VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - Nothing should surprise us anymore when it comes to Sergio Llull and game-winning shots.

When it's money time, it's Llull time. His heroics are the norm. The world is about to come to an end? No problem, just call Sergio Llull.

The latest money time for the Spain international guard was on Sunday, at the end of Real Madrid's El Clasico showdown with Barcelona.

Real, attempting to bounce back from their top-of-the-table defeat to Liga Endesa leaders and Basketball Champions League title contenders Iberostar Tenerife, were in danger of slipping to a second straight loss in the ACB.

With 6.8 seconds remaining and Barcelona on top, 75-74, Rudy Fernandez inbounded the ball from the hashmark across the court from the Real bench to Llull.

With Barca in a man-to-man defense and Brad Oleson guarding Madrid's superhero, and Real's players spread out, the 29-year-old Llull dribbled beyond the top of the key, considered his options and then did what everyone expected.

He took the ball right and came to a jump stop before putting up a high-arcing shot that fell through the hoop as time expired.

The ball swished, showing how precise, how exact, Llull is - always is - at that kind of moment.

"The final basket is one of the ones that I like," Llull said. "It was a good move and in the end, we were able to win."

The truth is, Llull makes shots like these often. There is no one like him in Europe. For me, there is no debate. He is the best player on the old continent.

The Copa del Rey that Real Madrid won a few weeks ago in Vitoria was the Sergio Llull show. He had 22 points, 23 and 22, respectively, in Real's wins over Morebanc Andorra, Baskonia and Valencia.

Anyone that watched the final, a true spectacle, against Valencia will tell you the only difference between the two sides in that game was Sergio Llull.

He was the MVP of the Copa, an event that every basketball fan should experience once in his or her lifetime.

After his latest game-saving act, Real coach Pablo Laso spoke matter-of-factly about Llull and the win. He's come to expect such a finish from Llull, someone that makes great plays the norm.

"We were clear what we wanted on the final possession," Real coach Pablo Laso said. "We wanted to open up the court to make room for (Anthony) Randolph or Llull. (Victor) Claver defended Randolph well, Rudy chose the right pass and then it came to heads or tails with the shot that Llull got right."

"The shot by Llull was very difficult but he made it," conceded Barcelona coach Georgios Bartzokas.

Llull always has a flair for the dramatic. He does it for Real and he does it for Spain. You expect him to make tough shots. 

We saw this coming in 2009, in Poland, when Llull was just 21 and playing for Spain's senior team for the first time at the FIBA EuroBasket.

Sergio Scariolo, his first tournament in charge of Spain, was at the helm of a side that was playing in fits and starts. Three years before, Spain had won their first FIBA Basketball World Cup in Japan and two years earlier, they had come up just short of a first FIBA EuroBasket title when JR Holden hit a jump shot for Russia in in the closing seconds in Madrid.

One year before, Spain had pushed the USA all the way in the Gold Medal Game at the Olympics, only to fall 118-107.

Spain arrived in Warsaw in 2009 as the favorites to win the EuroBasket, yet they lost on opening night to Serbia, nearly fell to Great Britain and edged Slovenia in group play.

A loss against Turkey in the second group phase would put their backs against the wall and leave them needing to win out to lift the trophy.

Turkey, building for the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Cup, had claimed victories over Lithuania, Bulgaria and Poland and a win over Spain would confirm just how good they were.

In the closing seconds, Spain found themselves trailing by one and with possession. Scariolo did something then that we see happen all the time now when it comes to coaches in difficult moments. He gave the ball to Llull.

The Menorca native drove hard into the lane, attacked the basket like it was his worst enemy but failed to complete his dunk. Spain argued that Turkey's giant center Omer Asik had fouled Llull but their appeals fell on deaf ears.

Marc Gasol questioned immediately after the game why his coach, Scariolo, had put the ball into the hands of "the kid" when he had so many other options like Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro and Fernandez, just to name three.

Llull won his third FIBA EuroBasket with Spain in 2015

It didn't matter. Spain won their next five games to claim their first FIBA EuroBasket crown.

Llull was there for every step of the way in 2009 and has been ever since, too, winning two more EuroBasket crowns (2011, 2015), a EuroBasket third place (2013) a 2012 Olympic silver and a 2016 Olympic bronze.

What Scariolo knew then, in 2009, that Llull was good enough - even though he didn't make the shot - everyone knows now.

Llull is a great player that needs to have the ball in his hands when the game hangs in the balance.

 

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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