{"id":51571,"date":"2023-03-28T08:36:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T06:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.demo.olimpia.iquii.info\/?p=51571"},"modified":"2023-03-28T08:36:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T06:36:16","slug":"olimpia-moves-on-to-istanbul-coach-messina-efes-is-strong-and-motivated-will-try-to-do-our-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olimpiamilano.com\/en\/olimpia-moves-on-to-istanbul-coach-messina-efes-is-strong-and-motivated-will-try-to-do-our-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Olimpia moves on to Istanbul, Coach Messina: “Efes is strong and motivated, will try to do our best”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last ten EuroLeague games, Real Madrid, Olympiacos, Partizan and Olimpia have had the best overall record, 8-2.<\/strong>\u00a0Olimpia has won eight of the last nine; over this streak it has beaten both Olympiacos and Partizan, losing by four points in Madrid. The streak is validated by the value of the opponents, given that Milan faced the top two teams in the standings and the other hot team of the competition. Because of the winning streak, interrupted only by Real Madrid, it has risen in the standings up to the current 10th place, tied with Valencia and Anadolu Efes. Now the last EuroLeague week with two consecutive games begins. Olimpia is approaching the 8th<\/sup>\u00a0\u201cback-to-back\u201d setting of its season, but it must be said that in these games the team has often given out its best, winning nine of these 14 games. The two-time defending European champions Efes is coming off an unexpected defeat in Berlin, when it was killed by a Luke Sikma putback, after coming back from a 19-point deficit. The two teams met six times last year with a 3-3 record, one more time in Milan earlier this year with a large Efes\u2019 win. The difficulties of the game are obvious, but they will be magnified by Efes’ absolute need to seize a win to move forward in its chase to clinch a playoffs\u2019 berth, a chase that is validated by the schedule: in the last four games, Efes will never have to leave Istanbul because three games are scheduled to be played at home and the fourth at Fenerbahce. After Istanbul, Olimpia will have to go to Tel Aviv. In the meantime, Shavon Shields has returned. He has only been able to play six games in this EuroLeague, almost never with unlimited playing time. The team record in these six games is 5-1.<\/p>\n

REFEREES\u00a0<\/u><\/em><\/strong>\u2013\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Robert Lottermoser (Germany), Mehdi Difallah (France), Uros Nikolic (Serbia).<\/p>\n

COACH ETTORE MESSINA<\/u><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u201cEfes is the team that won the last two titles; they have experience, depth, talent, and now the absolute need in front of their fans to win all the next games. Facing a strong, experienced and very motivated team is the most difficult thing to manage, especially since we played two EuroLeague games last week as well. Despite this, we would like to play another\u00a0game\u00a0of personality and quality like the ones we played in the EuroLeague in the last month and a half, trying to look for all the\u00a0energy and resources\u00a0we can recover both physically and mentally.”<\/span><\/p>\n

ANADOLU EFES<\/u><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The European Champions have adjusted their roster more than they did the previous season after conquering their first title. Some veterans have left namely Kruno Simon, James Anderson, and Adrien Moerman, but Chris Singleton came back mid-season to replace Achille Polonara. The list of stars obviously begins with Vasa Micic, the reigning Final Four\u2019s MVP, 16.0 points and 5.5 assists per game over 32 minutes of average use, and goes down to Shane Larkin, who is averaging 12.1 points and 4.6 assists per game, and he is shooting 37.5 percent from three. The other guards are Rodrigue Beaubois (11.4 points per game, 49.5 percent from three) and Elijah Bryant (8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game). Will Clyburn is the most used player, averaging 33.4 minutes per game, while averaging 17.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He’s also shooting 37.6 percent from three. As a power forward, beyond Singles, Amath M’Baye is averaging 7.5 points per game shooting 51.8 percent on threes. Finally, at the center position, Efes is the deepest team in the competition with three high-level centers such as Bryant Dunston, the all-time leading shot-blocker who didn\u2019t play in Berlin last Thursday, Ante Zizic (6.8 points per game on 73 percent shooting on twos) and Tibor Pleiss (6.0 points per game).<\/p>\n