“It’s playoff time” like every year in May. Olimpia enters the post-season starting from the fifth place and with a road game for the first time since 2009 when they eliminated Teramo in four games and reached the Italian league championship series that then was lost. But they also start by defending three consecutive Italian league titles and after participating to four finals’ series in a row. Trento has become a traditional opponent over the last ten years or so, that is, since it landed in the top league: this is the sixth time the two teams face each other in the post season. At the quarter-final level it has happened three other times and Milan won them all, including last season when Trento was eliminated 3-1 and Olimpia swept the road games. Obviously it is the first time that home court advantage belongs to Trento. This season the two teams have already met three times with two wins for Trento at different times, the most painful was certainly on the neutral court of Turin when Olimpia lost the Italian Cup championship game. Trento is an uptempo team that can change configuration easily by playing with a one-on-one power forward like Anthony Lamb or with a stretch 4 like the Lithuanian Eirgidas Zukauskas, and on top of it can play with two ball handlers at the same time (Ellis and Forray or Ford) or with a classic two-guard like Myles Cale. Using Jordan Ford and Zukauskas off the bench it usually has a second unit offensively explosive (they combine to score 25.7 points per game and attempt over ten threes on average on 40.8 percent accuracy). Olimpia practiced all week in the Unipol Forum practice court before leaving for Trento. Coach Messina will decide the composition of the roster only after the last walk-through in Trento.

The series schedule

Game 1	Saturday 17 May	18:00	Trento
Game 2	Monday 19 May	20:00	Trento
Game 3	Thursday 22 May	20:45	Milano
Game 4*	Saturday 24 May	TBD	Milano
Game 5*	Tuesday 27 May	TBD	Trento

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “We’re facing a team that has shown its strength throughout the regular season and obviously in the Italian Cup. We know that we’ll have to be a true team in all the little things, defensively, helping each other on offense, in overcoming the difficult stretches that will inevitably come. If we can do all these things together then we know that we have the necessary talent to overcome the home court advantage that is against us”.

TRENTO OUTLOOK – Quinn Ellis, a British international with an Italian basketball registration, is the starter at the point guard spot. He is a complete player (10.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists on average), but has also increased his ability to score from outside (35.3 percent on threes). At the point, he is sustained by veteran Toto Forray, the captain and emotional leader of the Trentino team (4.8 points per game on 42.5 percent three-point shooting), who still can affect the outcome of any game in less than 13 minutes spent on the court. Seton Hall product Myles Cale, usually a starter, averages 11.3 points per game on 43.1 percent shooting from three (4.3 attempts on average) and also adds 3.5 rebounds per outing. Jordan Ford is effectively the sixth man of the team, a Californian who came out of St. Mary’s and with some Sacramento Kings experience during the last season. He started only once during the season but he produced 17.0 points per game (and 2.9 assists), while shooting 41.0 percent from three-point range (5.2 attempts), 61.9 percent on twos and 90.2 percent from the free-throw line. The small forward would be Andrea Pecchia (5.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game), an excellent defender and team player, who is injured and should not play in at least the first two games of the series. There could therefore be minutes for Dennis Badalau or for a wider use of small lineups, with three guards, or big lineups with Anthony Lamb or Saliou Niang at the small forward spot. Lamb, a product of Vermont University, with 88 NBA appearances in his career, is the most used player with 26.2 minutes per game, averages 15.4 points per game and adds 4.1 rebounds. During the regular season, he used massively the three-point shot, 7.2 attempts per game on 39.2 percent shooting. However, he had problems finishing close to the rim (38.6 percent). The other power forward, Eigirdas Zukauskas, is an experienced player who bases his game on his ability to stretch the floor with the three-point shot (he attempts 5.1 shots from beyond the arc, while only 2.0 attempts are taken from inside it) and averages 8.7 points per game on 38.6 percent long-distance shooting. Center Selom Maguwbe is the classic rim runner, who doesn’t score much (5.6 points per game) but he shoots 71.6 percent from close range, he has problems from the free throw line (53.6 percent) but he is a great offensive rebounder (2.2 per game, 6.0 total rebounds) and above all he is an intimidator (1.6 blocks per game). His back-up is Jordan Bayehe (5.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game) who can also help with his mid-range shot. Finally, there is Saliou Niang (8.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game), an emerging talent, multidimensional, who can play different positions on the floor.