There is no time, there is no reason to think too much about the one-point defeat suffered at the hands of Bayern Munich in the EuroLeague, a tough one to swallow, because the reality demands only attention for the next game of the Italian leaguem, at the Unipol Forum, against Trapani Shark. Beyond the objective quality of the opponent, newly promoted only in name, given the team built (Justin Robinson played in the NBA; Langston Galloway has 452 NBA games under his belt; Tibor Pleiss has won the EuroLeague twice; Amar Alibegovic has won one Italian league championship; Chris Horton was twice the best rebounder in the French league; John Petrucelli is an Italian international), the experience of the head coach (Jasmin Repesa has won two championships, one in Milan) and the way Trapani is playing, the win-loss record demand a vigorous effort. “They have the league’s best offense, so sprinting back, containing their open court options, and stay solid on pick and roll plays and isos will be crucial for us,” assistant coach Mario Fioretti said.

Olimpia has climbed back up the ladder in the EuroLeague but in the meanwhile has struggled to finish games in the Italian league. After winning six of seven games, Olimpia now, with four games remaining before reaching mid-point, needs to win to get into the Top Eight and participate in the Italian Cup in February. The schedule includes another home game with Reggio Emilia and two road games, in Treviso and Pistoia, but in the meantime, it would be important to ease the pressure by beating Trapani, a team unbeaten on the road so far away, riding a six-game winning streak. Olimpia will unfortunately have to take care of business without Josh Nebo, whose promising return against Bayern was frustrated by further problems with his right arm.

Tip off time on Monday, December 23rd, is 19:00

TRAPANI OUTLOOK – Trapani comes to this game riding a six-game winning streak and is unbeaten on the road (the only defeats came at home with Bologna and Tortona). The quality of the team is proved by the first place for points scored (93.7 on average) and steals. Used to play at a very high pace, Trapani is also second for the fewest turnovers, its is second in two-point shooting percentage and fourth in three-point shooting percentage. Two players have always started: point guard Justin Robinson (16.4 points and 6.5 assists on average, 40.4 percent three-point shooting) and power forward Amar Alibegovic (13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game) who has become a lethal three-point shooter, 51.5 percent on three attempts per game. Normally the starting line-up is completed by John Petrucelli (averaging 12.1 points per game) and center Chris Horton (9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game on 70.6 percent on twos), while Coach Repesa likes to mix things a little be in picking the thid wing, who could be Riccardo Rossato (5.8 points, 41.2 percent on threes) or Langston Galloway who in any case has the playing time of a starter, 26.8 minutes per game, and averages 13.3 points per game on 61.8 percent shooting from two. Point guard JD Notae (10.9 points and 2.5 assists per game), instrumental in leading the team during the last second-division season, is coming off the bench to provide energy and points. Stefano Gentile completes the guards’ rotation. An important player is Akwasi Yeboah (11.1 points and 4.6 rebounds on average) who, however, got injured and this is why Gabe Brown was signed and played in the last two games. The center normally used off the bench is the German Tibor Pleiss, ab Olimpia’s opponent in many EuroLeague battles when he was in Vitoria and even more in Istanbul. Pleiss averages 6.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Furthermore, power forward Paul Eboua recently was acquired from Cremona to get one more option for Coach Repesa.

THE TRAPANI CONNECTION – Stefano Gentile spent the 2007/08 season in Milan playing, as a very young player, nine games with the first ten points of his career. Jasmin Repesa coached in Milan from 2015 to 2017, winning an Italian league championship, two Italian Cups and a Super Cup.