Massimo Masini has been one of the greatest Italian centers ever, a player more elegant than tough, not the classic physical banger but a very smart, skilled player, beautiful to watch, with good hands. Raised in Montecatini, he arrived in Milano in 1963 when he was just 18, earned himself some minutes and in 1966 Read More »
During the 1980 summer, Billy, looking for the right combination to win the championship, tried to hit a home-run by bringing in Milano the number 3 player from the NBA draft, Kevin McHale. Traded for Joe Barry Carroll, another future Milano’s player, McHale was struggling to find an agreement with the Boston Celtics and came Read More »
Joe Barry Carroll’s arrival in Milano was the product of lucky circumstances. The number 1 pick of the number1980 NBA draft, he was part of an historic trade, when Robert Parish and the number 3 pick (used to select the great Kevin McHale) were moved from Golden State to Boston in exchange of the number1. Read More »
Giulio Iellini, a Trieste native like many superstars on the Simmenthal era, was born in 19547 and still was able to play and win the first club’s European title in 1966, as the very young sub of legendary Gianfranco Pieri. Iellini was a point guard, but not a classic one, he was an artist of Read More »
Gianfranco Pieri, born on February 6th in 1937, has been of the great Olimpia stars coming from the talent hotbed of Trieste. He was probably the first great modern point-guard in the history of Italian basketball. Cesare Rubini, obviously, was the one who badly wanted Pieri to come to Milano, after a 34-point outing against Read More »
He was 19 where he began to coach. Franco Casalini was hired by the Social Osa, one of the most respected minor club in Milano, and he did well enough to be called up by Simmenthal. Casalini became quickly some kind of wizard of the youth teams, winning four championships for young men and raising Read More »
Recruited in Corsico, very, very young, Flavio Portaluppi is an original youth system product. A shooting guard, he was always considered too short or too thin or not athletic enough to play at the highest levels, but he was able to kill every kind of preconception about him, because of smartness, determination, a devastating outside Read More »
Dino Meneghin closed his legendary career between Trieste and the return to Milano because he was a miracle of longevity, and still his true career was the one that in the 70s had him as the cornerstone of the great Varese team and in the 80s of the Milano’s one. Born in Alano di Piace, Read More »
The two years Dejan Bodiroga spent in Milano have been obviously short but very intense. During his reign, Olimpia made it to two Korac Cup finals (losing both of them, against Alba Berlin and Efes Pilsen Istanbul) but in 1996 it won Italy Cup and the league championship. Bodirga basically fled away from his native Read More »
The year was 1978. Olimpia had just survived the biggest crisis in its history: relegation to A-2 at the end of the 1975-76 season, thus playing in A-2 in 1976-77. Then, in 1977-78, the team nearly 'dropped down' again. With this, Olimpia hired Dan Peterson, coach of Virtus Bologna the previous Read More »
