After two road wins in which an average of 75.0 points per game was allowed, without losing offensive efficacy, Olimpia returns to play at home in the EuroLeague for two games over three days that will certainly have an impact on the outcome of the regular season. The first is with Alba Berlin, a team virtually eliminated from every race, but traditionally rich of pride, as it demonstrated last week by holding on until the last quarter against Fenerbahce in Istanbul (three days later Alba won clearly a German league game in Frankfurt). Olimpia is aware that it cannot underestimate its opponent because historically Alba has always create problems and often has beat Milan, including in this season Berlin’s game coming back by 13 points behind to prevail in overtime. Olimpia responded to that failure by winning the next six games, reversing its record. But this time it is necessary to take the win right away and prepare as best as possible for the following showdown against Partizan. The EuroLeague standing is a hymn to balance: Olimpia is one win above 11th place and one win away from fourth place. There are 14 games left, many head-to-head clashes remain to be played, and every game at this point is crucial, regardless of the circumstances. Those of Olimpia are not easy, because Freddie Gillespie is the only pure center available, which means that Coach Messina will have to resort a lot to the lineup featuring the “Falto Cinco”, Mirotic, LeDay or Ricci himself. The players available are the same 12 who played in the last Italian league game against Reggio Emilia.

Tip off time on January 14, 2025, will be 20:30

THE REFEREES – Sreten Radovic (Croatia), Arturas Sukys (Lithuania), Uros Obrknezevic (Serbia)

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “Our record against Alba Berlin in recent seasons speaks for itself (5-6). Alba is a team that always puts us in trouble with its energetic play, made up of movement without the ball, cuts, defensive readings, pace and fastbreak opportunities. We know that the game requires great attention on both ends of the floot and that to win we cannot limit ourselves to expressing ourselves on just one part of the game.”

Nico Mannion

ALBA BERLIN OUTLOOK – The main trait is depth. Alba adopts a sort of “platoon system” in which no one stays on the court for more than 22-23 minutes per game. The two Italian players, Matteo Spagnolo and Gabriele Procida, are a clear demonstration of the concept: the point guard from Brindisi plays 22.2 minutes per game and averages 10.4 points and 4.2 assists per game; the winger has the same playing time, 10.7 points and 67.6 percent two-point shooting. The most experienced guards are Martin Hermannsson, 23.2 minutes per game on the court, 11.1 points and 5.1 assists per game, and the American shooter Matt Thomas, who’s averaging 11.4 points on 42.2 percent three-point shooting. But the rotation also includes Malte Delow (5.5 points and 2.9 rebounds); the Australian Will McDowell-White (6.0 points and 2.1 assists, 52.6 percent from three); Jonas Mattisseck (3.8 points per game). Ziga Samar (42.9% on threes) is another point guard occasionally used by Coach Israel Gonzalez. At the small forward spot, in addition to Procida, Louis Olinde is also used, but he missed the last few games due to a foot injury. He is a highly experienced, wiry player who can play two positions on the floor (he averages 6.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on 75.0 percent two-point shooting). With Justin Bean injured, the power forward is normally the New Zealander Yann Wetzell (9.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game) or Tim Schneider (6.3 points, 65.7 percent from two, 41.7 percent from three). The centers are David McCormack (11.9 points, 6.4 rebounds per game), who replaced Trevion Williams, and Elias Rapieque (4.6 points, 67.5 percent from the field), but Wetzell can also slip into the spot.

Gabriele Procida and Nikola Mirotic

THE ALBA BERLIN CONNECTION – David McCormack, currently Alba Berlin’s starting center, began his EuroLeague career in Milan, before moving to Berlin earlier in the season.

GAME NOTES – The 107 points scored by Olimpia in Belgrade against Maccabi are the second offensive performance by the club in the EuroLeague era after the 111 points scored vs Buducnost in the 2018/19 season in Milan. Olimpia had never scored 107 points in a road game (the previous record on the road was 106 points, in 2019 in Gran Canaria, but with the help of overtime; with no overtime it was 102 in Moscow-Khimki in 2020). The 33-point margin is also an all-time record in the EuroLeague era, regardless of whether the game was played at home or away. The previous one was 31 points, 83-52, against Valencia last season. The previous record, considering the road games only, dates back to 12 November 2021, 68-43, in Istanbul against Fenerbahce.

PLAYERS NOTES

Nikola Mirotic has scored at least 16 points in 12 straight games; he had at least a PIR of 12 in 19 consecutive games; he made the last 31 free throws that he attempted. Shavon Shields has made at least on three-pointer in the last seven games. Leandro Bolmaro has had at least one steal in eight consecutive games and as of now he is fourth in the league for steals per game.

TEAM NOTES – With 87.1 points per game, Olimpia is third overall for point scored; it is second for three-point shooting at 39.7 percent; first in free-throw accuracy at 84.0 percent. Olimpia is 8-1 in the game it scored more than 85 points; 6-1 when it scored more than 90 points; 9-3 in the games closed with a margin of seven or more points.

Zach LeDay

Share the article with your friends and support the team

Share the article with your friends and support the team
URL Copied to clipboard! Copia link