More muscle for Real Madrid. The white club announced this Friday the signing of Angolan center Bruno Fernando, 26, for the remainder of the season and another. responds to the team’s need to reinforce the inside game after Deck’s injury and to increase the physical strength of the squad given the busy schedule (Chus Mateo’s group already has 42 games this season) and the demands of the Euroleague and the Endesa League, with the Cup just around the corner, from February 13 to 16.
Fernando, 2.06m tall and weighing almost 110 kilos, will provide that physical release to alternate under the rim with Tavares, Garuba, Ibaka and Ndiaye. The pivot was cut on January 7 for the Raptors after six seasons in the NBA between Atlanta, Boston, Houston and Toronto: 220 games under his belt with four points and 3.2 rebounds on average. His last game was on December 31, when he played four minutes. Since then he attracted the attention of other Euroleague teams and finally opted for Madrid, much to the relief of Chus Mateo. “We need to strengthen the physique of a squad that has to be there every day. The players are superheroes because of how they run, collide, dive to the ground and shoot threes with such precision despite fatigue. “They all end the games with blows,” said the Madrid coach last Wednesday. “Competing with a physical deficit prevents you from reaching the finals,” he added.
Fernando played in the last pre-Olympic match in Valencia with Angola. of the crash, with 12 sacks, in addition to adding 12 points. “He has a great body, a lot of ability to attack the basket from close range and a good defensive attitude. In the NBA he played more than four but he is not a great shooter. He looks more like a five,” Sergio Scariolo defines him.
