After thirty-seven games, one more than the opposing team, Olimpia takes the court for the final act of the season, the series that is worth the Italian championship and for the third consecutive time it will feature the same two teams. So, Virtus Bologna is next. “I anticipate – Coach Messina said – a close series and small details will be crucial in any game. Right now, our attention is entirely on Game 1. We need to pay attention to defense and rebounds in order not to depend heavily on shooting percentages.” During playoffs’ era it had never happened that the same final match-up took place three times in a row, but in Olimpia’s case something similar happened between 1971 and 1973. At the time, Olimpia played a tie-breaking game with Varese three straight years to earn the title. In essence, there were three finals. “It is a lot like the NBA’s rivalry in the ’80s between the Lakers and the Celtics. It is not only about sports, it is also about visibility and a testament to the great players involved. That rivalry rejuvenated the NBA,” Coach Ettore Messina said.

Olimpia enters the series riding the wave of the 3-0 inflicted to Sassari in the semifinals, with home-court advantage and a general condition that looks good. Like it did in the regular season, Olimpia also put together the best defense in the playoffs in terms of points allowed, opponent index rating, shooting percentages from three allowed. In the meantime, it has improved offensively, perhaps thanks to some stability within the roster: the team has gone from 82.7 to 89.3 points per game; from 55.7 to 58.6 percent shooting from two; 37.0 to 43.7 percent shooting on threes over 29.4 attempts per game; turnovers have been three fewer per game, assists three more. But the numbers of Virtus are just as impressive. They scored 99.0 points per game in six playoff outings, just to start. “We are aware that they defeated us four times during the season, we got to stay humble. However, we are coming off some very good playoff games, so we have confidence,” Messina added.

Olimpia will play the first two games at home. It is pointless to deny how important they will be: in the last two seasons whoever won Game 1 has also won the series. Speaking only of Olimpia: in the nine finals in which it won Game 1, it also prevailed eight times at the end and only twice, after giving up the opening game, Olimpia was able to come back and win it all.

It is a best-of-seven series, the 14th series thus conceived in the team history. Olimpia has played three Game 7s all-time. Both teams have reduced roster changes from game to game. Virtus has always used the same 12 so excluding Iffe Lundberg, Ismail Bako and Kyle Weems, who played the previous two finals.  Paul Biligha missed the last two games of the semi-final with a shoulder injury, but he should be back. “We got to play together, with cohesiveness and courage and then we’ll have the chance to try to reach the goal we desire for ourselves, our owners, the fans that have been supporting us all season long and particularly during the playoffs,” Messina said.

For Olimpia its is the 21st trip to the championship series, with 10 wins and 10 losses, it is also the fifth time it faces Virtus Bologna. The curse was broken one year ago with a memorable 4-2 triumph. Shavon Shields, the incumbent MVP, and part of the Italian league finals for the fifth time in five seasons, after missing four months with an injury, is gradually improving. Over the first two round, he averaged 13.6 points per game and shot over 48 percent from three. Nicolò Melli, in the meantime, has increased his rebound average to 7.3 during the semifinal series, and Gigi Datome averaged 12.0 point on 47.1 percent three-point shooting. All of them will be crucial in the series. Shabazz Napier is keeping his scoring consistent, but has improved his passing numbers, averaging 5.7 assists per game in the second round. Finally, Johannes Voigtmann will try to carry his hot shooting into the finals. In the previous round, he has averaged 15.0 points per game and shot over 70 percent from two-point range and over 57 percent from three.

There are a lot of storylines within the series. Virtus’ hottest player, Daniel Hackett (11.5 points per game in the playoffs, 55.6 percent from three in the semifinal round), has won the 2014 championship in Milan next to Melli. Kyle Hines is appearing in his 11th consecutive domestic league championship game or series over four different leagues. He used to play in Moscow along Milos Teodosic and also won a championship next to Hackett. The same Hackett played along Johannes Voigtmann in Moscow. Both coaches used to play on the other side of the fence. Ettore Messina won three championships and two EuroLeague titles in Bologna, as part of two winning stints. Sergio Scariolo coached Milan for two seasons. And Marco Belinelli (13.3 points per game on 48.7 percent from three over six attempts per game) has been coached by Messina when he was a rookie in Bologna and later in San Antonio and with the National team.

Olimpia will start the series with a lot of enthusiasm around. The Mediolanum Forum has been sold out for both Game 1 and 2, with more than 12.000 people attending and many more left out unfortunately.

Pippo Ricci

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