Madrid
Updated Monday, January 15, 2024 – 00:12
The Croatian shines in his second season with Real Madrid, but his contract ends, he flirts with Panathinaikos and his future is up in the air
Hezonja finishes a dunk during a recent Madrid match. ACB PHOTOLiga Endesa Classification and results
Mario Hezonja It is no longer a coin toss; He is the wheel to follow at Real Madrid, the guy to hand the ball to when it burns the most, the one who turns any mismatch into an advantage, the one who looks for the scoreboard. Chus Mateo as preferred option. The one who is capable of everything. No trace of his disconnection, of the disgusted faces of his coach, of that fit with forceps in a group that seemed not to understand his ghosts, his taciturn halo on the court. He no longer cares about his present. If anything, his future and that renewal surrounded by rumors.
To know ms
ACB.
A Real Madrid in a draw due to losses falls to UCAM Murcia
A Real Madrid in a draw due to losses falls to UCAM Murcia
When the Croatian was signed in the summer of 2022, his sporting career had been a slide. Like so many, the NBA to which he went from number five in the draft took its toll on him. Him to the point of seriously considering withdrawing from him. What seemed like a promise turned into a nightmare, first in Orlando, then in New York and finally in Portland. In the end, it was a very serious mistake for me, Mario acknowledges in the documentary that Real Madrid TV has dedicated to its fashionable player. So in the winter of 2021 he undid his path and signed for Panathinaikos – the best decision of my life -, a previous step to Unics, where his compatriot Velimir Perasovic He brought out the best in him (MVP of the Russian league).
After the departure of Pablo Laso, two key movements for the future were going to be forged in the Madrid offices. Two acquisitions, that of Call me Musa and Hezonja, with certain parallels. The Brates, NBA renegades, combined youth and talent. They just needed to be inspired by the club’s winning gene, to soak up the competitive character of Llull, Rudy and Sergio Rodriguez. Two years of contract for both of them that, today, have fallen short.
Hezonja, in the recent match against Baskonia.ACB PHOTO
Because after that period of adaptation, Hezonja became all-powerful until he dominated the present. He dazzled in the unforgettable journey he took to conquering the Euroleague in Kaunas. After the fight at WiZink and Partizan’s 0-2 win, he put a simple message in the team’s WhatsApp group: 3-2. And he began to fulfill the prophecy with a brilliant performance in the third in Belgrade, emboldened by Chacho’s spring-like words (Exactly he told me that if I lowered my head, he would lift it up; he has lifted us all up). And he was also essential in the Final Four, with his rebounding and defense on Mirotic in the semifinals and his 12 points in the final against Olympiacos.
Triples
Although the outbreak of the boy from Dubrovnik, of the water polo goalkeeper’s son, is now. Since November, Hezonja has been demanding the spotlights. It doesn’t matter if he plays as a forward, his natural position, or at four (the losses of Yabusele y Deck they have been pushing him there), where it is increasingly unbalanced due to its mix of strength and speed. In the last eight Endesa League games, he has almost 14 points and six rebounds on average. But where his statistics shine even more is in the Euroleague (MVP of the month of December), 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 31 triples in the last 11 nights, decisive in the infinite game against Efes, where he missed a triple Released to win, he forced one of the four overtimes with exuberant penetration and broke the Turks in the last five minutes of madness. The responsibility, without a doubt, for SuperMario that that day left a hopeful clue: We have lost this match 10 times, but we have always come back with character and with the DNA of Real Madrid. I am very proud to be a Madrid player.
There is no doubt that Mario has found a place to be what he always wanted to be since Barcelona signed him when he was 16 years old. About to turn 29, he smiles. He is the soul of the locker room, he says Tavares. He doesn’t stop talking, the veterans joke. And yet, the wolf, as he defines himself, does not know where to play starting in June. He ends his contract (like another good handful of colleagues: Tavares, Causeur, Musa, Poirier, Rudy, Llull, Sergio Rodríguez…) and, while waiting for renewal contacts with Madrid, he lets himself be loved by the team that brought him back to Europe, public displays of mutual affection with Panathinaikos and a possible juicy offer that the white club must match to not to lose his Croatian talent.
2024-01-14 23:12:22
#explosion #wolf #Hezonja
