In the biggest game of his career, Mario Hezonja shone and was one of the heroes of Real Madrid
Mario Hezonja was one of the three heroes Real Madrid’s big wins against Barcelona in the semifinals of the Final Four of the Euroleague. In the end, he decorated his performance with a three-pointer to “certify” the victory, but the fact that he scored 14 points does not reflect in the right way how much he helped the team.
Formerly the fifth “pick” of the NBA draft and the former pearl of Barcelona, he grabbed nine rebounds against his former club and showed that he is a great player in the biggest game of his career. After the very bad sequences at the beginning of the series between Real and Partizan, and especially after the catastrophic failures in the Stark Arena in the third game, Mario showed that nothing can disturb his self-confidence, so he found a way to “quietly” help Real and do a great job in the wing position, where there is no seriously injured Gabriel Dek, nor the suspended Gershon Jabusele.
In the absence of the two, the man from Dubrovnik came forward and earned the applause of the fans, especially with a three-pointer in the end that decided the winner, and he scored a similar one in the “masterpiece” against Partizan. This Friday, Real would certainly not have qualified for the final against Real Madrid if Hezonja had not had Valter Tavares and the “revived” Sergio Rodríguez to lead the Madrid team to another Euroleague final, in which they were also last year. Look at Hezonja’s three-pointer.
What a SHOT!@mariohezonjais HIM ☝️
The three that put the game beyond Barcelona!pic.twitter.com/Yo0qtdybn6
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague)May 19, 2023
And of course, with everything mentioned about Hezonja, it is hard not to notice that it would certainly be more difficult for him if he had the Serbian ace of Barcelona opposite him in the moments of decision. Nikola Kalinić. However, with the decision of coach Šarunas Jasikevičius, Kalina sat out the decisive 10 minutes of the season and he didn’t even set foot on the floor. On the other side of the field and on Real’s bench, they knew how to punish that, as well as other Barca mistakes.
MISSED THE HOOPS IN THE ARENA AND DESTROYED BARCELONA WITH A THREE! Hezonja’s explosion at the Final Four: Mario, you are a great player
