Olimpia raised its head energetically against Real Madrid, winning among other things its second consecutive EuroLeague game, but now it has to do the same in the Italian league and erasing Trento’s outing. Reyer Venezia arrives at the Unipol Forum as one of the best and most successful teams of the last decade. Venezia has won two championships, in 2017 and 2019, it has faced Olimpia in two semi-finals as well as in several editions of the Supercup and the Italian Cup, the latest just last September in Bologna. With over 100 games between these two teams, this is also a game rich in history and tradition. After all, Reyer, like Olimpia, was well present among the top basketball organizations since the 1950s. If Olimpia faced Real Madrid, Reyer played in the Eurocup against Hapoel Gerusalemme during the week, after coming from behind to win emphatically in Napoli. At the moment, it is a team that has had some problems due to injuries that have affected several players on the roster, in particular Xavier Mumford who had to make way for Rodney McGruder and point guard Tyler Ennis, seen only three times on the court and presumably out in Milan. However, it remains a team coached by a very experienced coach like Neven Spahija, who has big men with great physical impact like Kabengele, Simms and Tessitori as well as a shooting 4 as the Canadian Kyle Wiltjer. This could spell troubles given that Olimpia has problems right now, matching up against big man given the absences of Josh Nebo and Ousmane Diop. David McCormack, albeit with limited playing time, will return for this game. Against Real Madrid, a performance of physical sacrifice by Zach LeDay, Nikola Mirotic and Willie Caruso made it possible to overcome the problems created by the presence of Edy Tavares and Serge Ibaka. However, the obstacle remains high, and another effort of that type will be needed, squeezing on every energy. Another week of overwork begins for Olimpia because, after this game, they will leave for the double EuroLeague trip to Berlin and Belgrade. Tip-off time will be at 16:30.

VENEZIA OUTLOOK – Reyer relies heavily on the power of the two starting big men, Aamir Simms and Mfiondu Kabengele. Simms produces 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, shoots 67.7 percent from two; Kabengele is a center of extreme physical power who is scoring 12.1 points per game and grabbing 12.6 rebounds of which 5.0 are captured on offense. Reyer also counts a lot on Amedeo Tessitori, a very experienced center who avreages 8.1 points per game on 72.0 percent two-point shooting; and obviously on Kyle Wiltjer (11.0 points, 37.9 percent from three). The fifth big man is Alessandro Lever. The starting point guard is Tyler Ennis (9.7 points and 4.0 assists per game) but due to physical problems he has only played three games so far. In his place, Davide Moretti is playing well (9.3 points and 2.4 assists per game), supported by the other guards namely Davide Casarin (4.1 points and 2.7 assists on average), Juan Fernandez (3.5 points per game) and Rodney McGruder (10.0 points, 3.3 assists, the winning four-point play in Napoli in the previous round). The forwards are Carl Wheatle (5.3 points and 3.7 rebounds on average) and Jordan Parks (5.3 points and 5.0 rebounds).