Procida asks for passage in Real Madrid's beating of Ibon Navarro's Estrella Roja

The chant became a mantra. "Ibon has a plan." It was the motto of a Unicaja that, with the Vitorian, reconciled itself based on titles with its own history. In Belgrade, at the Red Star, the coach tries to apply his recipe, successful in his first steps, seven victories in the last eight duels in the Euroleague, a defense to boast about... But everything up in the air during his visit to the Palace, destroyed by the momentum of a Real Madrid that, at full performance, becomes a roller. [105-84: Narration and statistics]

It was an almost routine victory, a beating that occurred right from the start. With Nick Smith as the starter (no minutes in the last two games), 38 points to make things clear, a short nap afterwards, a lot of depth in some of the Red Star leaders (Weiler-Babb, Butler...) and a name of his own in Madrid above all in the choral crusher. That of Gabriele Procida. Ambition, attitude and success.

There was hardly any news from Procida in the Scariolo stage. And his role with Pedro Martínez seemed to be going the same way. But walls are there to be torn down. And with the slightest crack, the Italian, a guy who was aiming for a star, is achieving it. He finished with 19 points, four three-pointers from five attempts and four rebounds and a tremendous feeling of confidence.

Real Madrid had been 15 up at half-time and, however, if they could have, they would have erased seven minutes of everything that happened. Because his dawn was so powerful, like a stampede in the first act, as horrible was that stretch of the second in which he conceded a 2-19 partial, with no one incapable of stopping the adventures of Tyson Carter, the former Unicaja player.

The blur remained at that, because the previous thing had been amazing. Red Star was barely able to grab a rebound in the first 10 minutes, in which Procida once again demonstrated that the gap he claims is purely deserved. When they gave him the first relief he already had 10 points.

With two more triples, Madrid came to dominate a stunned rival by 24 (44-20), with no trace of all the good vibes it brought, of that business card that was its victory last week in Piraeus. Madrid's baskets were falling. Until it collapsed. How can you go so suddenly from everything to nothing? When the referees signaled the third to Carter, relief came. Madrid's first basket in the game in the second act, two triples and a 0-8 run that restored the advantage and the inertia.