There will be a packed house in Istanbul for Game 3 of the EuroLeague playoffs. As Efes coach Ergin Ataman promised, the atmosphere “will be two or three times the exceptional one that we experienced tonight” referring to the great support provided by the Olimpia fans in Game 2. Milan have won the last two games played in Istanbul with Efes and five of the last six games between these two teams, but at the same time have never won a playoff road game in four previous attempts. And still speaking of numbers, Efes is 13-4 at home, but Olimpia have won more than any other team on the road, 10 times. Again: Efes has won nine of its last 10 home games, and the only loss was inflicted by Olimpia. Obviously, it the absences will affect the game. Efes, who did not play in the Turkish league over the weekend, will have everybody available; Olimpia will have Gigi Datome available again, but the rest of the roster will be the same one that finished Game 2 in dramatic fashion, with the hope of being able to get some minutes off Sergio Rodriguez. It will be necessary to multiply Game 2’s closing effort over 40 minutes to try to stay in the game. Olimpia is 18-6 when it has scored more than 70 points. Over the first two games, it kept Efes at 65.0 points per game. Over the last 100 minutes played against Efes, Olimpia has allowed 157 points which means 15.7 points per quarter or 62.8 in the span of an entire 40-minute game. Although it is a defensively impressive performance especially considering the usual effectiveness of the Efes offense (83.1 points on average during the regular season), Olimpia will not be able to attempt what could seriously be defined as a sporting miracle without another defensive masterpiece. Another crucial aspect will be controlling the rebounds: in Game 2, Olimpia allowed three offensive rebounds to Bryant Dunston but none to all the other Efes players. To enhance the defensive effectiveness, it is going to be a crucial aspect. Just like taking care of the ball: in Game 2, Olimpia had eight turnovers for the game.
NOTES – Game 3 will be played on Tuesday 26 April at 19:30 Italian time at the Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul.
COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “Our situation is well known. As far as injured players, we can only hope to extract some minutes from Sergio Rodriguez. Other than that, we’ll try to control the rebounds and their great shooters, well aware that this game is realistically an extremely difficult one.”
KYLE HINES – “For us it is an opportunity to take advantage of the series, even if we know how difficult the series is going to be, especially considering the many players we are missing. I think the important thing is to keep fighting, to make sure we are going to be the most aggressive team, more focused and to play every possession in the best possible way.”
GIGI DATOME – “We know it will be a very difficult game, but we hope to recover the physical and mental energy to fight exactly as we did in Game 2. We are aware of the many heavy absences that we have, but in this type of games everyone will be ready to do everything we can to overcome the difficulties.”
THE REFEREES – Ilija Belosevic (Serbia), Matej Boltauzer (Slovenia), Emilio Perez (Spain).
GAME NOTES – Kaleb Tarczewski has exceeded 300 two-pointers during his EuroLeague career, the first in the history for Olimpia. Tarczewski is four points shy of 800 scored for Olimpia. Shavon Shields is eight away from 800 himself. Coach Ettore Messina has coached his 500th international club competitions’ game, counting the 78 games coache during the Fiba era and 19 more in “other” competitions (example: Cup Winners’ Cup). Kyle Hines is eight offensive rebounds away from the all-time first place in the playoffs that currently belongs to Felipe Reyes. He is also three blocks away from Ioannis Bourousis’ second place at 26. Sergio Rodriguez is eight points shy of 1,000 for Olimpia in the EuroLeague. Bob McAdoo (1,292) and Vlado Micov (1,232) are the only ones ahead. Meanwhile, he surpassed Diamantidis and DeColo to become seventh ever for points scored in the playoffs. Nicolò Melli has captured at least five rebounds in 10 consecutive games.
PLAYOFF NOTES – Three out of four series are tied at 1. Previously, in the best-of-five series, 22 series after two games were tied at 1. In these situations, the team that started the series with the home court advantage won the same series 13 times to nine.
