The attacks win, the rebounds win, Olimpia Milano wins. Low physicality, excessive number of whistles, and not even an immense Amedeo Della Valle (33 points) can change the cards on the table in this game 1 of the playoff semi-final.
Ettore Messina’s team starts with Johannes Voigtmann, 19 points at halftime, finishing with Nicolò Melli. And it doesn’t matter if Shavon Shields doesn’t look at his best and Nikola Mirotic fights with fouls. It is 1-0 the result of another physicality, another presence, and which would have deserved much greater numerical dimensions without the magic of Massinburg in the first half, and the miracles of the great ex with the number 8 in the second half.
95-69 the final, 43-29 rebounds, 62 trips to the line overall. 21 for Voigtmann with 8 rebounds, 13 for Melli with 6 rebounds, 4 for Shields and 3 for Mirotic.
The match
Let’s start with the uncomfortable. Poor refereeing on both sides. Any attempt at physicality was canceled with continuous whistles, and perhaps for Brescia it was also a recognition of the intentions. In the first half, Olimpia had three fouls from Mirotic (there is a technician for protests, which were justified) and Melli, and only two points from Shields.
Yet he scored 34 points in the first quarter, 27 in the second, quickly reached the double-digit lead driven by Tonut’s 9 at the start and then by Voigtmann’s 19 in 20 minutes, 7/8 from the field and 5/6 from 3. Brescia, as mentioned, it is inhibited by the trio Rossi, Giovannetti and Valzani (like Milan, 29 whistles in the first half alone), however it exchanges Olimpia for the compliant Pistoia in the first round (look at the rebound data), despite the invitation to charge by Magro who starts with Akele, Gabriel and Bilan in the same quintet.
In fact, the guests remained in the game in the first half with triples from Gabriel (2/2) and Massinburg (3/3), and did not change their style at the start of the second half. Above all, the refereeing atrocities continue, which do not allow a playoff rhythm.
Petrucelli clears two fouls in the blink of an eye, Voigtmann stops Della Valle but sees a foul whistled on a 3-pointer, Mirotic sketches a reaction to Burnell’s attack and takes the fourth upon returning to the pitch. Madness.
The resulting improvised All Star Game thrives on peaks, Hall’s block or Flaccadori’s 1 vs 2 steal or Melli’s great defense on Bilan, and above all it does not allow decisive extensions, as demonstrated by the two triples by Amedeo Della Valle which at the end of the third quarter meant 77-70.
ADV reaches 30 with still 2’30” to play, Olimpia slows down in the long run, stops, leaves too much of the ball to a Napier who loses his “touch”, but allows himself many second chances, making time pass and certifying the success in game 1 with 4 points by captain Nicolò Melli.
It doesn’t matter if anything happens at the end: from Voigtmann’s invented foul on Gabriel’s triple to Napier’s crazy cross for the German himself which could have cost him a free loss at 12″.
