LBA, semifinal Olimpia Milano – Germani Brescia: the program and where to watch the matches live on TV and streaming

The second semi-final series of the LBA Playoff UnipolSai 2024 kicks off on Saturday evening at 8.45pm and will see EA7 Emporio Armani Milano and Germani Brescia face each other in the Lombard derby. The Milanese team reached the semi-finals by beating Dolomiti Energia Trentino 3-1 in the quarter-finals, while the biancoblu won the first round 3-0 against Pistoia. Olimpia Milano is in the semi-final number 31 in its history. On 21 past occasions they have made it through and on 11 in particular they have won the Scudetto. This is the tenth consecutive semi-final for the red and whites, who were eliminated in the quarterfinals last time in the 2012/13 season by Montepaschi Siena.

For Brescia this is the second semi-final after their appearance in 2018, in which they were defeated by Milan (3-1). There are 47 precedents between the two teams, with Olimpia ahead 35-12 in the total balance. Two precedents between Milan and Brescia in the playoffs: the first in the quarter-finals of the 1982 edition between Billy and Cidneo (Olimpia won 2-1) and the second in the aforementioned semi-final of the 2018 edition between EA7 Emporio Armani and Germani ( Olimpia also won in this case, 3-1).

In the first match of the regular season, played on Saturday 30 December 2023 during the 14th day, Germani won 72-64 with 13 points and 11 rebounds from the decisive Miro Bilan and 18 points from a fundamental Massinburg. In the return leg, played on Sunday 28 April 2024 during the 29th day, EA7 Emporio Armani took revenge with the final score of 83-77, thanks to 13 points from the decisive Melli and excellent performances from Napier (19 points) and Shields (16 points).

Ettore Messina and Alessandro Magro met on 8 occasions, with the victories being equal (4-4). Fifteenth Serie A semi-final of Ettore Messina’s career. Only in his first season on the Bologna bench was he eliminated in the quarter-finals. The team coached by the current Milan coach has gone through seven times, with the last defeat dating back to the semi-final of the 2004/05 season against Treviso. First semi-final instead for Alessandro Magro, who as head coach in the playoffs stopped in the quarter-finals of the 2021/22 season again with Brescia.

Ettore Messina, coach EA7 Emporio Armani Milano: “It will be a complicated semi-final, as is normal because the four teams that have reached this point are the best in the championship. Brescia is a team that has size, athletic guards, a great shooter like Amedeo Della Valle, and a very good tactical organization. The little things will be decisive, such as not allowing easy baskets in transition, not allowing offensive rebounds, attributing the right value to every possession, as always at these levels. We will play one game at a time and try to improve along the way. We arrive at this semi-final knowing that we have passed an important test against Trento, who are an aggressive team, who play at a high pace, who attack you from the dribble both to score at the rim and to generate open three-point shots. We struggled to enter the series, both from a technical and mental point of view, so much so that we lost the first game on the last possession. After that, we played three games of a good level, I saw players who passed the ball to each other with pleasure, I saw players who helped each other in defense and were ready to suffer as was the case in the two very tense games in Trento . So it was a series that helped us grow and arrive at this series with Brescia with confidence.”

Alessandro Magro, Germani Brescia coach: “We are here instead of on holiday since May 7th like last year, having had the chance to have a convincing first series against Pistoia, which certainly gave us a lot of confidence and made us come back a little ‘ to what had been the pace during the season but which we had only seen at times. While now the great satisfaction of facing the strongest team in Italy at their home, a team that is in the group returning after the Italian Cup has seen very few setbacks and it is useless to talk about roster and depth. It is a source of great pride and satisfaction that we have earned this chance. We obviously lost in Milan against two teams that will not be the same on the pitch on Saturday, we were missing Semaj Christon and they were missing Mirotic. I remember very well what I said to my boys after the defeat: “We have one match left to finish the regular season then we want to earn the chance to come and challenge the champions on their own. field”. This must be the attitude we want to have and I echo Graziella’s words, our great victory is that of having rekindled the enthusiasm for this sport in this city which needs and wants to be excited thanks to this sport. The results obtained so far give us the push to go to Milan not alone, but pushed and supported by an entire city and we have the desire to be truly light-hearted, knowing that we have strengths that have allowed us to stay at the top of the rankings for many days, and we also have our defects like every team. We want to go to Milan with the desire to play our basketball to see if against the Italian champions if we will be able to do what we have always done: play seriously, be humble, get our hands dirty and defend, play together and try to see if it will be enough to try to keep up with one of the strongest teams in the championship. Having gone into the coaching staff, Mirotic, Shields and Napier are certainly the 3 key players in Milan’s attack but the big difference is their defensive ability to try to suffocate any opponent, with Melli being one of the best defenders in the championship. If we are able to continue to play our basketball with fluidity and confidence even in the face of such a tough defense. Unlike the Euroleague Final Four, in the playoff series there will be at least 3 games, so it will be interesting to see what happens in Game 1, how we will be able to withstand the blow of the Italian champions away from home and from then on what will have to do to grow during the series. We will be at full strength and all the players will be available even if not 100%. We all deserved, the city, the club, the players and the staff the chance to continue enjoying the journey. So with a beautiful smile on our lips and with great confidence and great humility let’s continue to dream and enjoy the journey.”