tournament. And, as happened in 2015, Real came away with both trophies on the same day.

Back then, Real defeated Olympiacos Piraeus to become European champion thanks to double-digit scoring nights from Jaycee Carroll, Andres Nocioni, Sergio Llull and Sergio "Chacho" Rodriguez. While Carroll and Nocioni have both hung up their sneakers, Llull and Chacho played key roles in the 2023 success against, curiously enough, Olympiacos.

The 36-year-old Rodriguez turned back the clock with the title on the line, pairing 15 points with 9 rebounds, while it was the 35-year-old Llull who hit the game-winning shot – his only basket of the night – with 3.1 seconds left. The 38-year-old Rudy Fernandez also played in 2015, scoring 7 points; in 2023, he had 3.

The best plays of Sergio Llull, Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez as Real Madrid defeated Olympiacos Piraeus 78-79 in the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game.

Best plays of Real's veterans vs Olympiacos

A few hours earlier on championship Sunday in Kaunas, Real's U18s were busy defeating the U18 Next Generation Select Team 71-60 in the ANGT Championship Game. It was the same story as in Madrid in 2015, when the U18 team of Real downed U18 Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 73-70. That day, *Los Blancos*' quartet of Jonathan Barreiro (19), Santi Yusta (15), Luka Doncic (14) and Emanuel Cate (11) reached double figures in scoring en route to becoming champions.

Doncic later went on to play a key role in Real's 2018 EuroLeague title triumph, including scoring 15 points in the championship game against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, while Yusta received a winners' medal after appearing in 16 games that season. Given the difficulty of reaching the first team for a club like Real, that would have been viewed as a major success by those in charge of the basketball section.

Fast-forward to 2023 and there are a few candidates from this year's ANGT title-winning squad who may follow the same path. While the 18-year-old Jan Vide recently committed to UCLA in the NCAA and therefore won't be in *Los Blancos*' plans for next year, he shined in the championship game with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, earning MVP honors in the process.

There are a pair of 17-year-olds who have been spoken about in European basketball for some time now – Hugo Gonzalez and Egor Demin – and they both rose to the occasion to help Real become this year's ANGT champion. Gonzalez, one of the great hopes of Spanish basketball, recorded 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks in an incredibly complete performance, whereas Demin came close to a double-double with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in 39:13 minutes, meaning he rested for just 47 seconds. 

Such is Real's confidence in the duo of Gonzalez and Demin that both have already appeared in the Spanish League this season, with the former making four appearances and the latter one. They will soon be hoping to follow in the footsteps of 2021 ANGT Finals MVP Eli Ndiaye, who at age 18 played in 15 EuroLeague games this season and became the youngest-ever starter in the EuroLeague Championship Game. The future is certainly looking bright for Real, even if it was the veterans who stole the show in the championship game.

The best plays of Real Madrid prodigy Eli Ndiaye in the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Eli Ndiaye's 2022-23 EuroLeague highlights

Aside from Vide, Gonzalez and Demin, two 16-year-olds – Mitar Bosnjakovic and Ismaila Diagne – also made their mark in the 2023 ANGT Championship Game. Bosnjakovic, a native of Serbia, ended the game with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, whereas Diagne had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double that also included 1 block. They, too, could find themselves in and around the first team in the coming seasons, with Diagne having already made his first-team debut in the Spanish League.

All of this is to say that, while Real's 2023 EuroLeague victory was characterized by the veteran players, there is a group of youngsters who are waiting in the wings waiting for their chance to explode. Ndiaye has already displayed a fearlessness that comes with youth, and it would not be a surprise to see the likes of Gonzalez or Demin get more game time next year as *Los Blancos* look to retain their title.

Real, winner of three of the last four editions of the ANGT, has one of the best academies in not just Europe but the world, which should ensure that its production line of talent continues to bear fruit. Moving on from legendary players is always a tough task, but with Llull, Chacho and Rudy all up there in years, fans of *Los Blancos* can rest easy in the knowledge that a new golden generation is on the way.

Sergio Llull's championship-winning shot is destined to go down as the signature moment from the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season. Llull, 35, is in his 16th consecutive season with Real and had the honor, which he opted to share with longtime teammate Rudy Fernandez, to lift the EuroLeague trophy as his team's captain. It was not an easy season for Llull, who had to adjust to a different role with less playing time. Nevertheless, he was at his best for the most critical games of the season and delivered an iconic moment in EuroLeague history. 

