The semifinal series is moving to Brescia for Game 3. Olimpia’s won two completely different games, even in terms of main guys (the seven points that Shavon Shields and Nikola Mirotic combined for in Game 1 became 37 in Game 2), now will taste the Brescia’s home court with the intention of trying to close the series out as soon as possible. Over the Ettore Messina era, Olimpia is 11-0 in semifinal games and 8-3 in closeout games, including the Trento win at the first attempt to terminate the series. Brescia, however, is a proven team and its home court is a tough one. Olimpia, for example, has lost the last three games played in Brescia. The first two games have been unquestionably good: the first was won scoring 95 points, the second was won allowing just 66 points; Olimpia led basically for 80 minutes out of 80; has been able to combine for 24 threes over two games; 43 assists have been dished and when the quality of play dropped a bit or the shooting percentages degraded, Olimpia used a high-level energy to get 29 offensive rebounds in two games. Obviously, everything is much more complicated on the road: the biggest problem so far has been to find a way to limit Brescia’s free throw line trips, 62 combined. Brescia scored 52 points from the line, because Olimpia was in the penalty early and had to reduce its aggressiveness. Defensively, Olimpia was able to keep Miro Bilan under his scoring average (9.5) and his customary efficiency (4-for-9 from the field), but the Croatian center went 11-for-14 from the line; Amedeo Della Valle, after his impressive Game 1 outing, scored nine points in Game 2, and went from attempting 12 free throws to three. Again, Brescia has many weapons to use: every now and then, CJ Massinburg or Semaj Christon showed their offensive potential, Jason Burnell showed his post-up arsenal and John Petrucelli was all over the floor. For sure, on the road taking good care of the ball will be crucial: in Game 1, Olimpia was perfect in this regard, but in Game 2 some unforced turnovers generated what happened in the second quarter. Game 3 tip-off time will be 20:45.
COACH ETTORE MESSINA AFTER GAME 2 – “On the road, we will need the mental strength to play the game as if we were 0-0. It’s trivial to say it, but it’s a playoff game and we can’t expect to see what they will do and then react. We need to focus on ourselves, keep our level high both on defense and offense, understand where we can attack them and do it with great humility. At this moment nothing is decided. Having played two good games represents a good boost of confidence, but going to Brescia we have to put them in a drawer and focus on the task ahead.”
NIKOLA MIROTIC – “In Game 2 we played a very good, solid defense for 40 minutes and offensively we managed to move the ball well, as the 20 assists say. However, the work is not finished. We will play a very complicated game in Brescia, we know this, but at the same time we will go over there to play with the confidence necessary to try to close the series as soon as possible.”
GAME NOTES – During the Messina era, Olimpia is 22-3 in home playoff’s games. After the four defensive rebounds in Game 1, Nik Melli has overtaken Dino Meneghin as the all-time leader for Olimpia in the playoffs. Melli also played the 287th Italian league game for Olimpia, reaching Sandro Riminucci as the 10th-best ever. Two games ahead of him sits Paolo Alberti. Shavon Shields jumped four places in the Italian league all-time playoff scorers’ rankings. With 940 points he overtook Darren Daye, Andrea Gracis, Cecco Vescovi and Sandro Dell’Agnello, going from the 21st position to the 17th. Shabazz Napier meanwhile became the 34th Olimpia player with at least 100 Italian league three-pointers.
