How Real Madrid managed to break the “madness” of the Sito Alonso zone | Relief
Rarely there a resource that is more associated with a team like the famous zone 2-3 at UCAM Murcia.. The same one with the help of which Sito Alonso managed to lead his team to the finals of the Endesa League. And that’s what This defense, which was a headache for Valencia Basket and Unicaja, also endangered Real Madrid. during the first title duel of the series between the two. “This defense is crazy because Murcia with this zone is in the ACB final. It’s hard to play against this zone.”acknowledged Real Madrid striker Djanan Musa, one of the players who managed to break this Murcian approach and lead the long-suffering white team to victory with this type of defense.
The truth is, In the first half, Real Madrid had a hard time adapting to what UCAM Murcia was doing.. And 2/13 in threes, with which he entered the break, is a prime example of this. “We were a little hesitant about their defense in the first half. True, zonal defense sometimes makes you doubt to think that you have convenient strokes that are not so convenient, but these are resources that we must try to surpass and offer solutions,” explained Chus Mateo. And the truth is that he did it.
Because It has been seen that Real Madrid are suffering in front of the basket due to such a poor shooting percentage. that if it weren’t for the fact that UCAM Murcia wasn’t good either, the result might have been very different…at least at half-time. Because what happened next? What Chus Mateo decided to force his team to alternate attacks in order to break the famous 2-3 zone that Murcia had. And then came Dzanan Musa, Fabien Coser (he again played a great role at the defensive level, this time with Dylan Ennis), Mario Hezonja and Hedy Tavares. Although in fact the intellectual architect of everything was Facundo Campazzo.
The point guard took control of the game in the third quarter and there he began to find teammates in such a way that, as Chus Mateo himself said, it wasn’t all about whether the three-point shots would hit or not. “It’s not just the frames, it’s also the paint. Dzanan came into the paint, Fabien played very well in the back line, Mario, Edi… We played well in the third quarter against the zone,” Mateo emphasized. And the truth is that by finding one of these formulas in each attack, Real managed to open a gap and break the “madness” that has already become the hallmark of the Murcia team.
“This defense is crazy because Murcia with the zone is in the ACB final. This zone is difficult to play against. We have the resources to play against them, against any defense, because we work hard every day in training,” Musa explained. And this was reflected in the second half. But just as the white team has the resources, so does Murcia. So for Chus Mateo, the key is what he calls “respect for your opponent.”
“We saw UCAM Murcia’s playoff series and it was brutal. Capable of winning in Valencia and Malaga. It says a lot about the team, the heart, the competitiveness, the ambition and the ability to not give up. And we are also such a team, and when such a person is in front of us, we must respect him very much. And we do this with Murcia because she respects him and what he did has a lot of merit. We are not used to seeing UCAM in the finals, but if they are there, it is because they deserve it,” said Mateo. And one of the factors why this is happening is precisely because of Sito Alonso’s list and the defensive approach that they generate so much revenue from.