FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will collide in the EuroLeague Final-Four semifinal. As two star-studded squads, the arch-rivals are going to show up in the contest with some interesting individual matchups.
Nikola Mirotic is the main piece of Barca’s offensive plan the last two seasons. His inability to dominate in last season’s EuroLeague Final-4 was a huge reason why the Catalans could not get past the Anadolu Efes in the championship game.
Mirotic came off with a vengeance in the 2021-22 season being the top candidate to win the MVP award. Sarunas Jasikevicius took advantage of his size to create constant mismatches in the paint.
Mirotic awarded his coach with an all-around dominant season in return. He averaged the second-most points (16.6), the best PIR (19.4) and he was the 3rd best player getting into the free-throw line (3.9).
He also had a career-high in three-point percentage with 45.5% on 4.3 attempts per contest. The former Bulls’ forward is clearly the battering ram of his team’s offense creating also space for his teammates to put up some easy baskets.
In the matchup vs Real, Mirotic will probably face Guerschon Yabusele. A physical specimen, Yabusele is a two-way force for Los Blancos putting up efficient numbers in both ends of the floor.
He shoots 56 percent on 2-pointers for almost 12 points per contest, while he’s putting up his three-pointers at an efficient 40.8 percent clip on 3.5 attempts per contest. Yabusele has also been a factor in defense with his actice hands and his physicality.
He’s averaging 1.0 steals per game forcing Real to a more versatile defensive scheme with more switches on the wings. Yabusele will be an important part of Madrid’s plan to stop Mirotic and not give him the ability to finish over his opponents in the post.
The French will probably be the first line of defense against the Montenegrin sizable forward. Yabusele amped up his numbers during the EuroLeague playoffs averaging 15.6 points through three games vs Maccabi.
His presence will be an important factor in the EuroLeague Final-4 semifinals between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. One thing is for sure, the matchup between the two could make the difference in the matchup.
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