Tribute to the Champs: Sergio Llull

[Sergio Llull's](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/sergio-llull/tgb/) championship-winning shot is destined to go down as the signature moment from the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season. Llull, 35, is in his 16th consecutive season with Real and had the honor, which he opted to share with longtime teammate Rudy Fernandez, to lift the EuroLeague trophy as his team's captain. It was not an easy season for Llull, who had to adjust to a different role with less playing time. Nevertheless, he was at his best for the most critical games of the season and delivered an iconic moment in EuroLeague history. 

Llull came off the bench in all but 3 games this season and averaged less than 17 minutes per night - his lowest playing time since his debut EuroLeague campaign in 2007-08. However, Llull found ways to help the team, scoring in double digits eight times and often changing games with his high energy and long-distance shots. He had a season-high 20 points against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in Round 20 and 19 in a home victory against FC Barcelona in Round 21. Just when he seemed to be finding his rhythm, Llull ruptured the internal lateral ligament in his left knee in a Copa del Rey game against Valencia and missed the team's last 11 regular season games. When Llull returned for the playoffs, he quickly went from zero to hero. 

Sergio Llull of Real Madrid hit the title-winning shot in the 2023 EuroLeague Championship Game, allowing Los Blancos to claim an 11th EuroLeague crown.

2022-23 EuroLeague season highlights: Sergio Llull, Real Madrid

Llull had one of the worst moments of his career in Game 2 against Partizan. Near the end of the game, he committed a hard foul on Kevin Punter that started a benches-clearing incident and led to the game being called before the end of regulation time. Llull was suspended for one game, returned in Game 4 and played a decisive role in Game 5 when he drilled a three-pointer that capped Real's 18-point second-half comeback. He had all of his 8 points in a 123-second stretch that put Real well on its way to the Final Four in Kaunas. 

After contributing 5 points and 5 assists in less than 13 minutes in the semifinals to help Real to a 66-78 victory over archrival FC Barcelona, Llull stepped into the spotlight late in the championship game. Real had the ball down 1 with 12.7 seconds left and Coach Chus Mateo called Llull's number. He did not disappoint, sinking a shot over Moustapha Fall's long arms to claim his third EuroLeague crown.

Tribute to the champs: Sergio Llull

Each year, individuals have the opportunity to sign up to volunteer at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. For this year's event, which was held in Kaunas, Lithuania, logistical problems caused headaches for some, but surely nothing was like the experience Mashkur Abdulhamid Isa had in reaching European basketball's showpiece event. A Nigerian who resides in Poland, Mashkur made the trip from the Hungarian capital of Budapest to Kaunas – but with several issues along the way.

One volunteer went above and beyond at the Final Four

Each year, individuals have the opportunity to sign up to volunteer at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. For this year's event, which was held in Kaunas, Lithuania, logistical problems caused headaches for some, but surely nothing was like the experience Mashkur Abdulhamid Isa had in reaching European basketball's showpiece event. A Nigerian who resides in Poland, Mashkur made the trip from the Hungarian capital of Budapest to Kaunas – but with several issues along the way.

"Yeah, that was a bit tricky," a smiling Mashkur stated when asked about how he got from Budapest to Kaunas.

This year, a total of 639 people signed up to be a volunteer at the Final Four, but in the end, 152 made the cut. Of those 152 individuals, there were 80 men and 72 women who were aged between 18 and 60, while there were also 62 international volunteers from 24 countries. Mashkur was one.

Mashkur, like the other volunteers, committed to being a Final Four volunteer at his own expense entirely, paying for his own travel and accommodation. In fact, in the case of many, they are not even in the arena for the game, as their help may be needed at the FanZone or other places.

In the case of Mashkur, his first tasks were set to begin on Thursday, May 18 with a One Team session at 18:00 local time. He had initially planned to make the trip to Kaunas on the 17th, giving him plenty of time to familiarize himself with his surroundings for the coming days.

With Mashkur's first tasks set to begin on Thursday, May 18 – a One Team session at 18:00 local time – he had initially planned to make the trip to Kaunas on the 17th, giving him plenty of time to familiarize himself with his surroundings for the coming days. 

He decided to use the carpooling service BlaBlaCar to try and catch a ride with some other people heading to the Lithuanian city, having seen how expensive it would be to go by plane or train. However, that is where Mashkur's problems began.

"There was a group that I wrote to \[on BlaBlaCar\] saying that I'm just looking for anyone going from Budapest to Kaunas on that evening \[of the 17th\]," Mashkur continued. "I didn’t get a response, then the admin said that he was going to forward it to another group. 

"Later that day, I got a message from someone saying, 'Okay, hey, I will offer you the ride. What time do you want to go?' So, I said, '8pm.' We agreed to 40 euros in the end. Okay, let's go. 

