With the EuroLeague season over, Olimpia can now focus solely on finishing the Italian league regular season strong. The game against Napoli is the next to last home game (the final one will be against Trieste). The two road games will be in Venezia and Trento. The realistic goal is to defend third place (the game in Venezia next Sunday will be likely decisive), while the margin over fifth-place Tortona is currently safe: two more wins and a favorable head-to-head matchup. It’s even more important to work to ensure the roster is as healthy as possible for the playoffs and to improve both the individual and team conditions, especially defensively and in terms of consistency throughout the game. After the game against Napoli, Olimpia will have the opportunity to work in the gym for four weeks, with just one game per week, before the playoffs begin on May 16. Napoli enters this game with a much-renewed roster compared to the game Olimpia won on the road earlier in the season. Big men Aamir Simms and Ed Croswell are no longer with Napoli; they’ve been replaced by Isiaiah Whaley and Leonardo Totè. Having renounced one foreigner among the big men, Napoli has expanded its rotation of guards, which now includes five foreigners led by Naz Mitrou-Long, the league’s second-best defensive rebounder despite being a guard. His rebounds fuel Napoli’s transition, as they have many effective open court players. The latest addition to Napoli’s roster is Jasmin Repesa: the Croatian coach who won the 2016 Italian league championship with Olimpia has been in Napoli for two weeks and led the team to last Sunday’s victory over Treviso.

EA7 Emporio Armani Milano-Guerri Napoli will be played on Sunday, April 19th at 4:30 PM at the Unipol Forum in Assago.

COACH EMILIO KOVACIC – “Napoli is a team that has found new energy with the arrival of an experienced coach like Jasmin Repesa. Compared to the first game we played against them, they have three new players, Milton Doyle, Isaiah Whaley, and Leonardo Totè, who have brought a lot of quality to the team. We expect a tough game, because Napoli has the talent and everything that it takes to come to Milan and play a very good game. With the EuroLeague over, it’s time for us to use all our mental energy and play up to our potential, starting from this game.”

NAPOLI OUTLOOK – In his first game as Napoli coach, last Sunday, a win against Treviso, Coach Jasmin Repesa reshuffled the deck compared to the previous era by moving both Rasir Bolton and Savion Flagg to the second unit—but with starters minutes. The point guard, however, remained Naz Mitrou-Long, the team’s top scorer with 13.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. A skilled, quick player who enjoys playing in the open court, Mitrou-Long attempts more than five shots per game from beyond the arc (33.7 percent shooting) but is typically more dangerous when he gets closer to the rim (57.1 percent). Bolton, who played two high-level college seasons at Gonzaga and is in his third year in Europe, is the team’s leading scorer with 15.0 points in over 31 minutes on the court (59.2 percent two-point shooting). Flagg, a physically imposing small forward who played in Vilnius last year, averages 12.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game (1.5 are offensive rebounds). In the first game between the two teams, he scored 21 points with four three-pointers and grabbed seven rebounds. In his fourth season in Europe, combo guard Ishmael El-Amin (averaging 11.7 points and 2.2 assists), is a quick and dangerous player in the open court. The new addition to the guard spot is the experienced (32-year-old) Milton Doyle, who arrived from Melbourne, Australia, but has previously played in Trieste, Italy. In his first four games, he averaged 10.5 points and 3.3 assists a night. He also attempted 7.3 three-pointers per game. Australian Nick Marshall (four appearances, 4.5 points per game) is also on the roster. Coach Repesa, in his debut as Napoli coach, started Leonardo Faggian at small forward, with primarily defensive duties. The power forward is Isaiah Whaley, who came out of Connecticut and played in Russia last year with Kuban. He’s currently averaging just 3.8 points per game but he is grabbing 6.8 rebounds in about 21 minutes on the court. With Kaspars Treier injured, Flagg can also find time at the power forward spot. The centers are Guglielmo Caruso and Leonardo Totè. Caruso, after a raw start, has improved significantly and is now averaging 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per night while shooting 64.5 percent from two. Totè is a natural scorer, who is averaging 14.8 points per game on 65.2 percent shooting from two (8.8 attempts per game), while adding 4.8 rebounds.

THE NAPOLI CONNECTION – Naz Mitrou-Long was a member of Olimpia in the 2022/23 season, finishing with 7.9 points and 2.7 assists per game in 14 Serie A appearances, culminating in the championship. Guglielmo Caruso played in Milan for two years from 2023 to 2025, making 47 Serie A appearances, winning one championship and one Super Cup. Leonardo Totè played in Milan for the first part of this season, before returning to Napoli. Jasmin Repesa, who recently arrived in Napoli, was Olimpia’s coach from 2015 to 2017, winning one championship (2016), two Italian Cups, and one Super Cup.