Olimpia’s twenty-third playoff finals begin tomorrow at the Unipol Forum against a team they’ve never faced before at this stage of the competition. However, Reyer Venezia has been one of the most successful teams in the Italian league for over a decade, and their paths have often crossed those of Olimpia, though never in a championship series. Reyer reached this stage by overcoming homecourt advantage in the semifinal series against Virtus Bologna. Starting as the third seed, Olimpia has already won one championship from that position, in 1982 (Pesaro was defeated in the finals), but overall, this is only the fifth time the third-seed is playing the final with homecourt advantage. Reyer has had a weird run this season: its road record is significantly better than the home record. On the road, Reyer’s won 11 and lost three in the regular season, one of those defeats coming in Milan. In the playoffs, the run has been more consistent: Reyer won all its games in Venezia (5-0) and only one on the road (1-3). As a team, they like a fast pace (they lead the season in points per game), taking advantage of a rotation that includes at least 11 players, ten of whom play more than 12 minutes per game (Alessandro Lever averages 8.1) and the use of variable lineups thanks to the presence of players who can be used in multiple positions, such as Jordan Parks, Ky Bowman, and Carl Wheatle. They have three key players (RJ Cole at point guard, Parks, and striker Kyle Wiltjer), defensive stoppers (Wheatle and Leo Candi), and of course an interesting combination of centers, Chris Horton and Amedeo Tessitori, who is producing the best basketball of his career. Game 1 will be Olimpia’s 80th game of the season, but it has played two fewer than Reyer in the playoffs.
Game 1 of the Italian league finals will be played on Thrusday, June 11th, in Unipol Forum at 20:00
COACH PEPPE POETA – “It will be important for us to enter the series on the right foot, with physicality and attention to detail, which is what got us to the finals in the first place. On the other side, we’ll face a team in great shape and confident, who deserved to get this far. They have a lot of skills and athletic talent, and are well-coached. It will be crucial to limit their flurries throughout each game, especially with their main players. Offensively, we’ll need to move the ball to maintain our flow and try to run, especially in the two home games.”
LEANDRO BOLMARO – “It is a finals series so anything can happen and a great team is coming up. We need to be focused, play hard and be ready for a tough challenge. At the same time, its is what we are playing for so we have to enjoy the game, never looking ahead, go at it hard play by play, minute by minute.”
PIPPO RICCI – “Getting here is never granted so I’m happy to be part of this series. I was waiting for this game since we got eliminated in the semifinals one year ago. Venezia is a solid team, they are talented and can be physical. We start at home, I don’t know if this is an advantage, but more than that it is important to play one game at a time. Tomorrow I anticipate a great support from our people too.”
THIS SEASON –There have been only two previous games, and the first dates back to October 26th, with Olimpia winning 101-88, and three players scoring 23 points: Armoni Brooks, Shavon Shields, and Devin Booker. In that game, Olimpia didn’t have Zach LeDay and Josh Nebo, so it was a really indicative game. The 13-for-25 three-point shooting was a decisive factor in the win. The second game is more recent, played on April 26th in Mestre, with Olimpia winning 90-85 after a breakaway and a furious comeback by Reyer. In that game, Leandro Bolmaro scored 19 points on 9-for-15 from the field, plus 12 points from Brooks and 11 from Josh Nebo. In the game played at Taliercio, Venetian point guard RJ Cole scored 29 points, 41 in two games played against Olimpia. Jordan Parks scored 30 points in total. Ky Bowman surpassed his average with 29 points combined.
VENEZIA OUTLOOK – Reyer’s key player is RJ Cole, a University of Maryland point guard product in his first season in Italy, who scored in double figures in eight of nine playoff games (the only time he fell below ten points, Venezia lost to Bologna). He averaged 16.3 points and 4.9 assists per game this season, shooting 34.3 percent from three. In the playoffs, however, he increased his three-point shooting to 41.4 percent. Jordan Parks, a versatile small forward, is another key player on Coach Neven Spahija’s team. This season, he averaged 13.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, shooting 45.4 percent from three-point range. The third go-to guy is Canadian Kyle Wiltjer, a stretch power forward averaging 12.6 points per game, shooting 41.9 percent from three and 56.3 percent from two. The center combo consists of Chris Horton, who is more athletic and defensive oriented, and Amedeo Tessitori, a veteran with a greater offensive attitude, especially when posting up. Horton averages 7.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, shooting 58.3 percent from two; Tessitori averages 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds, shooting 64.5 percent from two. Horton typically starts and Tessitori comes off the bench, but their playing time is roughly equal. The fifth starter can be Ky Bowman (9.3 points per game, shooting 57.8 percent from two) or Denzel Valentine (6.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game). The guard rotation includes defender Leo Candi, who is also a dangerous shooter (35.3 percent from three this season) and British international Carl Wheatle, who can carry the ball and is a tough defender (6.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game). Among the big men is Stefan Nikolic (4.5 points on 62.1 percent two-point shooting). The eleventh man is shooting center Alessandro Lever; the twelfth is defensive specialist Giovanni De Nicolao.
THE WILTJER FACTOR – The Canadian shooter wasn’t a factor in the two games he played against Olimpia this season, and in these playoffs he went from averaging 13.8 points per game in the regular season to 9.1, but his 26-point scoring explosion in Bologna largely decided Game 1 of the semifinal. Preventing Wiltjer from getting hot is crucial for any team facing Reyer.
THE BATTLE OF THE CENTERS – Josh Nebo went from 65.6 to 78.1 percent two-point shooting in the playoffs and from 6.8 to 8.2 rebounds per game, playing less than 27 minutes per game. Ousmane Diop is averaging 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on 81.3 percent shooting from two, numbers significantly improved compared to the regular season. Venezia, however, has the same type of combination. Horton is averaging 8.0 points and 6.9 rebounds in the playoffs, going from 55.1 to 69.4 percent from the field. Tessitori exploded from 8.2 to 11.6 points per game, shooting 70.7 percent from two and grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game.
PLAYOFF SHIELDS – Shavon Shields improved all his numbers in the playoffs, going from 12.1 points to 14.9 per game; from 55.7 to 63.3 percent shooting from two; and from 2.6 assists to 3.1 on average. All this while consistently focusing on one of the opposing team’s key forwards.
COLE AND BOLMARO – RJ Cole, if only for his newly founded consistent three-point shooting, has been Reyer’s key player in these playoffs. The leading role for Olimpia has been played by Leandro Bolmaro who is scoring 13.6 points per game on 56.9 percent two-point shooting and 42.9 percent three-point shooting.
THE VENEZIA CONNECTION – Stefano Tonut played for Venezia from 2015 to 2021, winning the 2017 and 2019 Italian league championships, the 2020 Italian Cup, and the 2018 FIBA Europe Cup. He made 257 appearances in domestic competitions, scoring 2,230 points. Denzel Valentine played the final part of the 2023/24 season with Olimpia, winning the Italian league championship.
GAME NOTES – Shavon Shields will play his 34th game of the Finals in Game 1, tying Rimantas Kaukenas for fourth place all-time. He needs three three-pointers to tie Terrell McIntyre for fifth place. He also needs an assist to match Alessandro Pajola’s 72 and enter the top five ever in assists. Finally, Shields can surpass Mike D’Antoni in Game 1 to become the player with the most minutes spent on the court in Finals games. D’Antoni has played 1,041 minutes, while Shields has 1,034.