"He then sent me a link; he said that it's to make a reservation so that there's confirmation. I put my card details into BlaBlaCar – or at least what I thought was BlaBlaCar – and then my banking app told me that I needed to approve the transaction, which was down as 50 euros \[not 40, as agreed\]. Anyway, I just wanted to get there, so I approved it.

"Long story short, at some point I realized that it was a scam; it wasn’t really a trip. Later on, I froze my card on my banking app – I saw that somebody did two transactions, but it couldn't be processed because the card was frozen. 

"But anyway, I just forgot about it and decided, 'Okay, fine. The best option I have is to get the bus.' So, I had to get the bus from Budapest to Warsaw and then from Warsaw to Kaunas."

Mashkur knew that the bus would take a long time. And so it proved. And when he finally arrived in Kaunas, he discovered that he'd missed the One Team session by an hour!

"All in all, it was about 21 or 22 hours on the journey. But, there was a delay with the departure from Budapest. I was even scared because the time between the connection was two hours. I was scared that I might miss the connection!" Mashkur laughed. "We were supposed to leave at 22:15, but we didn't leave until almost midnight, so it was almost two hours delayed. 

"Then, on the second trip, there was also a delay... We arrived like one hour late. I was just like, 'Aaaahh.' When I arrived, I just said, 'Okay, fine.' I think I arrived at 19:00 and the One Team session was at 18:00, then I just tried to find how to get to the venue to get my accreditation and stuff." 

Rather than rest after that experience, and with his next shift not until the following morning, Mashkur decided that he wanted to get to work immediately and help the other volunteers. 

"I made it, and fortunately, because my shift was starting at 8am the next morning, I stayed in the volunteer center until the team lead finished, so I was there until 11pm that day. But, at least after that everything was good," he said with a big smile on his face.

Mashkur's tasks at the Final Four involved helping with game operations and later as a runner, and he performed these roles excellently, despite having to fast for the first two days of his time in Kaunas. Although Ramadan came to an end on April 21, Mashkur, a practicing Muslim, explained why he could only eat at night.

"Ramadan finished before the Final Four, but then immediately after there is a month and it's recommended to fast for six days," he noted. "Those six days in addition to Ramadan, it's like the blessings are more for a year. 

"I think it was only on the last day when I wasn’t fasting. I wasn't eating lunch, then I was just eating dinner. Also, at the end of my shift, I had to see if there's anyone who can take my position, then I'd run to the volunteers' center, grab something to eat for 5-10 minutes and then go back. I think it was more demanding, because of what I had to do, especially on the day I came because of all the issues. But, my team were supportive, so that was nice."

Mashkur said he thoroughly enjoyed his time as a volunteer at the Final Four and he is already thinking about heading to Berlin for next season's event.

"Yeah, definitely," he stated. "I'm planning to be there next year as well."

It was a campaign full of obstacles for Real Madrid point guard Nigel Williams-Goss, but also one that finished perfectly with the 28-year-old hoisting the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Trophy at Zalgirio Arena. He made just 19 regular-season appearances, missing the first seven rounds of the season due to an injury sustained at last year's Final Four, but Williams-Goss had trust from Coach Chus Mateo throughout the season.

Tribute to the Champs: Nigel Williams-Goss

It was a campaign full of obstacles for Real Madrid point guard [Nigel Williams-Goss](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nigel-williams-goss/007982/), but also one that finished perfectly with the 28-year-old hoisting the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Trophy at Zalgirio Arena. He made just 19 regular-season appearances, missing the first seven rounds of the season due to an injury sustained at last year's Final Four, but Williams-Goss had trust from Coach Chus Mateo throughout the season.

Despite needing time to get going, Williams-Goss became a starter as soon as he recovered from injury, the same role he had at the end of last season. Although he posted a moderate 6.5 points and 1.8 assists offensively in the regular season, Williams-Goss's ability to set the tone with aggressive perimeter defense was never overlooked. He missed the final six regular season games with another injury, but then returned for the playoffs and once Los Blancos fell behind 0-2 in their best-of-five series against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Williams-Goss became an instrumental part of Real's five victories in as many do-or-die games.

Tribute to the Champs: Nigel Williams-Goss fueled Real's five-game run

Nigel Williams-Goss fueled Real's five-game run

He scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half of Game 3, including a game-winning triple with 24.8 seconds remaining. He also had 10 points in the deciding Game 5, helping Real stay alive in the first half and early in the third quarter as a bright spot that kept the team in position to mount an 18-point comeback.

