Olimpia Milano, it’s now derby against Varese

Olimpia Milan, the point

The first hurdle to overcome in the Varese derby concerns the energy tank because’Olimpia will go on the court less than 48 hours after the Barcelona feat where Flaccadori, Shields and Melli all played around, or over, thirty minutes. Going on the court with very little rest from the previous game è already cost Olimpia at least a couple of league games. But the standings dictate a game without any sloppiness. Varese is going through a difficult time è also due to injuries.

Alex McDermott could return just against Milan; Skylar Spencer will make his debut in place of Willie Cauley-Stein; Davide Moretti è out due to injury. The Varese team è on the edge of the relegation zone and will play with the sense of urgency typical of these situations especially with the irreplaceable support of the home crowd.

Olimpia is going through a delicate period due to the loss in the last two weeks of two quintet players namely Maodo Lo and Nikola Mirotic. But on the level of quality of play, the last four games have been important even when victory è eluded, in Munich in a daring way, in Belgrade after 25 impressive minutes against a team that has won six games in a row in EuroLeague. Then there was the win over Virtus, when Maodo Lo was still there, and the domination of Barcelona with Flaccadori directing for almost 33 minutes. Continuing on this path è necessary on the eve of a triptych of games at the Mediolanum Forum that è vital: Asvel Villeurbanne and Panathinaikos in EuroLeague, Cremona in the championship.

“We play the derby less than 48 hours after the Barcelona feat so recovering physical and mental energy è our first goal. We want to try to continue our path of improvement both on offense and defense, while trying to limit Varese’s strengths, namely open court play, pick and roll situations and one-on-one”, the words of coach Mario Fioretti.