Olimpia Milano and Bayern Munich faced each other for the first time in 2014, but since then they share a very eventful history with 19 games played, most of them solved on a last possession shot or a block, a surprising play or whatever. This pre-Christmas game, that signals the season mid-point, comes after two heavy losses for both teams, Olimpia in Athens on the defending champions homecourt, Bayern in Montecarlo against one of the two league-leading teams in the context of a very competitive league, with hierarchies and values turned upside down every other game. Bayern has built its record on homecourt protection. In its brand-new arena they are 8-0. On the road, the record is 2-6 with wins in Villeurbanne and Bologna. It is a high-pace team, the best for points scored and less effective at the defensive end of the floor. Bayern is also the second-best two-point shooting team, 60.1 percent, and is shooting 38.1 percent on threes, fifth best but with the highest number of attempts and made threes. On paper, we can expect a high-scoring game, between the highest-scoring teams in the league, the two best teams at converting free throws and quick to shoot threes. Olimpia, despite the bad Athens night, is still the only team shooting over 40 percent on threes. In Athens, the six-game winning streak was broken. Over the last decade, six wins have always been some sort of limit, but against Bayern, Olimpia will try to defend its five-game home winning streak. In a EuroLeague season so close and unpredictable, every game is becoming more and more relevant. One year ago, Olimpia turned the mid-point with seven wins; now, the aspiration, the goal, is to get to ten. But all the team will have to help and people too.
Tip-off time in Unipol Forum is 21:00.
THE REFEREES – Sasa Pukl (Slovenia), Piotr Pastusiak (Poland), Marcin Kowalski (Poland)
COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “We had one more day than usual to recover energy and understand if Leandro Bolmaro and Josh Nebo can help us in this game against Bayern. We were very happy after the Barcelona’s win and obviously we are not happy with what happened in Athens. But this is a very long, demanding and complex season, so we only have to look at this game in which we will face a team that has an excellent offense, balanced and well organized by Coach Herbert. We are also glad to see two special players again, Shabazz Napier and Johannes Voigtmann, who helped us win of two Italian league championships.”
BAYERN OUTLOOK – Bayern has built itself a clear identity, which is that of a team that plays at a very high pace, which is why they are first in points scored and last in points allowed. It is also the team that takes the most three-pointers (31.5 per game) and made the most threes per game, over 12, thanks to the opportunity to play with five shooters at the same time without losing physicality and size, given the skills of Johannes Voigtmann and Devin Booker. The head coach, the Canadian Gordon Herbert, who joined Bayern after winning the world title with Germany in 2023, is also very consistent in selecting the starting line-up. He usually lines up Nick Weiler-Babb alongside Carsen Edwards as guards; the great shooter Andreas Obst at the small forward spot; then Voigtmann and Booker. Weiler-Babb is a physical guard, a competitive veteran who grabs 4.5 rebounds per game, adds 4.5 assists and 1.6 steals. A great defender, he also averages 8.0 points per game on 42.4 percent on threes. Carsen Edwards is the competition’s top scorer (20.7 points and 3.1 assists per game), he shoots 94.5 percent from the foul line and 36.0 percent from three on more than seven attempts per game. Shabazz Napier (11.4 points and 3.1 assists on average) comes off the bench. He is shooting 40.3 percent from three. Earlier this season, Obst set the new EuroLeague record for three-pointers scored in a game with 11. A German international, a shooting specialist, is averaging 10.7 points per game, shooting 60.7 percent from two, 44.1 percent from three. With Vladimir Lucic having only played two games due to physical problems and Niels Giffey, who recently returned, but both are dangerous shooters, the Turkish former Chicago Bulls player Onuralp Bitim also sees time at the small forward spot (3.0 points per game). Voigtmann averages 5.6 points and 5.5 rebounds, shooting 32.6 percent from three; Booker, on the other hand, is producing the best season of his career, with 16.1 points per game on 67.2 percent shooting from two, 4.9 rebounds per game. Behind the two starting big men there is a lot of depth: Oscar Da Silva, ex Barcelona, is another shooter (5.9 points per game on 69.6 percent two-point shooting and 42.9 percent from three); then there are also Elias Harris, Danko Brankovic and Kevin Yebo.
Tha Bayern Connection
Diego Flaccadori has played two seasons in Munich from 2019 to 2021 with 44 EuroLeague appearances. Leandro Bolmaro spent the last season in Munich. He appeared in 30 games and scored 252 points. Freddie Gilespie has played 34 games for Bayern during the 2022/23 season with 147 points and 204 rebounds grabbed. Shabazz Napier has appeared in 28 EuroLeague games over two Olimpia seasons with 355 points scored. Johannes Voigtmann has played 64 games with 384 points. Both helped the team win two Italian league championships.
GAME NOTES – Shavon Shields in Athens crossed the 500 two-pointer threshold which is a milestone reached by 75 players before him, after surpassing 2,000 career points. Nikola Mirotic has cleared the 1.000 defensive rebounds barrier, the 11th player to reach the feat. In the meantime, he surpassed Kostas Sloukas as the 7th best scorer ever in the EuroLeague. Fabien Causeur has just played his game number 350 in the EuroLeague.
