The real deal: Spain's real Madrid is basketball royalty indeed, with achievements stretching beyond the Boston Celtics of the '60s or the Chicago Bulls of the '90s

THOUGH THE TIP REMAINS 30 minutes away, the small arena is already nearing its capacity. The fans erupt when their heroes emerge for pre-game warmups. While their team may be the most famous one outside of North America, many NBA fans have never heard of it.

In Spain's capital city, they all know Real Madrid ("real" is the Spanish word for royal). But even here, the Real Madrid basketball team draws considerably less attention than the futbol club of the same name.

However, tonight's a very special baloncesto (basketball) matchup. Some 5,200 fans have squeezed into Madrid's Pabellon Raimundo Saporta for the season's first confrontation with Barcelona, Madrid's biggest rival in the ACB (Asociacion de Clubes de Baloncesto), Spain's elite basketball league. Spain's two largest cities share little affection for one another. Fans take a momentary break from their bocadillas de jamon (ham sandwiches) to jeer the visiting team's appearance on the court.

Barcelona took four of five encounters from Real Madrid last season, including a three-game sweep in the league championship series. That only intensifies the crowd's dislike for their rival. The visitors also entered the game undefeated in five games, while Madrid's record stood at 4-1.

The success of Real Madrid basketball has few parallels in American sports, and none in the NBA. Neither the 1960's Boston Celtics nor the 1990's Chicago Bulls sustained their excellence nearly as long. Imagine this: Real Madrid won 18 rifles in 19 seasons during one stretch; altogether, they own 28 Spanish league rifles. Six of them have come since the ACB was formed in 1983-84. They've also captured eight European League titles.

Real Madrid's dominance has fallen off in recent years. They've won the ACB just once since 1993-94. In that time, Barcelona has won five of seven championships, including two of the past three.

The 2001-02 edition of Real Madrid possesses enough talent to bring an NBA first-rounder off the bench. The Utah Jazz chose point guard Raul Lopez with the No. 24 pick last June. The talented 5'11" distributor might have gone higher had he not been under contract with Real Madrid.

Together with Pau Gasol's selection in the draft's third spot, Spain produced more first round choices than any foreign country. That's quite a turnaround for a country that had never seen a player taken in the first round. In fact, Gasol became just the second Spanish player to play in the NBA.

Not surprisingly, a Real Madrid player was the pioneer. Fernando Martin was taken in the 1985 draft's second round by the New Jersey Nets. Though a legend in Spain, he wound up playing just 24 NBA games, in 1986-87 with the Portland Trail Blazers, scoring 0.9 ppg on 29% shooting. The next season, he returned to Real Madrid.

"He was a true impact player in Europe--a very good player and competitor," says Walter Szczerbiak, who starred for Real Madrid from 1973 to 1980. "In the NBA, he was perceived as overly mechanical and not very athletic, which worked against him."

Martin returned to Real for the 1987-88 campaign. Tragically, he died in a car accident while driving to a game in December 3, 1989.

Besides Martin, just two Spanish-born players--Jose Antonio Montero (fifth round, 1987) and Roberto Duenas (second round, 1997)--had been taken in the draft before last June. And perhaps demonstrating the rise of Spanish basketball, Gasol's point total in his fourth NBA game alone (27) eclipsed Martin's career total (22).

While the 7'0" Gasol has gotten off to a fine start with the Memphis Grizzlies, Lopez encountered a tough setback back in Spain. In November, one game after Real Madrid's first contest of the season vs. Barcelona, a torn anterior cruciate ligament ended his season.

Rather than have a young point guard riding an NBA bench while John Stockton's career winds down, the Jazz shrewdly selected the smooth-passing Lopez. This way, he'll face the top European competition before coming to the NBA to face the world's best players. Utah's ideal scenario would have Lopez arriving for the 2003-04 season.

Lopez, just 21 years old like Gasol, characterizes himself as an antigua escuela ("old school") point guard. "I'm sometimes compared to John Stockton because I was chosen by Utah and he's another player like myself--we both like to pass the ball."

Lopez is smooth with the ball, Iris eyes constantly scanning the court for open teammates. Some fierce zone pressure by Barcelona proved fruitless against Lopez. He cruised through defenders with little hassle. His speed and quickness make him a fine penetrator as well.

Though he shot infrequently in this contest, Lopez appears to own a nice outside shooting touch. He hit just three of 15 three-pointers in seven games before his injury, but had nailed 37.6% of his treys in the two previous seasons.

Lopez's size could pose some problems in the NBA. Though listed at 180 pounds, he appears far lighter. "He'll have to square off against players like Gary Payton and Baron Davis, who weighs 210 pounds," says Ademola Okulaja, a former North Carolina Tar Heel now with Barcelona. "I'm curious to see how he does. Whenever he goes, I wish him the best of luck."

