It’s up to Olimpia to start the 2021 Italian Cup, Thursday 11 February at 6.00 pm against Reggio Emilia, in Milan. Olimpia enters the Final Eight as the top-seeded team, by virtue of one single defeat in the Italian league first half of the season against 13 wins. Last weekend, the team rested because the game in Rome was canceled. Olimpia added Jakub Wojciechowski to the roster, and he will replace the unavailable Jeff Brooks. Olimpia is presiding the bracket that includes Virtus Bologna (fourth at the end of the first leg) and Reyer Venezia (fifth) who is also the holder of the trophy. On Friday the quarterfinals will be completed by Brindisi and Trieste; Sassari and Pesaro.
SERGIO RODRIGUEZ – “We’ve been waiting for the Cup for a long time, we know how important it is for the club. I’ve played the Cup in Spain a lot of time and when you win it the feeling is amazing. It’s tough, because basically you have to win three games in a very short period of time, so you have to stay focused, reset after every game and move on. Every game is a final, at this time the first game is the only that really matters, because Reggio Emilia is a talented team. Last year we failed, so that makes us more willing to do well. Our advantage is that we trust the work we are doing.”
KYLE HINES – “We have to continue to play the way we are playing over this week, because it’s the reason we are at the top of the standing. I think it’s important to play one game at a time, without looking too much ahead, too much to the future. That’s our mindset. I’ve been very fortunate to win a lot of trophies in my career, but I never played a Final Eight.”
KEVIN PUNTER – “I love this kind of competition, the level and the tension are raising each and every day. We play at home, we feel comfortable, but at the Supercup we were playing on the road and we won anyway. It’s important how you play not where.”
ZACH LEDAY – “My season has been good, because my teammates, the coaching staff put me in a position to excel, to bring my energy on the court trying to win games, which is the only goal that we have, including this Cup.”
THE REFEREES – Roberto Begnis, Mark Bartoli and Fabrizio Paglialunga.
REGGIO EMILIA – Reggio Emilia has recently added two very experienced player, Petteri Koponen and Dominique Sutton. Koponen, a EuroLeague (Khimki, Barcelona, Bayern) player for years, is the most accurate three-point shooter in the EuroLeague among the top 50 for threes made. The team’s point guard Brandon Taylor has been among the most efficient player in the league (he averages 16.9 points and 5.0 assists, while shooting 44.7 percent from three). Swingman Josh Bostic is the team’s other great shooter, averaging 6.6 three-pointers per game, making 36.6 percent of them. He averages 13.6 points per game. Antoher shooter is Tomas Kyzlink, 10.6 points per game. Among the guards, Leo Candi is averaging 8.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. Among the bigs, Filippo Baldi Rossi is averaging 7.5 points per game and the intimidator Frank Elegar, 10.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 63.2 percent from the field, is one of the most effective centers of the competition. Finally, Mouhamet Diouf, who is averaging 3.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes of playing time.
THIS YEAR AGAINST REGGIO EMILIA – Olimpia won the first game, played in Bologna, 87-71, with 17 points scored by Zach LeDay and 14 by Shavon Shields; and the return game in Milan 102-73 with 18 points from Sergio Rodriguez and 15 from Gigi Datome.
THE REGGIO EMILIA CONNECTION – Andrea Cinciarini played three years in Reggio Emilia and led the team to the Eurochallenge 2014 championship (Cinciarini was MVP of the Bologna Final Four) and reached the 2015 Italian league finals. Cinciarini averaged 12.5 points per game in 2012/13, his career high, as are the 6.4 assists per game he had during the 2014/15 season. Frank Elegar played in Milan during the 2014/15 season for 17 games. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Filippo Baldi Rossi and Petteri Koponen were Riccardo Moraschini’s teammates at Virtus Bologna. Dominique Sutton played in Trento with Shavon Shields.
