The traditionally Super Cup officially kicks off the new season. The first trophy will be awarded on Sunday in Milan, at the Unipol Forum, even though it’s technically a neutral venue. Olimpia faces Italian champions Virtus Bologna on Saturday, September 27th. Although the two teams have faced each other dozens of times in recent years (nine games in the 2024/25 season only), this time they’ll be getting to know each other right on the court because there are many roster changes and few of the players who have written the recent history of this matchup are still playing with the same jerseys (Pajola and Hackett on one side; Shields and Ricci on the other).
Olimpia is defending the trophy it won in Bologna last season. Its five Super Cups all date back to the Armani era. The team will take the court for this semifinal after a short, uneventful preseason, losing in Crete to two top European teams, but objectively playing on equal terms with both until the end, and without Shavon Shields and Marko Guduric. The latter practiced with the group after returning from the European Championships but never played a real game with Olimpia so far and won’t make his debut yet.
But in the Super Cup, the cards will be unvealed, the tactical aspect will play a part, choices will have to be made to respect the roster rules of the Italian league, and it’s also true that Virtus itself produced a quality preseason. For this reason, any predictions are baseless.
Olimpia has been preparing at its Forum home all week. The only unavailable player is Leonardo Totè, who has just joined the group but hasn’t had any team practice under his belt. Olimpia begins a grueling tour de force, as they will travel to Belgrade next Monday to play their first two EuroLeague games.
REFEREES – Michele Rossi, Valerio Grigioni, Denis Quarta.
COACH ETTORE MESSINA –”It is a competition we get to well prepared despite the limits set by the rules to the roster and Marko Guduric’s absence. It is a test that will tell us where we are at,, at this time, exactly as it was in Crete last week. We will face a very athletic team with a lot of defensive aggressiveness. We intend to do well in front of our fans and in a week very important for the city of Milan because of the many tributes to Mr Armani.”
VIRTUS BOLOGNA – Compared to the team that won the last championship, they have lost some key players, especially Tornike Shengelia, Will Clyburn, Marco Belinelli, and Isaia Cordinier. However, Luca Vildoza, Carsen Edwards, Saliou Niang, Abramo Canka, Derrick Alston, Karim Jallow, Alen Smailagic, and Aliou Diarra have been added. Argentine point guard Vildoza is making his Italian league debut but is a highly experienced player, having played 196 EuroLeague appearances for Baskonia, Red Star Belgrade, Panathinaikos, and Olympiacos. Guard Carsen Edwards was the competition’s leading scorer last year at Bayern Munich. He previously played for Fenerbahce. Matt Morgan and Brandon Taylor have been retained at the guard position, as well as Daniel Hackett and Alessandro Pajola. Among the forwards, international Saliou Niang has arrived from Trento; Abramo Canka, an Italian who played in Russia, Lithuania, and the United States at UCLA and Wake Forest; Karim Jallow, a German who played in Ulm last year, where he reached the German championship final; and Derrick Alston, who arrived from Manresa. They also include Nicola Akele, who played in Bologna last season and was with the national team at the European Championships. Alen Smailagic, formerly of Partizan and Zalgiris, plays at power forward and center. The centers are Momo Diouf, a starter for the Italian national team, and Aliou Diarra, a standout at the African Championships with Mali.