"I need to improve many aspects of my game and my physical strength," Lopez admits. "I don't think I'm fully prepared for such demanding competition [as the NBA] fight now. But I trust in myself and my game, and someday I'll be able to play at that level."

Lopez teamed with Gasol and current Barcelona guard Juan Carlos Navarro to lead Spain to a victory over the United States in the 1999 World Junior Championships in Portugal. That signaled bright times ahead for Spanish basketball.

Though Martin was the only Spaniard, numerous Real Madrid players have played in the NBA.

Drazen Petrovic spent the 1988-89 season in Madrid before moving on to the NBA. A deadly three-point shooter, Petrovic twice averaged more than 20 ppg for the Nets in the early '90s. Like Martin, his life sadly ended in a car crash after the 1992-93 season.

Arvydas Sabonis starred in Madrid from 1992 to 1995. Stanley Roberts and Carl Herrera both spent the 1990-91 season with Real Madrid.

Szczerbiak, the father of the Minnesota Timberwolves' Wally, still holds the single-game scoring record in Spain (65 points). Not coincidentally, Real Madrid won six Spanish and three European League rifles during the former George Washington University star's seven-year tenure.

Szczerbiak says that while he thoroughly enjoyed his experience in Madrid, he first had to make some adjustments. "It was midsummer when I arrived. It was so hot, probably 110 degrees. It was hard getting used to the heat and lack of humidity. The food was different, because they cook with olive oil. And we weren't allowed to speak English on the team."

Szczerbiak played with the ABA's Pittsburgh Pipers in 1971-72 and had an opportunity to play in the NBA, but opted to for a five-year contract with Real Madrid. "I had an offer from the Buffalo Braves. They offered me a one-year contract, but I wanted more of a commitment."

Szczerbiak now serves as the U.S. representative for the ACB. Things have changed considerably in Spain since his playing days, especially the political climate. "Franco (the long-time Spanish dictator) was still in power then. It didn't affect us on an everyday basis. As long as you didn't speak out politically you were OK."

On this night, the teams battled throughout a first half that ended with Real on top, 4540. One particularly boisterous section of the crowd stood for the entire half.

Szczerbiak says that the team moved into this arena from a venue more than twice as large to gain a greater homecourt advantage. Judging from the noise level, it accomplished its goal. He indicates that for a game vs. Barcelona, Real Madrid could easily draw three times the 5,200 capacity of their current home.

Soccer still rules in Madrid. The content from one of the country's daily sports magazines gives an idea as to the extent. After 33 pages of soccer coverage, Marca previewed the Real Madrid-Barcelona matchup on two pages of a small section called "Todo Menos Futbol" ("All Except Soccer").

While basketball certainly draws less attention than in America, the pressure to win is still great. Coaches receive intense scrutiny and often criticism. Milwaukee Bucks coach George Karl learned this when he coached Real several years back.

"In a place like Real Madrid, you have to win, or you'll get fired," Karl told CBS Sportsline.com's Frank Lawlor. "They don't give coaches there the time that you would get even in the NBA to build a team. The first year I thought I coached as well as I could have, but that's not how they saw it."

Despite facing the difficult task of leading the team following Martin's death, Karl encountered pressure to resign after his first season in 1989-90. He returned for the 1991-92 campaign, but the results again fell short of lofty expectations.

"I had fun coaching there, and we won a lot of games, but if you talked to people in Spain, they'd say I was a failure, because I didn't win a championship," Karl said.

Early in the second half, Madrid started to pull away from their archrival. Alberto Herreros, known as el canonero espanol (the Spanish cannon), lived up to his name. He exploded for 14 second-half points on some torrid outside shooting. One of his three-pointers stretched the lead to 21 and basically finished off the Barcelonans.

"The teams' rosters included numerous players besides Lopez with U.S connections. Real Madrid center Zan Tabak wore an Indiana Pacers' uniform last year, one of his several seasons in the NBA His teammate Sasha Djordjevic played with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1996-97. Dragan Tarlac spent the 2000-01 season with the Bulls. Iker Iturbe played college ball at Clemson.

Barcelona's Efthimios Rentzias was the Denver Nuggets' first round pick in 1996. His giant 7'3" teammate Roberto Duenas was taken in the second round of the 1997 draft by the Bulls. The Hawks chose Alain Digbeu earlier in that same round. Okulaja, Arturas Karnisovas (Seton Hall), and Sarunas Jasikevicius (Maryland) all played at American colleges.

Early in the fourth quarter, Lopez made his finest of several sweet passes by slipping an underhand lead to Tabak for a monster dunk That expanded the lead to 85-58. Barcelona fared better in garbage time and cut the final deficit to 97-76.

The dominant win may indicate a return to power for Real Madrid. It may again come down to these same two teams in the championship. While news of it may never reach the U.S., that pairing would make for quite a showdown.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group