Olimpia will need all the energy it can gather to face another incredibly challenging game in the Italian league: Trapani is in good shape—coming off a BCL victory—and has won six of seven games, losing only in a close game to Tortona. They’re a fast, physical, athletic team, in a position to rotate up to 11 players. Olimpia will be taking the court again on short rest, less than 48 hours after the last EuroLeague battle with Olympiacos, which provided intense emotions but obviously drained both bodies and minds. Quinn Ellis and Armoni Brooks played 30 minutes; Pippo Ricci 29; Leandro Bolmaro 28. As has been the case often so far this year, everyone’s contribution will be crucial, starting with those who didn’t play in Friday night game. Inevitably, only when the team will report at the Unipol Forum will it be possible to check the availability of players, keeping in mind that another EuroLeague battle looms next Thursday against league leaders Hapoel Tel Aviv, led by Vasilije Micic. Olimpia enters this game—against its former coach, Jasmin Repesa—coming off a run of six wins in seven games overall (the only loss was the one in Brescia) or seven of its last nine, but it has done so by consistently playing with a reduced roster and demanding extra effort from the available players, mostly in close games.

Tip off time will be at 18:00 PM in Unipol Forum.

COACH ALBERTO SERAVALLI – “We’re facing the league’s top offense in terms of points scored, but also in terms of pace. So Trapani is a team that tries to push the pace as much as possibile and is always very aggressive in one-on-one situations, especially with outside players like Allen, Ford, Notae, and Petrucelli, as well as Alibegovic among the bigs. On defense, too, we’ll face a team capable of playing a very physical brand of basketball. We’re called upon to play a game of focus, energy, communication, and physicality.”

TRAPANI SHARK OUTLOOK – Trapani made significant roster changes in the summer, including losing key players like Justin Robinson, Langston Galloway, and Chris Horton, but apparently has maintained its competitive level, as demonstrated both in its European competition and in the first seven regular season games. Jordan Ford, who played for Trento last year, is a scoring point guard averaging 14.1 points and 5.4 assists per game, while also converting 96.2 percent of his free throws and 58.3 percent of his two-pointers. Timmy Allen, the guard, is Coach Jasmin Repesa’s most used player (he is averaging 29.9 minutes on the court) and the team’s leading scorer (18.1 points per game). A graduate of the University of Texas, accustomed to playing at a high level, he was the Belgian league and Belgian finals MVP last season, when he was playing with Ostend. He is also currently grabbing 4.6 rebounds and dishing out 3.4 assists per game, too. JD Notae, who is in his third season with Trapani, usually comes off the bench but plays 21.7 minutes per game, enough to average 11.7 points per game. His strongest skill, however, is his ability to steal the ball, as evidenced by his 2.7 steals per game. The guards are rounded out by Alessandro Cappelletti (3.4 points per game), acquired from Sassari, the international Riccardo Rossato (7.3 points per game), who was in Trapani last year too, and Ryan Arcidiacono, a point guard who was MVP of the 2016 NCAA Final Four at Villanova and then played 257 games in the NBA. He’s in his first season in Europe (3.5 points and 3.0 assists per game). Repesa also implements line-ups with three guards, moving Allen to the small forward spot to spell John Petrucelli, a great on-ball defender and three-point shooter. He’s currently averaging 11.0 points per game on 46.7 percent three-point shooting and dishing out 3.1 assists per game. The big men are led by Bosnian international Amar Alibegovic (9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game), a tough, athletic power forward who can shoot from outside. The other forward is Matt Hurt, who played at Duke, and was named to the Australian League first-team last year, in SE Melbourne. The centers are Paul Eboua, a Cameroonian international with an Italian status (averaging 9.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game), an athletic player who can finish at the rim (73.1 percent from two) and occasionally shoot three-pointers, and Adama Sanogo, MVP of the 2023 NCAA Final Four with Connecticut, a G-League third-team nominee and a with 13 games played for the Chicago Bulls. Sanogo averages 4.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

THE TRAPANI CONNECTION – Jasmin Repesa coached in Milan from 2015 to 2017. He led the team to the Italian league championship in 2016, to two Italian Cups and one Supercup.