It is the last turn before the regular season’s homestretch. Three games left before the playoffs. Now everybody is playing toimprove the position on the bracket. Olimpia has still a lot to play for, because there are too many variables that can affect it. The schedule, after two home wins, send Olimpia on the road for two very hard games, the first in Casale Monferrato against Bertram Tortona, who has lost its place in the playoffs’ race and will try to make up for it. This game for Tortona is almost a last chance to stay in the race. But Olimpia cannot afford any missteps even if the priority is to enter the post-season with an healthy roster. In this game Leandro Bolmaro – with a protective mask – and Shavon Shields will return under minutes restrictions. Tortona won the first game between the teams in Milan, but in the standings it is four wins away from Olimpia. The margin doesn’t matter, only winning and staying close to the teams ahead will matter.
The game in Casale Monferrato on Sunday, 27, will start at 17:30
TORTONA OUTLOOK – Tommy Kuhse, a point guard from St. Mary’s who spent last season in Germany, averages 11.3 points and 4.5 assists per game, shooting 42.2 percent from three. The starting guard is Christian Vital, a New Yorker who played at UConn and last year won the scoring title of the Fiba Europe Cup while playing for Legia Warsaw. Vital is the team’s leading scorer with 15.3 points per game on top of dishing 3.0 assists on average. The guard sector is very deep, with Leonardo Candi (3.5 points per game, 37.5 percent three-point shooting), Tommaso Baldasso (11.0 points per game, 35.0 on threes with 6.7 attempts per game) and Davide Denegri (4.1 points per game). At small forward, after Arturs Strautins’ injury, Coach De Raffaele (two championships won with Venice in Italy) is counting on veteran Kyle Weems who produces 8.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. At power forward, Justin Gorham averages 9.3 points per game and grabs 5.1 rebounds per game. The back-up is Luca Severini (4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game). The centers are Ismael Kamagate (9.0 points on 61.6 percent shooting on twos, 6.6 rebounds per game, 3.3 offensive rebounds and finally 1.3 blocks) and Paul Biligha (5.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per night). Finally, the experienced Andrea Zerini completes the bigs’ rotation.
THE TORTONA CONNECTION – Paul Biligha played four years for Olimpia, with 127 appearances in the Italian league and 416 points scored. In his four seasons he won two league championships (2022 and 2023), two Italian Cups (2021 and 2022), one Super Cup (2020), and help the team reach the 2021 EuroLeague Final Four. Tommaso Baldasso played in Milan for two seasons, winning two championships with 58 appearances in the Italian league. Ismael Kamagate played the first half of last season in Milan before being loaned to Tortona. Pippo Ricci played with Tortona the 2016/17 season when the team was in the Italian second division.