In Kaunas, at the Final Four, Williams-Goss was again a tone-setter for Los Blancos, especially in the semifinal against archrival FC Barcelona when he finished the game with a +10 in the plus/minus column. He scored 9 in the championship game and ending up averaging 9.5 points on 50.0% three-point shooting and 2.0 assists in Kaunas as he etched his name in Real Madrid and EuroLeague history as a deserving champion.

Tribute to the champs: Nigel Williams-Goss

We are a few weeks removed from Real Madrid winning its unprecedented 11th continental crown. The championship game victory over Olympiacos Piraeus was quite a thriller and Los Blancos were able to prevail thanks to its veteran players and their heroics. 

How Real Madrid rebuilt itself while continuing to trust its veterans

We are a few weeks removed from Real Madrid winning its unprecedented 11th continental crown. The championship game victory over Olympiacos Piraeus was quite a thriller and Los Blancos were able to prevail thanks to its veteran players and their heroics. 

Sergio Llull sank the title-winning shot with 3.1 seconds left in the championship game, while Sergio Rodriguez had 15 points and 9 assists and Fabien Causeur netted 3 triples and scored 11 points. The French guard played almost 18 minutes against the Reds - the second-most time he'd spent on the floor since early January.

When the EuroLeague title was on the line at Zalgirio Arena, or a few weeks earlier when Real's season was hanging by a thread in the playoffs, it was the most familiar - and most experienced - players who stepped up for Los Blancos. And while they know better than anyone what Real means and are perfect to preach it to the newcomers, those veterans had not too often played main roles during the season.

Real Madrid's journey to the 2023 title was a two-year ride, oftentimes a bumpy one, but it showed how a team's rebuild does not have to start from scratch. Real, which also came 1 point short of winning it all in 2022, was able to stay competitive with older players who might not be as good as they once were by adding younger players alongside them. 

Real went through a quiet rebuild the last two seasons as it parted ways with longtime contributors such as Jeffery Taylor and Trey Thompkins, while Jaycee Carroll and Felipe Reyes retired.

In addition, Llull, Fernandez, Causeur and Rodriguez, who returned for a third stint with the club last summer, were only getting older. Rudy turned 38 during the season, Rodriguez will be 37 in a week, while Llull and Causeur are both turning 36 this year.

So, Real needed to find fresh faces. Two summers ago the club added Guerschon Yabusele, Nigel Williams-Goss, Adam Hanga and Vincent Poirier, and brought back Gabriel Deck mid-season. Apart from Hanga, all of the players are in their prime, none currently older than 29 or younger than 27 years of age.

Last quarter baskets by Real in championship game

Then, last summer, Real continued the rebuild by adding 23-year-old Dzanan Musa and two 28-year-olds, Mario Hezonja and Petr Cornelie. Along with Elie Ndiaye, a teenager from Los Blancos' youth system, Real built a new core for the team, players who, along with Walter Tavares, carried out the 2022-23 season.

Meanwhile, the veteran group, which also included Anthony Randolph who was recovering from an injury, had significantly smaller on-court contributions. During the course of the 2022-23 season, none of those five veterans averaged more than 17:23 minutes, which is what Rudy Fernandez played in 20 appearances off the bench. The five veterans combined for just 15 starts and had a combined average of 22.3 points in the games they played.

However, when the do-or-die end-of-season games were being decided, it was those veterans who carried the team across the finish line. 

Real had 10 different lineups that played in at least four games and for at least 3 minutes per game this season, according to Viziball. Half of those lineups did not feature even a single one of those veterans, including the four most frequently used ones.

Of the remaining five lineups that Coach Mateo used the most this season, Llull was a member of three, and only one combination had two veterans, Rodriguez and Fernandez, together on the floor.

But none of that mattered in the fourth quarter of the championship game. In the final 10 minutes of the season, Mateo put his three veteran guards – Rodriguez, Causeur and Llull – together on the floor with 8 minutes and 12 seconds left in the game and kept them all alongside Tavares and Hezonja until the final 3.1 seconds when Real needed one last defensive stand to win it.

They not only turned a 68-61 deficit into a 78-79 triumph, but scored 16 of Real's final 18 points.

"At the beginning \[of the games\], we started with more physical players like Nigel \[Williams-Goss\] or Adam Hanga that are very good defenders", Real Madrid head coach Chus Mateo recently explained on The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas. "And then we could finish with people who know how to close the game, to finish the game." 

The championship game turned into a showcase of how a team can have older players in decisive roles if it just protects them enough for the key moments. And keeps its trust in them.

Coach Mateo and his players did all of that perfectly and Los Blancos have another EuroLeague championship to show for it.