Olimpia returns home after three consecutive road games in the EuroLeague and five in a row including the Italian League. Olimpia will face Bayern Munich, and it is a vital game. Bayern have changed coach recently, promoting 47-year-old Serbian Oliver Kostic in place of Dejan Radonjic, then the team won at home against Maccabi in the last round and, compared to the previous meeting between these two teams, Bayern recovered two of its summer’s most prized signings, the point-guard TJ Bray and former NBA forward Josh Huestis.
OLIMPIA – The small forward Drew Crawford was registered for the EuroLeague and will make his debut in this competition. Crawford, however, allows to better overcome the lack of depth at the small forward spot, because of Riccardo Moraschini and Jeff Brooks injuries. Olimpia have allowed 71.0 points on average in the last two games against Maccabi and Fenerbahce, which is a good defensive trend.
COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “It’s a very important game for us, against a very physical team capable to defend really well in half-court situations, and as a consequence we’ll have to score some points with our transition offense. Against Greg Monroe and the other big men, it’s going to be decisive the rebounding battle too.”
DREW CRAWFORD ABOUT HIS EUROLEAGUE DEBUT – “I never played in the EuroLeague before, but since I came to play overseas, I’ve always played against EuroLeague teams, and I feel to be ready. My role will depend by the team, I will listen to Coach Messina to improve as a player, make sure I do what he asks me to do and help the team succeed.”
THE LAST TIME THEY MET – Olimpia returned within three points in the fourth period, but paid dearly its 4-for-22 three-point shooting night. Bayern was able to get away again and won by 12, 80-68, led by a great game by Vladimir Lucic and Nihad Dedovic, 34 points combined. For Olimpia Luis Scola scored 17 points, Sergio Rodriguez had 14 and Amedeo Della Valle scored 10.
THE OPPONENT – Greg Monroe, an NBA veteran, who attended Georgetown, is the key player for Bayern: he’s the best scorer (12.5 per game), the best rebounder (6.8), the best in Personal Index Rating (16.1), the best shot-blocker and is first for steals. He is a low post center with great skills and left-handed shooting. The small forwards Vladimir Lucic is a highly effective scorer: he averages 11.9 points per game, he is shooting 61.6% from two and 44.4% from three-point range, as well as being virtually infallible from the line (90.2%). The small forward Paul Zipser, who also has NBA experience in Chicago, was the main man in the win over Maccabi with 17 points and is shooting 43.8% from three. The best shooter, however, remains the specialist Petteri Koponen, who is converting 51.4% of its three-point attempts. The starting point-man is Maodo Lo, a former Bamberg player who’s averaging 3.3 assists per game. But Bayern is a deep team, counting on French leaper Mathias Lessort, the big man Danilo Barthel who also knows how to shoot three, Leon Radosevic and Josh Huestis. Finally, Nihad Dedovic, who missed nine non-consecutive games due to injury, against Maccabi scored 19 points looking well-recovered now.
THE BAYERN CONNECTION – Leon Radosevic spent in Milan two seasons, in 2011/12 when Olimpia made the EuroLeague Top 16 and the Italian League championship series, and in 2012/13 when he came ack after a short time spent in Berlin. Nemanja Nedovic and Leon Radosevic spent time together in Vilnius; Nedovic was also a teammate of Vladimir Lucic in Valencia; while Petteri Koponen played alongside Ricky Moraschini at Virtus Bologna.
KALEB TIME – He set a new personal best, scoring 19 points in Istanbul (Fenerbahce). In the same game he set his new high in index rating with 27 and tied his career-best of 4 blocks in one game. He has scored over 500 points in his EuroLeague career, grabbed more than 400 rebounds and is the Olimpia’s All-Time rebounding leader in the EuroLeague.
