In Venezia, the game between Reyer and Olimpia will have the third-place up fro grabs. Milan won the first face-off by 13 points, so it would remain in contention with a loss within that margin, but with two games left, the balance would tip significantly in Reyer’s favor. In essence, Olimpia need to win and seal the deal. In the playoffs, the difference will be minimal, both for the quarterfinal pairing and the unpredictable semifinal matchup. But prevailing would guarantee home-court advantage should Milan face Reyer in the championship final. Today, we’re only in the realm of pure speculation. Without elaborating, Olimpia is chasing a win to build on the positive feelings generated by last Sunday’s game against Napoli and boost the confidence level ahead of the playoffs. Reyer is a solid team: first for points scored and defensive rebounds grabbed; they have depth; they have two of the best five three-point shooters in the league, Jordan Parks (47.4 percent) and Kyle Wiltjer (42.4 percent), although as a team they shoot less well than Olimpia does regularly. Coach Poeta worked in the practice gym all week for the first time this season with a team that has to deal with the absence of Diego Flaccadori, only.

Umana Reyer Venezia-EA7 Emporio Armani Milano will be played at 16:00 on Sunday, April 16th in Venezia.

COACH BEPPE MANGONE – “Venezia is one of the most talented teams in the league, basing its offensive game on the Cole-Wiltjer combo and creating a lot of one-on-ones situations, thanks to the talent of several individuals. They have two versatile players, both defensively and offensively, in Parks and Wiltjer himself, and can establish their inside game using the skilla and experience of Tessitori, who is a known quantità for them, and Wiltjer two-way game. It will be important for us to fight on all the screens and slow down their pace, because Venezia draws great inspiration from fast-paced play when allowed. Finally, we will have to be careful and communicate well in all the one-on-one situations we will face.“

UMANA REYER VENEZIA OUTLOOK – Reyer is a very deep team, usually using a ten-man rotation but potentially expanding to 12, and has nine players averaging over 13 minutes per game. Six of them score over eight points per game. Point guard RJ Cole, from Connecticut, who spent the last two seasons in Vilnius, Lithuania, is the team’s leading scorer (16.2 points per game) and also the best in assists (5.2). Cole is also one of the league’s best free throw shooters, shooting 92.8 percent on 5.0 attempts per game. Ky Bowman, another veteran from Treviso, averages 9.9 points per game and is shooting 62.2 percent from two. He’s less ball dominant than previous teams, but remains productive and versatile, able to play both at point guard and shooting guard. A bit like Leonardo Candi (5.2 points and 2.5 assists per game, 35.6 percent from three). Giovanni De Nicolao can help out when needed, especially with his defense. Denzel Valentine is a creative perimeter player, who played in Trieste last year, and is averaging 6.8 points and 2.5 assists per game playing both guard and small forward when Coach Spahija goes small. The small forward is Jordan Parks, a veteran of the Italian league and Reyer (it is his fourth season in Venezia), who is averaging 13.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, and is shooting 45.3 percent from three. His backup is the British international Carl Wheatle (who is averaging 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds a night), an athletic player and a solid defender, even against smaller players. The other regular in the starting five is Canadian Kyle Wiltjer, a player who gained EuroLeague experience at Olympiacos, gifted with a great outside shot (4.6 attempts per game on 41.7 three-point shooting), who is producing 14.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Wiltjer is also shooting 59.0 percent from two. His backup is Stefan Nikolic, who is averaging 5.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game and is effective near the basket (59.3 percent from two). Center Chris Horton is in his second season in Italy after a standout season in Trapani. He’s averaging 8.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, including 2.1 offensive rebounds. But Venezia’s big man section also boasts a true center in Amedeo Tessitori, averaging 8.5 points per game in under 14 minutes on the floor, along with 4.5 rebounds. Tessitori is a highly efficient player, shooting 63.7 percent from two. Alessandro Lever can round out the rotation. Also joining the roster is Hason Ward, a center from Iowa State who has been in the G-League for two years and is playing his first European game.

THE REYER CONNECTION –Stefano Tonut spent seven years with Reyer. With Venezia, he won the Italian league twice and the Italian Cup once, as well as a FIBA ​​Europe Cup. Tonut is in his third season with Olimpia. Denzel Valentine, who made a brief appearance in Milan in the 2023/24 season but was nonetheless part of the team that won the Italian championship, is now part of Venezia team.

GAME NOTES – Shavon Shields is nine points shy of 3.000 points scored in the Italian league. At this time, he is 20th ever in Olimpia’s scoring list in the league with 2.222 points, six less than Mike Sylvester who is one place above. Ousmane Diop is three points away from reaching 1.000 for his career.