By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain – Baskonia lived an unbelievably memorable night in Fernando Buesa Arena against Virtus Bologna, getting the ticket for the all-Spanish best-of-five series in the EuroLeague Playoffs against Real Madrid.
It was Markus Howard’s shooting party night, Tadas Sedekerskis’ early-push night, and Matt Costello‘s effort-gaining night. But it was once again Codi Miller-McIntyre’s all-around night, as Baskonia‘s 29-year-old playmaker put his touch everywhere on the court.
Pushed by his people, the Bulgarian-American point guard flirted for the umpteenth occasion this season with the triple-double as he ended with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists. “It’s better to make the Playoffs when we have the support of our fans and they can see us”, he told Eurohoops after the win.
After the first Play-In blowout loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv, they “responded really well, came home, and took care of business”. Before thinking about facing Real Madrid, the attention is on ACB’s duty against 1st-seeded Unicaja Malaga. “We have a very tough week ahead of us. That’s the focus now”, he said.
Starting the third quarter on a 12-2 run, Baskonia flexed muscles and eventually went all the way to the win. “We came in at halftime, talked about what we needed to do to fix it, and we were able to make it work in the second half”, Codi Miller-McIntyre added about coming back to the court at halftime.
🥶🐺 @CMMPatience pic.twitter.com/MgnrKVvDuB
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) April 19, 2024
The “most important win” of Codi Miller-McIntyre’s career
Following the most bitter of sweet performances, producing a losing effort of 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in the 28-point loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Codi Miller-McIntyre knew he had to keep up the flow against the black-and-white side, especially without Chima Moneke available.
Having one of the most cheerful faces in the locker room once again suited to play would be “very important”, especially to put the opponents’ main focus out of the backcourt duo composed of the 30-year-old point guard and Markus Howard. “I hope Chima [Moneke] has an extremely fast recovery because we definitely need him”, he commented on his absent teammate.
Facing Unicaja Malaga, which is leading the ACB and will play the Basketball Champions League Final Four from April 26-28 in Belgrade, however, is the most important thought right now. “Right now we have a crucial game on Sunday. Tonight was amazing, happy we made the Playoffs, but we have to focus on Sunday’s game”, Codi Miller-McIntyre commented.
Previously revealing to Eurohoops that he came close to retirement before joining Baskonia, this really feels like icing on the cake. “Everything from college up until now, I think this was one of the… not “one of”, but “the” biggest moment [of my career]”, he first said after such a joyful victory.
“I’ve been working extremely hard from all the losses, being relegated twice to the earthquake [in Turkey], thinking about retiring and having a lot of bad thoughts. This was definitely the most important win of my career”, he concluded. The Wolf and the whole wolfpack want to keep going.
— Codi Miller-McIntyre (@CMMPatience) April 19, 2024
PHOTO CREDIT: Baskonia