By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BOLOGNA, Italy – Real Madrid continued their race towards the post-season in the EuroLeague by easily winning on the road in Bologna, beating Virtus 80-67 in Segafredo Arena.
They did it without Gabriel Deck, as it has happened in the past few months for the Blancos. In the post-game, Chus Mateo provided a timetable for his return.
“He’s in the right way. He will probably be with us in the next game. I don’t know if he’s in the ACB or in the EuroLeague. He’s very close to coming back, this is something that makes me very happy because he’s very important to us”, he said.
Out since Round 18 against ALBA Berlin, the 30-year-old Argentinian forward was averaging 9.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game in this year’s EuroLeague.
During the Clasico against Barcelona to conclude 2024 in the ACB, he suffered a torn hamstring injury that forced him to miss action for more than two months.
Chus Mateo also commented on Usman Garuba’s progression week by week, speaking about his effort on the defensive end against Tornike Shengelia. “Usman has been working great since he recovered from the injury; he gave us a lot,” he said.
“He can play good defense as he did today; he prevented a lot in the low post against Shengelia, who can usually score 20 points. We need to understand that Bologna’s game is important in the low post; he understood it. I don’t mind if he scores or not; he needs to keep defending like this,” Mateo added.
“We got too many teams involved in the Play-Ins and Playoffs, we need to fight until the end. We need to be very smart and very solid and play game by game,” he also said in the flash interviews.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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