Olimpia stayed on the road in Bologna where the team practiced in the afternoon before moving to Reggio Emilia for another crucial Italian league game. Last Monday, a big chance to reach the top spot in the standings was squandered in Napoli and made this game even more relevant in the playoff’s race. Obviously, Shavon Shields – who reported an injury in Bologna on Friday night – left the team and moved back to Milano in order to immediately start treatment. However, Neno DImitrijevic was healed from the back problems that kept him out for the last two games and joined the team in Bologna. “We are aware that our ownership and fans are disappointed because we blew up the great opportunity that we built ourselves by playing a medicore sequence of games in the end. Right now, and until the return of our missing players such as Bolmaro, Causeur, Nebo and Shields, we have to dig in, playing with humility and show finally how much we care about the team, the fans and our own work,” Coach Ettore Messina said.
The game will be played on Sunday in Reggio Emilia at 19:00.
REGGIO EMILIA OUTLOOK – Reggiana will have a crucial game in the coming week in the Fiba BCL playoffs in Malaga. In the Italia league, it is trying to solidy its presence the playoff area of the standings. The point guard is Cassius Winston, a scorer from Michigan State, a former NBA second-round pick (Oklahoma City) and one year of EuroLeague experience at Bayern Munich. He is averaging 16.6 points, 5.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game. Jaylen Barford (Arkansas, he has had Italian stints at Pesaro, Rome and Cremona) averages 13.6 points per game and grabs 3.6 rebounds per night. Jamar Smith is another very experienced guard, averaging 10.6 points and 2.3 assists per game, shooting 61.5 percent from two. Among the guards, Reggio Emilia also counts on Lorenzo Uglietti (4.6 points and 2.6 assists per game) who is good at pressuring the ball and on shooter Michele Vitali (4.1 points per game, 38.3 percent from three). Coach Priftis uses both line-ups with three guards and others with Sasha Grant, a defensive specialist, as a small forward. Grant, 20 appearances as a starter, averages 4.3 points per game. The starting power forward is Kwan Cheatham (10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds on average), who is a great three-point shooter (39.1 percent for the season). The centers are Momo Faye (9.9 points and 7.8 rebounds on average), who is shooting 64.5 percent from the field, and the Frenchman Stephane Gombaud (7.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game). Behind them, playing both as a power forward and as a center, there is Kenneth Faried, a former NBA star in Denver, who is averaging 6.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He is a physical player with great energy. Matteo Chillo completes the big men rotation. Lately, the twenty-year-old Filippo Gallo, another point guard, has also had some minutes.
