Olimpia Milano returns to the pitch this evening at 8.45pm to immediately recover what they lost in Game 1 at the Forum, namely the pitch factor. The red and whites play this evening at the T Quotidiano Arena in Trento against Dolomiti Energia, game 3 of the quarter-finals starting from a 1-1 situation. Everything good that the Milanese offered in game 2 in attack certainly needs to be replicated, but coach Ettore Messina’s team still has to grow in defense to resolve the Trento issue without fear. Coach Galbiati’s team, in fact, showed in both matches, beyond the final result, that they have great facility in making baskets, so much so that even in the second match in Milan they finished with 93 points. At this moment Armani has not yet managed to make the weight of the much deeper rotations count, but obviously the longer the series, the greater the gap in terms of energy. The Olimpia coach’s recipe is simple: “We won’t try to lower the pace compared to the first two matches because I don’t think that would work in our favor. Regardless of the pace, I think the key for us is to move the ball with speed. If we do it we are more effective”.
Olimpia must start from here, even more so from that fantastic first half of game 2 in which they scored 65 points (season record) to secure the match. Milan should confirm the 12 men deployed in the second match with Voigtmann returning to the rotation of the big men to the detriment of Baron who has to manage muscle fatigue. Shavon Shields was also fantastic in Game 2, scoring his 28 points in just 23 minutes. Udom and Niang remain out for Trento, Graziulis has formally terminated his contract in favor of the inclusion of Daulton Hommes in these playoffs, even if the former Cremona player has not yet done much to get noticed. In any case, game 4 will still be played in Trento and will be on Sunday 19th May at 6pm, while if there is a game 5 it will move to the Unipol Forum on Tuesday 21st in the evening.
