Olimpia Milano ready for the playoffs: challenge against Aquila Trento and the return of Josh Nebo

by Sandro PuglieseIt's now playoff time for theOlimpia Milan which will begin its most difficult pursuit of the tricolor starting from Saturday 17 May. The red and whites, champions of Italy in the last three seasons, start from fifth place on the grid, but it will be a completely different playoff compared to the last few years, net of a Virtus Bologna leader like last year (they will play against Venice). Milan, on the other hand, will always have the home field advantage against them in every series, something that hasn't happened since 2009 when they first defeated Teramo and then Biella, before stopping in the final against Siena, then because for the first time after 4 seasons the final act will certainly not be the classic Milan-Bologna because if the teams win the first round they will meet in the semifinals (the last time was in 2007, Virtus won). Which, however, is not at all obvious at the beginning, because now Olimpia must beat the competition ofAquila Trento by coach Paolo Galbiati who, in addition to starting the series at home (Game 1 on Saturday 17th at 18pm and Game 2 on Monday 19th at 20.45pm), has already deservedly taken the Italian Cup from the Milanese in the one-off final in mid-February in Turin.

The fifth place highlights a not brilliant regular season for the red and whites who, too often, stumbled away from home, paying for the efforts of the Euroleague (8 defeats in 15 games), another fact that does not reassure in view of these playoffs, even if it is not unusual to win the tricolor from this position: to cite the most famous feats, the then Stefanel Milano managed it in 1996, as did Luca Banchi's Siena in 2013 or Scavolini Pesaro in 1988. What can shuffle the cards, however, is the inclusion of Josh Nebo, because Olimpia has paid the price all year without its true pivot under the basket and now finds itself with a top-notch player as fresh as if he were a real market acquisition. His run-in with Trapani and Scafati has been positive and now the possibility of rotating big men like the American in addition to Mirotic and LeDay is a solution that only coach Messina can count on compared to other teams. We will have to see what the performance of Quinn Ellis will be, an English point guard born in 2003, who will be engaged to Armani next season. The possible dualism between Armoni Brooks and Fabien Causeur, players who are diametrically opposed in terms of scoring ability and leadership qualities, but who will play for the last possible slot among the foreigners, remains in the choices that Messina will have to make.

Meanwhile, Milan and Trento are certain to participate as they are finalists of the Coppa Italia at the next Super Cup that will be hosted by the Assago Forum at the end of September.