Cremona, 5 May 2024 – In the end he wins Captain Mellifrom the three-point corner, thus happily closing the regular season for theOlimpia Milan which beats a Cremona a beautiful Vanoli For 72-73 consolidating so the 2nd place in the ranking and therefore at least the field factor in Scudetto Playoffs 2024 in the semifinals.
Then we’ll see, although many have more than a secret suspicion which will be another clash in the final with the Virtus Bologna for the 3rd consecutive year but, in the meantime, a race remains in the annals that‘Olimpia Milan wins with great intensity by exploiting the qualities of a certain Nikola Mirotic (25 p.ti), assisted by Shavon Shields (15 more 5 assist) and making use of a supporting cast exceptional, to the century Pippo Ricci (8) and exactly Nicolò Melli (7), until then very effective in grabbing rebounds (7).
But the applausewell deserved of PalaRadithere are so many for this Vanoli beautiful Cremonabeautiful, already saved for a while and that Demis Cavina he has managed well in this very complex year as a newly promoted also putting this evening on the field 40 minutes of play with great pace and intensitydefending strongly and moving the ball very well in attack and thus putting Olimpia in difficulty.
As evidence of the very good choral performance of the Vanoli Cremona (which is nothing new), there are five men in double figures: Wayne McCullough it’s the best with 16 points e 7 rebounds that discard the role of mysterious object followed by Nathan Adrian with 13 points (3/5 from three). Corey Davis, Trevor Lacey And Paul Eboua they put some 10 in unison, with the latter also collecting 7 rebounds.
The match saw a Vanoli Cremona who started very strong, picking up pace from the baskets of a wild McCullough who, after a few minutes, already found himself in double figures, leading his team to 18-5. Mirotic gets into the game but it is Lacey who gives the blue and white the maximum advantage at 26-21: we go to 10′ on the 26-17.
Second period, as logically Olimpia Milano gets back into the score with Flaccadori and Shields (26-23) but again Lacey and McCullough and a triple from Davis bring Cremona back ahead (39-30). However, trips to the lunette allow guests to shorten up to 39-35 which sends the two teams to the locker rooms.
Third period, it is the hosts who do well again with Eboua and Golden but it is Mirotic and Melli who bring the contest back to a draw at 45. It is then Ricci who gives his team the advantage but Zanotti keeps Vanoli in touch with a triple. Adrian scored the points twice from beyond the arc which allowed Vanoli Cremona to stay ahead 30′ (54-53).
Fourth period, Mirotic and Hall get to work but Cremona plays lightly and, thanks to Adrian and McCullough, finds themselves ahead again 67-63 three minutes from the siren. Vanoli then maintains the advantage until 1″ from the end when Melli scores a triple from the corner which allows Milano to overtake and win with a score of 72-73.
Pressroom
Ettore Messina
“I would like to congratulate Mr. Vanoli, Coach Cavina and all of Cremona for a great season. They expressed quality of play, cohesion, mentality. A year that is worth more than simple salvation. We complicated our lives with a terrible start, both in attack and defense which forced us to chase the whole match. Having remained there, fighting until the end, I consider it a positive fact, despite the many difficulties encountered.
In the end, we won with some decisive defensive possessions as well as the individual plays of some, especially the basket obviously by Nicolò Melli. They were light, they started by scoring I think six triples in the first quarter, and at that point everything became difficult also because we didn’t have the usual balance.
Unfortunately, that’s the story of this season: one day out, another day out and every time you have to rebuild certain balances as happened today with the return of Mirotic. At some times he gave us very good things, at others we found ourselves in difficulty. Now we will work to find balance from the first possession of the series with Trento waiting for us.
Before the match, speaking with the other coaches, I said that if we hadn’t won by twenty we would have risked losing. This is what happened. They could have entered the field a little satisfied, they are situations in which you perhaps subconsciously think about not getting hurt. But once they got off to a flying start, the quality of their game, here among other things they beat all the best teams, emerged together with the desire to end the season with a great victory. In the end it could have worked out as well for them as it did for us.”
Demis Cavina
Vanoli Cremona Basket – EA7 Olimpia Milano 72-73
Partial: 26-17; 13-18; 3-6pm; 6-8pm.
Progression: 26-17; 39-35; 54-55; 72-73.
