48 hours after the big win over Olympiacos in a highly demanding evening due to the celebrations and the records ironically set all at the same time (Kyle Hines and the appearances record; Ettore Messina and his 300 wins; plus, the celebration of Gigi Datome), Olimpia takes the floor in Madrid. The opponent needs no definition: Real Madrid is the reigning champion, has no notable absences, is undefeated both in the EuroLeague and in the Spanish league. Furthermore, Olimpia’s tradition in Madrid is merciless, with only two wins in history, only one in the top European competition when, among other things, Sergio Rodriguez was playing in Milan. Now this is no longer the case, although it is true that the win came in 2021, in this era of the club. Olimpia obviously remains without Maodo Lo and Billy Baron which affect the balance between the first and second unit, highlighted by Coach Messina after Tuesday night’s game. On the other hand, the top players are coming off a great performance, Nikola Mirotic scored 47 points in two games; Kevin Pangos is coming from his best performance of the season, with a crucial 15-point second half with three threes and seven consecutive points during a critical juncture; there is no lack of room for improvement as shown by the performance ruined by foul troubles by Alex Poythress, who has also just returned from the birth of his daughter and was clearly a little shaken. Real Madrid is supposed to be in great shape, featuring three highly experienced playmakers such as Sergio Llull, Sergio Rodriguez and Facundo Campazzo; as well as two centers of impressive physical size such as Edy Tavares and Vincent Poirier. The team has physical size at every position, being able to deploy Dzanan Musa and Gabriel Deck as small forwards but also together or in combination with Mario Hezonja. Finally, they face this second game without any trip to precede it because last night they clearly defeated Zalgiris Kaunas on their own court. Tip-off time will be on Thursday, 19, at 20:45.
THE REFEREES – Sreten Radovic (Croatia), Gytis Vilius (Lithuania), Saso Petek (Slovenia).
COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “We come from a very tough game, in which we spent a lot of energy, so recovering from a physical point of view is the most important thing for us to play a good game in Madrid. Real is a team that is doing very well: they are the reigning champions, and they are playing with the confidence typical of champions. Against a team of this level, it will be essential to move the ball to build high-percentage shots and slow down their offensive transition which can be lethal.”
REAL MADRID OUTLOOK – Compared to last season, the defending champions have lost guard Nigel Williams-Goss, Adam Hanga and Anthony Randolph, but for the most part the Madrid team has remained intact and has been strengthened by the presence of Facundo Campazzo at the point-guard position. The historic core of the team has therefore been confirmed: Sergio Llull, 375 appearances in the EuroLeague, all with Real Madrid; Sergio Rodriguez; Rudy Fernandez, 307 EuroLeague games with the club; Fabien Causeur and Edy Tavares, both in their seventh season in Madrid. To all of these players must be added other veterans such as Alberto Abalde, Gabriel Deck, Guerschon Yabusele and the two newcomers from last season, who proved to be determined for Coach Chus Mateo, Mario Hezonja and Dzanan Musa.
SERIES HISTORY – In European competitions, Olimpia Milano and Real Madrid have met 38 times, with a record of 27-11 in Real Madrid favor. Real Madrid-Olimpia awarded the European Cup in 1967 in Madrid and the Cup Winners’ Cup in Ostend in 1984: in both circumstances, Real won. This game has been played 19 times in Madrid and the record so far is 17-2 for the Blancos. In Milan, it is 9-9. Olimpia has won in Madrid 62-61 (Lonnie Cooper and Claudio Coldebella scored 11 points each) in the 2003/04 Eurocup, then it won for the first time in Madrid in EuroLeague in 2021, 80-76 with Sergio Rodriguez scoring 17 points and Malcolm Delaney adding 14.
THE REAL MADRID CONNECTION – Sergio Rodriguez has played in Milan for three seasons, leading the team to its first Final Four berth in 29 years, in 2021, to the Italian league championship in 2022, to two Italian Cups and one Supercup. Rodriguez is the all-time 3rd best scorer in Olimpia EuroLeague history, first for assists and three-point shots made. Ettore Messina has coached Real Madrid for two seasons with a 23-13 EuroLeague’s record. Among his players during that time there were Sergio Llull, Sergio Rodriguez and Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic has played four EuroLeague seasons with Real Madrid with 1.046 points scored over 97 appaerances.
Certi momenti sono per sempre
— Olimpia Milano (@OlimpiaMI1936) October 18, 2023
These shining moments are going to last forever#insieme #ForzaOlimpia pic.twitter.com/EZMRVgZg5q
ETTORE MESSINA NOTES – Coach Ettore Messina has just won his game number 300 in the EuroLeague era, the second coach to be able to reach that plateau after Zeljko Obradovic. His overall record is now 300-140. The win was the number 74 with Olimpia.
KYLE HINES NOTES – Kyle Hines is now the All-Time leader for games played with 393, surpassing Paulius Jankunas. He is on his way to be the first man to reach 400. Hines has played 112 EuroLeague games so far for Olimpia, fourth overall behind Kaleb Tarczewski, Nicolò Melli and Vlado Micov (115). Finally, he is nine defensive rebounds away from 1,000 for his career, a milestone surpassed by only six players so far, the latest of which is Nicolò Melli.
NICOLO’ MELLI NOTES – The countdown is in full swing: Nicolò Melli is eight appearances away from reaching Kaleb Tarczewski’s 156 as the All-Time leader for games played in the EuroLeague for Olimpia. He is the all-time club leading rebounder. The Captain is two defensive rebounds away from Ante Tomic’s 1,025 and a place in the Top 5 of all time.
NIKOLA MIROTIC NOTES – Nikola Mirotic has started his 200th EuroLeague game for his career, the all-time 14th player to have started at least 200 games, one of them is Nicolò Melli with 206. Mirotic has started 88 percent of his games so far. Mirotic’s index rating of 38 in Istanbul is one point lower than his career-high of 39, which dates back to the Round 14 of the 2021/22 season when he played for Barcelona against Real Madrid. In that game he also set his career-high for points with 31. As far as Olimpia’s history, his 38 is the third-best index rating value ever behind the amazing 47 recorded by Samardo Samuels during the 2014/15 season in Nizhny Novgorod and the 41 made by Shavon Shields in Game 5 of the EuroLeague playoff against Bayern Munich, 2020/21 season.
JOHANNES VOIGTMANN NOTES – Johannes Voigtmann’s 21 points in Istanbul are his most in Olimpia (19 last year in Bologna) and the most since the Round 10 of the 2021/22 season when he scored exactly 21 at Barcelona while playing for CSKA Moscow.
