Olimpia is staying on the road in the Italian league, going to Scafati. From there, the team will move on to Bologna for the start of another tough EuroLeague week. Over the last few days, Olimpia has re-established its defensive DNA holding both Brindisi and Valencia under 60 points. The 52 points allowed to Valencia represented the fifth best defensive performance ever for Olimpia, so it is a good sign while going to face an offensive team like Scafati. “So far, they have the best offensive number in the league, their talent level is high both among the perimeter players and the bigs. We need to keep improving like we did over the last week,” Coach Mario Fioretti said.

Scafati is scoring, running and shooting well. Kruize Pinkins, the starting power forward, is accumulating MVP-caliber stats and the second unit is full of experienced veterans such as David Logan, Janis Strelnieks and Alessandro Gentile. Olimpia’s defense is in for a complicating late afternoon in Scafati, including a very passionate fan base that surely will push the local team, coached by another veteran, Pino Sacripanti.

Olimpia is coming to this game with some morale boost received by the last couple of games. The team was more stable and efficient. Billy Baron is still out, on his way to recover from the elbow injury he had to deal with for the last few months. The rest of the team is available.