For the third time this season, Olimpia faces Brescia: the record so far is 1-1. Milan won the Super Cup final, while Germani won the league first game by six points, another factor to be considered. Last Monday’s slip-up against Varese halted Olimpia’s rise, so it won’t be possible to tie up Brescia in the standings. Closing the gap, is the goal. At this point, the game is perhaps more important for defining the red and whites’ prospects from now to the regular season’s end, which would change significantly with a win or a loss. Brescia has lost only twice so far, in Bologna and Sassari: at home, it is the only undefeated team in the Italian league, but this game is being played in Milan. Olimpia responded to a strange period in which it lost three games that were dominated for about three quarters, sometimes more, by beating Partizan in a physical battle played with a lot of pride, thus promising. In the Brescia game, Olimpia was unable to contain the opposition’s strong offensive skills—four players scored at least 16 points, led by Miro Bilan’s 23—and allowed 98 points. To win, Olimpia will need to a game similar to the Supercup final, when Brescia’s scorers were contained. Unfortunately, Olimpia continues to suffer from significant absences: Leandro Bolmaro’s return was a short one because now he has to sit out again with a right elbow injury, leaving the guards unit especially vulnerable for this game, given the expected absence of Nico Mannion (back) and the still-unfinished recovery of Stefano Tonut.
LEANDRO BOLMARO -In the third quarter of the game against Partizan Belgrade, Leandro Bolmaro suffered a sprained right elbow, with no lesion involved. He will be reevaluated daily. He will be out for at least the next two weeks.
Tip-off time is scheduled to take place at 16:00 on Sunday, February, 1st, at Allianz Cloud in Milan.
COACH ALBERTO SERAVALLI – “We’re facing a team that’s been doing well for years and played in the championship series just last season with the same group of guys. We’ve faced them twice already, so we know each other. Their key strengths are the pick-and-rolls of Della Valle and Bilan, but not only them, and their extensive use of the low post game. But overall, offensively, just looking at their points per game, they always manage to find each other effectively, thanks to their cohesion, which also helps them on defense. We’ll need to play a focused, team game, knowing that their 13 offensive rebounds had a significant impact on the outcome in the Brescia game. We’ll have to play a physical game, helping each other on defense, maintaining a high level of concentration, and sharing the ball on offense.”
BRESCIA OUTLOOK – Germani is the team that has made the fewest changes in the Italian league, retaining nine players from last season’s runner-up team and then simply replacing Chris Dowe with CJ Massinburg, who had already been in Brescia the previous season. The other change, of course, was the replacement of Coach Peppe Poeta with his former assistant Matteo Cotelli. The team is built around an almost untouchable starting five: Nikola Ivanovic and Amedeo Della Valle at guard; Demetre Rivers at small forward; Maurice Ndour at power forward; and Miro Bilan at center. Ivanovic—who injured his shoulder in last week’s win over Udine—is a point guard with personality, averaging 14.4 points and 4.4 assists per game, and is shooting three-pointers with great accuracy (41.9 percent). Della Valle is the team’s charismatic leader and has been one of the league’s most effective scorers for years. He’s averaging 16.5 points per game on 39.2 percent three-point shooting on 7.1 attempts. Not only is he virtually flawless from the line (93.3 percent) but he’s also smart and good enough to earn 5.2 attempts per game. Finally, he’s also dishing out 4.7 assists per game. In the last win over Udine, he scored the game-turning final eight points, including two three-pointers from practically thirty feet away. Rivers is the starting small forward, but of the five starters, he’s the one playing less (23.9 minutes). He’s averaging 8.5 points per game on 35.7 percent from three. Ndour is an outstanding mid-range shooter, including from the low post. He averages 10.8 points, on 7.9 two-point attempts per game, and grabbing 5.5 rebounds per game. Bilan is one of the greatest low-post players of the last decade. He’s 36 years old, but he averages 26.8 minutes per night, scores 14.9 points per game, and 3.2 of his 8.5 rebounds are offensive rebounds. He is also shooting 60.8 percent on twos. CJ Massinburg and Jason Burnell are the two key players coming off the bench. Massinburg is a physically powerful combo guard who scores 8.7 points per game, shooting 55.6 percent from two. Burnell is a crucial player, because of his hige experience in the Italian league and a great low-post player, both at small forward and power forward position. He’s averaging 13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 55.6 percent from two (7.4 attempts) and is earning 3.8 free throws per game, converting them at 94.2 percent. The rotation is completed by David Cournooh (4.1 points per game) and Joseph Mobio among the big men, a player who has made great strides (3.1 points per game with 61.9 percent on two-point shooting) this season and was the protagonist in the game in Brescia.
THE BRESCIA CONNECTION – Olimpia’s head coach Peppe Poeta coached Brescia last year, and reached the championship series, losing to Virtus Bologna. Amedeo Della Valle played 48 league games in two seasons with Olimpia Milano between 2018 and 2020. He won the 2018 Super Cup with Olimpia.
