Another great EuroLeague night awaits Olimpia, who hosts second-place Fenerbahce in its third-to-last home game of the regular season, with Nicolò Melli and Devon Hall presence, adding a nostalgic component to a game that means a lot for the standings. Fenerbahce will try to get closer to one of the top four positions that would allow them to have home court advantage in the playoffs; Olimpia – a little further back in the standings – will try to strengthen its position within the play-in zone and, if possible, improve it. With seven games left, including this one, obviously each game can have a huge impact on the outcome of the season. Olimpia had won in Kaunas before the break and defeated AS Monaco after it. Now Olimpia will try to beat another opponent from the top tier of the standings in front of its fans, an opponent that Olimpia has already defeated in Istanbul a few months ago. Fenerbahce doesn’t score a lot (81.6 points per game, 13th overall), is 18th in two-point shooting (51.4 percent), but allows only 80.4 points per game, fourth overall, because it messes up the opponents’ shooting percentages (third in defending on two-pointers; third in defending on the perimeter) and doesn’t allow second chances (it is first for fewest offensive rebounds allowed, a statistic in which Olimpia is third). This is what the numbers say, but Olimpia won in Istanbul by scoring fewer threes and shooting worse from three than their opponent, but held them to 47 percent from two and shot better attacking the area, with a monstrous performance by Nikola Mirotic, who had a 38 personal rating. The other key to that victory was the defense on Nigel Hayes-Davis, one of the best EuroLeague forwards, who was held to six points. Compared to that game, Fenerbahce has added two players, center Jilson Bango from Zaragoza who has played scarcely so far and veteran Errick McCollum, back in the EuroLeague after four seasons, at 37 years of age, who instead is proving to be a big weapon offensively averaging 11.7 points per game over 17 minutes on the court.

Tip off time on Thursday, March 6, will be at 20:30

REFEREES – Miguel Angel Perez (Spain), Milivoje Jovcic (Serbia), Luka Kardum (Croatia).

COACH ETTORE MESSINA– “We are facing a team of the highest level and enormous depth. We will have to attack the physicality that they express at the defense end of the floor by moving the ball incessantly and executing the correct spacing, as well as being ready when it will be necessary to make some adjustments. Defensively, we know their potential, so we are aware that a game of great sacrifice and attention will be necessary”.

FABIEN CAUSEUR– “For us being consistent will be the most important aspect of a tough game against the second-placed team in the EuroLeague coming off a big road win in Paris. We need to avoid the ups and downs that sometimes are an issue for us and stay solid for 40 minutes in general but especially on defense and rebounds.”

STEFANO TONUT– “The goal is to repeat last week’s game with Monaco against a very strong and motivating opponent like Fenerbahce with its talented players such as Wade Baldwin and Marko Guduric at my position. Now, given the standings, every game is a Game 5 and must be interpreted as such, especially playing at home in front of the crowd who will be our sixth man”.

FENERBAHCE OUTLOOK – Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius changes the starting lineup often. After the loss of Scottie Wilbekin to an early season injury, he has opted for many different solutions at the point. Wade Baldwin (10.6 points and 3.6 assists on average) had two injuries too and missed almost half of the games but scored 19 points against Olimpia in the Istanbul game. Serbian Marko Guduric, an Olympic bronze medalist in Paris, can play multiple positions: he is averaging 11.0 points per game shooting 41.8 percent from three, in addition to dishing 3.2 assists per game. Latvian Arturs Zagars, a breakout player at the 2023 World Cup, averages 6.3 points and 2.5 assists per game in 15.5 minutes on the court. Devon Hall, after Baldwin, has been the most used guard so far with 24.2 minutes on the court (7.4 points and 4.2 assists on average), and not only for his defensive impact (he shoots 34.8 percent from three). Hall was not available in the Istanbul game. Errick McCollum, in addition to scoring a lot over few minutes, is shooting with great accuracy, 68.0 percent on twos, 45.5 percent on threes. He replaced Skylar Mays on the roster. Tarik Biberovic, a player who is consistently improving, averages 10.1 points per game on 42.6 percent three-point shooting and can play both as a guard and as a small forward. In the latter role, the starter is Bonzie Colson (7.5 points and 4.0 rebounds on average), in his first year at Fenerbahce after two seasons spent with Maccabi. Canadian Dyshawn Pierre, who has also had injury problems during the season, adds strength to the defense and versatility. Nigel Hayes-Davis has started every single game so far. Currently, he is the most used player in the entire EuroLeague with 31.18 minutes on the court. He is playing the best basketball of his career averaging 17.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Hayes-Davis is shooting 43.0 percent from three on 6.1 attempts per game: it is clear what his main skill is. The other power forward is Nicolò Melli who is averaging 4.8 points per game (63.4 percent from two) with 4.0 rebounds over 17.1 minutes with mainly defensive duties. When he is not subbing Hayes-Davis he plays as a center, a position in which Fenerbahce has shuffled the cards a lot since the beginning of the season. Boban Marjanovic was released early, so Jasikevicius has used Melli, Sertac Sanli (6.4 points, 37.8 percent from three), Canadian Khem Birch (3.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game) and now Jilson Bango in that position.

THE FENERBAHCE CONNECTION – Nicolò Melli, who played two seasons in Fenerbahce already, came back to Istanbul during the summer after three seasons and three championships won with Olimpia Milan. With 180 games played he is the all-time leader in the EuroLeague with Olimpia. During the last three seasons, Devon Hall played for Olimpia, too. He had 93 appearances in the EuroLeague with 806 points scored.

MIROTIC FOR 4.000 – Nikola Mirotic is approaching the 4.000-point milestone. He has currently 3.962 points scored for his career. Mirotic has scored 780 points for Olimpia so far; 1.046 for Real Madrid; 2.136 for Barcelona. As of now, Mirotic is the seventh-best scorer in the competition history. Six players before him scored more than 4.000 points: Mike James, Nando De Colo, Vassilis Spanoulis, Juan Carlos Navarro, Sergio Llull and Jan Vesely. Mirotic is riding a streak of 15 games with at least 16 points scored.

Player	Points	Avg
Mike James	5.036	16.3
Nando De Colo	4.762	14.9
Vassilis Spanoulis	4.455	12.4
Juan Carlos Navarro	4.152	12.2
Sergio Llull	4.122	9.5
Jan Vesely	4.028	10.8
NIKOLA MIROTIC	3.962	14.7
Kostas Sloukas	3.940	9.5