In Trento, Olimpia lost Game 2 due to a lucky shot at the buzzer; in Bologna, it lost Game 1 due to two unusually missed free throws by the team’s best free throw shooter. A random event that on the one hand is painful and on the other one encourages the group to remain positive. In the three previous series played in recent years with no home court advantage, Olimpia had always won Game 1. This time, it will have to try to prevail in Game 2 and bring the series back to Milan in a better situation. The first game left a bitter taste in the mouth because Olimpia had actually won it, despite shooting 6 out of 22 from three-point territory; going to the free throw line just eight times in the entire game; and being outrebounded 40-27. Olimpia did several good things, had more steals than turnovers, almost hit 60 percent of its two-pointers, defended well enough to keep Virtus under 70 points. So there are regrets, but the facts say that there is a Game 2 to play and withing Olimpia’s team almost everyone can play way better individually. Winning in Bologna is not easy: now Virtus is 4-0 in the playoffs on its home court, they are 18-1 this season in the Italian league. But Olimpia showed in Game 1 that it can be done. The team spent the day off practicing in the historical Paladozza arena in downtown.

The Keys

• Offensive rebounds: 15-7 the difference in Virtus’ favor. Despite playing without Josh Nebo, the starting center and best rebounder, Olimpia will have to do better next time
• Free throws: both teams went scarcely to the line. However, Olimpia attempted just eight free throws when the average during the season was 21.9 per game.
• Turnovers: Olimpia had nine in Game 1 and 10 steals, which is a nice stat to be duplicated hopefully.

The Schedule

Game 1	Saturday 31 May	H19:00	68-67
Game 2	Monday 2 June	H 20:45	Bologna
Game 3	Thursday 5 June	H 20:45	Milano
Game 4*	Saturday 7 June	TBD	Milano
Game 5*	Monday 9 June	TBD	Bologna

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “Game 1 was a very physical and hard-fought game. We did a lot of good things. The difference was some small mistakes and we should have been talking about a different situation. We will try to improve, starting with offensive rebounds, which ultimately cost us the game.”

Game 1 Story

1°Q	Olimpia started limping, especially offensively, slipping to nine points down, the biggest deficit of the night, before coming back to being down by four after the first period, 17-13.
2°Q	A 14-0 run between the two quarters allowed Olimpia to jump ahead by seven points twice, before finishing with a three-point lead, 33-30, thanks mostly to Diego Flaccadori.
3°Q	The buzzer-beating three made by Matt Morgan turned the game around after Olimpia led 48-43 allowing Bologna to finish the period up, 52-51
4°Q	Shavon Shields ties the game up at 62, the Armoni Brooks with the only three of his night put Olimpia ahead and Mirotic scores again to push Milan up by three. However, Bologna finishes the game with a 4-0 run, entirely by Shengelia, and win 68-67.

GAME NOTES – Olimpia is 22-9 in the all-time semifinal series with a 67-43 single-game record after Game 1. Ettore Messina is 100-47 in playoff games, 46-12 in the quarterfinals (16-1 in terms of series won-lost). In the semifinals he has a 29-22 single-game record (12-1 since he has been with Olimpia), 8-7 in series. The Olimpia Milano Coach is first all-time for games coached in the playoffs (147) and games won (100). Shavon Shields is now the fifth all-time leading scorer for Olimpia in the playoffs with 707 points scored: Bob McAdoo is right in front of him with 732 points. He is also second all-time for three-pointers made with 80. The record holder is Mike D’Antoni with 105. Finally, Shields had started the playoffs as the 15th best-scorer in history with 1,009 points scored. Now, he has 1,084 and is 11th all-time after overtaking Mike D’Antoni’s 1,080.