On a 40-hour rest, Olimpia will play in Varese (tip-off time: 17:30) in one of the most historical Italian basketball match-up. We are talking about 40 championships and eight European titles between the two teams. For Olimpia, coming off the big win in Barcelona, energy will be the deciding factor. This season playing on a short rest has been problematic and cost a couple of losses. On top of it, in Barcelona some key players had to stay on the court long minutes. Diego Flaccadori, the only point guard on the roster as of now, played more than 32 minutes. Shavon Shields and Nicolo’ Melli had a long night too. “Getting the energy back, both physically and mentally, is our priority entering the game in Varese”, Coach Mario Fioretti said.
Varese has been struggling lately mainly for injury problems. Alex McDermott, a 14.8-point per game scorer, has been out with an injury but he probably will return against Olimpia on Sunday; Davide Moretti, the starting point guard who was having a career-season, is out for a while; Skylar Spencer, a center, will make his debut on Sunday replacing Willie Cauley-Stein who was the team best rebounder. Varese however is very dangerous when playing with sense of urgency and the crowd support. The team is coached by Tom Bialaszewski, a former Olimpia assistant coach under Ettore Messina. “Their transition game, pick and roll and one on one situations are where Varese is dangerous. We need to limit them in these areas,” Fioretti added.
Olimpia has had its share of problems lately. Over the last couple of weeks the team lost Nikola Mirotic and then Maodo Lo and now Pippo Ricci. In top of it, Johannes Voigtmann will be out after the contusion he reported in Barcelona late in the game. But on the court, even during a couple of tough losses in Munich and Belgrade, Olimpia showed some qualities and heart as Coach Messina pointed out in Barcelona. Defeating Virtus and Barcelona in a five-day span was a confidence booster entering a home stretch with two consecutive EuroLeague games (vs Asvel and Panathinaikos) to take care of, and then a crucial Italian league game against Cremona.
