There are more than 7 hours left until the tap-off of the final for 3rd place and the perimeter of the Stark Arena is surrounded like never before seen this week. Sudden excitement of the people of Belgrade for the BCL Final 4? No: the 37th edition of the Beogradski Marathon, with thousands of people wearing white t-shirts and beads of sweat beading all over their skin.
Not even a cloud, for the first time in 4 days, disturbs the Serbian sky. Not even a photographer or cameraman, for the first time in 4 days, precedes us at the entrance to Stark Arena: the alienating experience of being the only one interested in something that Troy Caupain might say is exactly the opposite of how you would imagine the days of a Final 4, where you try to draw blood from the players’ turnips-mouths and shake their careers on Basketball Reference to find that precedent or that victory from the past to recall memories put in the attic.
For Rum raisin just a small group of Andalusian reporters are added, but until late afternoon what captures the most attention is the variety and abundance of the buffet, exaggerated by the standards of European basketball media centers and for the scant dozen present at the ” banquet” for Sunday lunch.
Tyson Carter, intercepted in the late morning in a mixed zone.
We approach to get the best possible view from the press gallery. Few changes compared to the semi-finals, just a few different necks and bobs that impair the view but the usual flood of Spanish radios that floods the last rows. One has the impression of rejoicing for every basket, whether it is one or the other, depending on whether the high pitch reaches the left ear from the Canarians, the right one from the Andalusians or the shoulders from the murcianos. A smile and a lightness that permeates the entire pre-match and the matches themselveswith the hincha of Murcia praising Tenerife and the yellow and blacks applauding in return, with the Marea Verde malagueña and its band greeted with the same warmth by fans of Malaga or Peristeri. The impression is not that the result counts for nothing, but that it is perceived as the right plus: one can very well support and support a team in the same way.
There is “a bit of Italy” in the final too: again Manuel Mazzoni in the trio, as well as in 2022, again with Tenerife in the final act and Yankuba Sima as the opponent. In a series of courses and recourses that only the Galloblù and the BCL know how to create, Tenerife plays for the historical record of BCL wins, Malaga for the Copa del Rey rematch and to close the circle opened by last year’s Final 4. First there is Murcia’s victory of status and authority, not without random elements to surround it – the second performance in a row kissed by the gods from the arc of Stelios Poulianitisguard of the Peristeri o son of the Greek TV cameraman which follows the event depending on your point of view, and the display of an inflatable Raptor, in the name of who knows what non-economic bond between the BCL and the Toronto Raptors. For the second time in the history of BCL, the team of Jonah Radebaugh defeats Joe Ragland’s in the consolation final. When had this already happened? In 2022. Courses and appeals.
Scattered notes from the BCL evening in Belgrade, between final and final: Spanoulis taking a beating Chougkaz due to a block suffered by Todorovic on the triple of the possible equalizer, he had to attack the closeout on the dribble and now we are sure that he will never forget it; the Peristeri fans who accompany the pre-warning ceremony with an interminable “BCL Mafia“, and all the good intentions and teachings of the Spanish support to be blessed; the Tenerife-Malaga HalfTime Show offered by a 1:1 scale Raptor and an Asian acrobat, complete with a unicycle taller than Shermadini and ceramic plates to balance on any protrusion of the body, which is so tacky as to go round and become pleasant; the press gallery, more empty than full on Friday, with the last rows filled with trolleys and suitcases of all those with the plane or bus returning in the night; a Final 4 as an MVP – at least romantic – of Nihad Dedovic, who overturned the inertia of the semi-final with Murcia and extended the lead in the 3Q against Tenerife.
A final chapter with many protagonists, each with their own showcase and their own quarter of an hour of celebrity to decide Tenerife-Malaga. Malaga wins, with the talent of Carter and the experience of Thomas, the triples of Barreiro and the defense of Đedovic. With the psychodrama of Fitipaldo, commander of the comeback but with a bloody turnover at -4 on the 2vs1 counterattack. The closing of a circle, that of Malaga and that of Belgrade, signed by BCL. From the Spanish accent and enthusiasm.
