The first trophy of the season is awarded in Brescia like a year ago. Olimpia faces Virtus Bologna in the semi-final, the same team they met in each of the last three editions of the tournament, with one win (2020, in the championship game) and two defeats (2021 final; 2022 semi-final, after an overtime). Milan and Bologna have also played in the last three Italian league finals. Over the course of three years, they met 28 times with Virtus leading 15-13 overall. However, in the Italian competitions the teams are tied 13-13 and Olimpia is leading the playoffs’ series count 2-1. Obviously, it’s a game that comes very soon: Olimpia has never used his veterans from the World Cup in pre-season games (five of them: Melli, Tonut, Ricci, Voigtmann and the newcomer Maodo Lo) and won’t have Billy Baron and Diego Flaccadori. The team played four official games, all won, and one scrimmage, always at a very highly competitive level. The hosts Germani and Tortona are the other two semi-finalists. Olimpia will play in Brescia for the first time with its brand-new three-star jersey.

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “Like all the teams getting back the international players, we are experiencing a moment of positive confusion in the sense that we have to understand how to help each other and play together. We’ll improvise a little bit during the games, make simple things with the highest possible intensity, but its is the same for any team in our position. During the preseason, we have seen that Nikola Mirotic can help us in two positions, as a power forward and as a small forward, and that our general athletic condition is good and the youngest players benefitted from playing serious minutes, especially Giordano Bortolani who was really good. The Virtus game will be very competitive and with no favorites. On the court, there will be many talented players and pride, on both sides. On top of it, they will be very motivated because they just changed head coach and everybody will try to be as good as the requests will be. Luca Banchi will be ready to get them on the court.”

SUPERCUP HISTORY – Olimpia has won the Super Cup four times, beating Avellino in the final in 2016, Venice in 2017, Turin in 2018 (played in Brescia) and Virtus Bologna in 2020. In all. Olimpia has reached the final eight times, losing it in 1996 with Verona, in 2014 with Sassari, in 2015 with Reggio Emilia and in 2021 with Virtus Bologna. In the previous games against Bologna, the overall record is 114-87 for Olimpia, 97-71 counting only the Italian league games. In Milan, the record is 76-24 for Olimpia. In Bologna it is 63-38 for Virtus. But here we play on a neutral court.

Olimpia took a team picture right in front of the Dome just before leaving fro Brescia

VIRTUS BOLOGNA – Compared to last season, they have added the American play-guard (with a Croatian passport) Jaleen Smith, coming from Alba Berlin (64 appearances in the EuroLeague, 9.9 points per game on average); Serbian international Ognjen Dobric, who injured his ankle in the World Cup final, a veteran of 153 EuroLeague appearances, 9.9 points per game for Red Star last season; the power forward Devontae Cacok from CSKA Moscow; and the veteran Bryant Dunston, a center with 294 EuroLeague games under his belt, the second-best shot blocker ever in the top competition who won twice with Efes Istanbul; plus two Italians, Bruno Mascolo, who replaced Nico Mannion, and Achille Polonara, also back from the World Cup, last year first at Efes and then at Zalgiris Kaunas. Point guards Daniel Hackett and Alessandro Pajola are returning along Danish guard Iffe Lundberg; the shooter Marco Belinelli; the wingers Isaia Cordinier and Awudu Abass; as well as Toko Shengelia, Jordan Mickey and Leo Menalo among the big men. The other change is on the bench where Sergio Scariolo has been replaced by Luca Banchi.

THE VIRTUS CONNECTION – Giampaolo Ricci played for Virtus Bologna for two seasons, winning the 2021 championship as Captain. Daniel Hackett played in Milan for two years, winning the 2014 championship. Awudu Abass played for two years in Milan, from 2017 to 2019, winning the 2018 championship and the Super Cup twice. Ettore Messina coached in the Virtus youth team and became head coach before the 1989/90 season, remaining there up to and including the 1992/93 season, only to return in 1997 and remain there again until 2002. In these two periods he won the EuroLeague twice (1998 and 2001), the Cup Winners’ Cup once (1990), the championship three times (1993, 1998 and 2001), the Italian Cup three times. The coach of Virtus Bologna, Luca Banchi was Olimpia’s coach for two years, during the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons. In Milan he won the 2014 championship and among his players at the time he had Hackett, who he will coach again in Bologna, and Melli. 

Alex Poythress was particularly brilliant during a very short preseason

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