Olimpia brings its four-game winning streak to Belgrade. The team is amid the roller coaster of games imposed by the schedule with seven games over 14 days, between the two competitions it participates in. Two are behind, five remains to be played. Against the Red Star it is also “Game 1” of the sixth week with two EuroLeague rounds. Olimpia, who has won their last three road games, is looking for the sixth road win of the season, but a high-level performance will be required against a team looking in great shape, capable to win in Athens against Olympiacos in the last round. Lately, even when Red Star lost, it did it after hard-fought battles, at the last second in Villeurbanne, by four points against Zenit, by one in Istanbul against Efes. Red Star is worth more than the ranking says and is to be considered in the fight for a playoffs’ berth. In Belgrade, it can also count on a home-court advantage that is among the most effective in Europe according to the tradition. A defensive battle is foreseeable: Olimpia allows 70.7 points per game, the best figure in the competition, but the Red Star allows 73.4 points per game and is also among the best teams in the EuroLeague.
INJURY REPORT – Olimpia continues to play with no Shavon Shields, first on the team for points and index rating, a player who started 16 times out of 16, and without Dinos Mitoglou, the best in two-point shooting and the third-best team rebounder. Besides, Jerian Grant won’t be available and so Trey Kell. The latter reported a right knee injury during the last Italian league game. The exams came back as negative, but he will stay in Milan in order to attempt a full recovery before next Thursday’s game.
COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “It is going to be a complicated game against a team very good with its pressing and athletic defense, sustained by a the crowd in a full-capacity building, a situation we are not used to anymore. We’ll need a good ball movement and a defense that will have to be extremely solid.”
DEVON HALL – “It is going to be a tough game, Red Star is coming off a big road win in Athens that proves how good they are right now, their home-court advantage is huge. For us it is important to come in and create defensive pressure immediately, our defense will have to set the tone early.”
THE REFEREES – Olegs Latisevs (Latvia), Emin Mugolkoc (Turkey), Carlos Cortes (Spain).
THE RED STAR – Three Red Star players are regularly starting: the American point-guard Nate Wolters (11.4 points and 3.8 assists on average), Nikola Kalinic, who returned to the Red Star after his stints at Fenerbahce and for a year in Valencia, who is averaging 13.1 points per game with 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists; and finally, the center Ognjen Kuzmic who adds 6.0 rebounds per game (in just over 20 minutes on the court) to his 6.6 points. But Red Star implements a real “platoon system” with 10 players averaging over 16 minutes per game. Small forward Ognjen Dobric is the third-best scorer on the team with 9.8 points per game; American guard Austin Hollins, a EuroLeague veteran, averages 7.0 points per game; forward Dejan Davidovac averages 3.8 points with 3.2 rebounds per game; power forward Luka Mitrovic averages 8.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and is shooting 61.1 percent from two (he had 17 points in the Milano games). Aaron White also plays an important role at the power forward spot (5.4 points per game after returning from an arm injury sustained during the preseason). Maik Zirbes (4.1 points, 68.0 percent shooting from two) is the back-up center. Also interesting is the depth at the point guard position which allows Coach Radonijc to use two ball handlers at the same time thanks to the presence of Nikola Ivanovic (8.2 points, 3.0 assists per game) and Stefan Markovic, who came mid-season. Branko Lazic (38.2 percent shooting from three), Marko Simonovic (38.1 percent from the arc) are two more very experienced players-
HISTORY Vs RED STAR – In 1972, Simmenthal defeated the Red Star 74-70 in the Cup Winners’ Cup championship game (23 points were scored by Arthur Kenney, the virtual MVP of the competition), held in Thessaloniki. The two teams had also faced each other during the preliminary round with two wins for the home team. The two teams also met in the 1973 European Cup, with two more Simmenthal wins. During the 1984/85 season, Olimpia eliminated Red Star in the Korac Cup semifinal winning both games and proceeding then to win the cup against Varese in the championship game. Two more games and two more wins came also during the 1988/89 Korac Cup. In the EuroLeague, Red Star had won six games in a row when Olimpia broke the losing streak by winning in Belgrade during the 2020/21 season. Olimpia again won this season in Milano, so now the all-time record is 10-7 for Olimpia.
THE RED STAR CONNECTION – Aaron White played part of the 2019/20 season in Milan. Nikola Kalinic played at Fenerbahce with Nicolò Melli and Gigi Datome; Stefan Markovic was at Virtus Bologna with Pippo Ricci, the last two seasons; Ognjen Kuzmic was at Real Madrid with Sergio Rodriguez.
PERFECT JANUARY – Olimpia in the EuroLeague has won every one of the four games played in January (at home with Alba and Zalgiris; away in Barcelona and Moscow). This is the second time in a row that this has happened. During the month of January 2021, Olimpia went 6-0, beating Valencia, Bayern, Olympiacos and Zenit at home, Real Madrid and Alba Berlin on the road.
GAME NOTES – Sergio Rodriguez is sixth overall for assists averaging 4.85 per game. Rodriguez has made at least one three in 11 of the last 12 games played. Kyle Hines is two offensive rebounds from 700 for his career. Only Felipe Reyes has more with 705. Hines is also seven field goals shy of 300 scored for Olimpia. Nicolò Melli, 20 out of 20 games as a starter, is the eighth-best defensive rebounder in the EuroLeague with 4.35 per game. Gigi Datome is eighth in the three-point shooting with 44.90 percent. Malcolm Delaney is two points shy of 500 for Olimpia. Kaleb Tarczewski is seven field goals away from 300 and 14 rebounds away from 600, both for Olimpia and overall. Olimpia is 12-0 when it holds its opponents under 74 points, 13-1 when it keeps them at 74 or less. It is first for points allowed per game with 70.7.
