Valencia is battling for a top-four spot at the end of the regular season. The team has been one of the season’s revelations, with its brand of basketball based on roster depth, three-point shooting, player interchangeability, and a fast-paced offense. Olimpia will play at the new Roig Arena for the first time and will likely find a full house for its next to last road game of the European season. Valencia is 14-3 at home, tied with Olympiacos Piraeus for the best home record in the competition. Olimpia is coming off a victory over Reggiana, a significant achievement considering the Emilian team’s current form. They had won eight of nine league games, and defeated all of the top four teams except Olimpia. The team traveled to Valencia without Ousmane Diop. Bryant Dunston and Diego Flaccadori are out due to injury.
NOTES – Valencia Basket-Olimpia Milano will be played on Tuesday, April, 7, in Roig Arena, Valencia. Tip-off time is 20:30.
THE REFEREES – Sreten Radovic (Serbia), Saulius Racys (Sweden), Franko Gracin (Croatia).
COACH PEPPE POETA– “We face a team well-coached by Pedro Martinez, with great offensive potential, a lot of talent among the perimeter players and versatile big men, capable to stretch the floor. Especially at home, they are very effective. Our first goal entering into this game to give consistency to the defensive game we just played in the Italian league vs Reggio Emilia. It would be a good starting point to play a good game.”
VALENCIA BASKET OUTLOOK – Coach Pedro Martinez has a very deep roster that is used extensively in every game, so nobody is averaging at least 24 minutes of play. The starting five is also constantly changing. The most productive guard so far has been Dominican international Jean Montero, a three-time Spanish League Best Young Player, last year’s Eurocup Rising Star, and also a First Team selection in the same competition. Having arrived in Spain years ago, in Gran Canaria, he has been with Valencia since 2024. This seasons, he is averaging 13.2 points and 4.6 assists per game. Italian international Darius Thompson, a 16-game starter in his first year at Valencia, is averaging 9.5 points per game on 39.0 percent three-point shooting. He also averages 3.4 assists and has had 36 steals, so far. Senegalese international Brancou Badio, in his second season in Valencia, is averaging 10.4 points and 2.1 assists per game, and is shooting 55.6 percent from two. Spanish international Sergio De Larrea (3.6 points per game) injured his shoulder in the last Bologna game and will be out for several games. The guard rotation could therefore include two swingmen: Omari Moore, in his first year at Valencia from Darussafaka, is averaging 8.9 points and 3.2 assists per game, and the experienced Xabi Lopez-Arrostegui. The forwards are Josep Puerto, a product of the Valencia youth system, who is averaging 5.2 points per game on 40.7 percent three-point shooting; and Kameron Taylor, the most used player with 23.47 minutes on the court, 12.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Taylor, who was at Malaga last year, is a highly efficient player, shooting 60.6 percent from two and 42.1 percent from three with an almost identical number of attempts. At power forward, the starter is usually Nathan Reuvers, who played in Italy, in Reggio Emilia, and is averaging 10.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, shooting 72.1 percent from two (out of 129 attempts, an absolutely unreal rate), and 43.9 percent from three. Reuvers is coming off a EuroLeague Round MVP performance with 33 points scored against Virtus Bologna. Braxton Key, a mid-season addition, the G-League Defensive Player of the Year boasting multiple NBA appearances, the last one in Golden State, is averaging 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds a night. The center position features players capable of hitting shots from outside, such as Matt Costello (6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game), who is shooting 39.8 percent from three, and Jaime Pradilla (6.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game), who is shooting 34.3 percent from beyond the arc and 63.6 percent on twos, but is also a good ball handler (2.1 assists per game). Neal Sako is a more traditional and very athletic center, who played very well last year in Villeurbanne and is a dangerous offensive rebounder (he is averaging 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, converting 60.9 percent of his twos). The big man sector is rounded out by Yankuba Sima
VALENCIA CONNECTION – Nate Sestina won the Spanish Super Cup this year with Valencia and last season he played 21 Eurocup games, scoring 143 points for Valencia.
GAME NOTES – With this game, Shavon Shields surpasses Kaleb Tarczewski’s 156 EuroLeague appearances and becomes the sole owner of the second-most EuroLeague games played for Olimpia with 157. Nicolò Melli has 170. Zach LeDay is 19 points behind Bob McAdoo’s second-place scoring record for Olimpia (1,292 points).
