It was another night for the ages. Olimpia had the chance to close the series out at home and did it again. During the Messina’s era in such games Olimpia’s record is amazing, 11-3 and 3-0 at home. The winning streak in the friendly confines of Unipol Forum in the Italian league finals has reached eight games. Virtus Bologna was a tough out. They never gave up even in a game that Olimpia dominated essentially from the beginning. Bologna with four players who didn’t started during the series in the starting line-up approached the game with a 5-0 run. Olimpia never lost control, responded with a 15-2 run and never looked back. The lead reached 12 points during the second quarter, was 10 at the half. Then, Olimpia exploded after the rest. Melli and Mirotic, the big horses, combined for 10 straight points. The lead was 21 late in the quarter. The game looked to be over. Instead, Bologna did everything to come back, extended the defense, attacked the rim, never gave up (“They were a tough opponent, deep, strong, they can score in so many ways,” Coach Ettore Messina said). Olimpia looked fatigued and even a little bit nervous but never took control. Bologna came back within nine and Mirotic made a huge three. When the offense stagnated a little, he worked inside and earned himself some precious trip to the foul line. He finished the game with an amazing 30 points plus 12 rebounds effort. He was even effective defensively with two blocks. In the second period, when Virtus tied the game up, Melli and Napier made two straight threes. In the middle, Mirotic blocked a turnaround jump shot by Shengelia. It was the picture of the night.
This is the third straight championship for Olimpia, it is number 31 overall. During the golden Armani’s era, Olimpia won its sixth Italian league championship and 14th trophies. Mirotic was a unanimous choice as the MVP for his Game 4 big effort that followed another great Game 3. Obviously winning the series was not going to be possibile without the huge effort of everybody, starting in Game 1 with Shabazz Napier and Shavon Shields heroisms, for example. They deserved the award too. Nicolò Melli of course was another example of what a team player should be. He could have been the MVP too for his consistency throughout the series. In Game 4 he was again all over the floor. He shut Shengelia down again; he grabbed nine rebounds, he scored 12 points including a terrific three in the second half when Olimpia was getting away. For Melli this is the 4th Italian league championship won with Olimpia, the 7th across the continent over the last nine seasons he spent in Europe. When tha Captain wanted Kyle Hines to raise the trophy as a legendary player approaching the end of his tremendous career, that was an iconic moment that will never be forgotten.
The three-peat is the first since the dynasty team coached by Dan Peterson dominated the scene. They won in 1985, 1986 and 1987 in the middle of eight consecutive trips to the Italian league finals. “To be associated with what Coach Dan did earlier is a great honor for me. I’m humbled by that,” Coach Messina said after ceelbrating his seventh personal Italian league championship.
