Coming off a tough loss in Villeurbanne, playing for tenth time this season, on short rest, Olimpia will try to regroup and beat Varese, a very offensively-gifted team. “We need to regroup and get back our determination and physicality on defense. Those have been the traits that have always identified our team,” Coach Ettore Messina said. Olimpia has been plagued by several absences lately. In Villeurbanne, only ten players were able to suit up. Stefano Tonut and Diego Flaccadori won’t be available against Varese. Guglielmo Caruso will be available after a death in the faily forced him to leave the team while on the road. Shabazz Napier and Nikola Mirotic will be evaluated during the course of the day. Varese has just replaced Oliver Hanlan with Hugo Besson, a former second-round pick giving to the team some more driving power. “They are offensively very aggressive,” Messina remarked. Olimpia won in Varese on short rest earlier in the season. This is a different team. Nico Mannion is leading the Varese offense. Former Olimpia assistant coach Tom Bialaszewski is implementing an offense with four shooters around the court and one rim runner, Skylar Spencer, in the middle. This is an historic face off, between two teams sharing a lot of memories, including five tie-breaking games to crown the league champions in the past.