Olimpia Milano, Shabazz Napier’s debut-bis.

Olimpia Milan on the field on Sunday

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It will be the third game in five days or the fourth in eight, after a physically tough battle against Panathinaikos and with a roster objectively amputated of several key pawns. Going on the court without a chance to prepare the game from a physical, mental and tactical point of view increases the pitfalls all the more with the ball at noon and against a bright and motivated lineup. Vanoli Cremona comes to Milan with a 6-6 record that is worth the eighth place useful for the Final Eight, occupied, however, in cohabitation with Pistoia.

The group of fifths, including Olimpia, is just one win away. This is a Christmas contest that will have a strong impact on the standings. Somewhat like it did in Varese after the Barcelona game, Olimpia will have to dig deep into the reservoir of physical and mental energy to win anyway.

The list of unavailable players, which includes Nikola Mirotic, Maodo Lo and Pippo Ricci, will è be expanded with Billy Baron, who faced Panathinaikos with a great spirit of sacrifice but will stay put this time. To be evaluated is the availability of Shavon Shields and Kyle Hines, who are also a bit a’ slumped. In compensation there will be the’ debut of Shabazz Napier, who last year in the Serie A played 27 games with 13.8 points and 4.1 assists average.

"With the EuroLeague format, it often happens that we have to take the court without adequate preparation of the game and with the obligation to find energy anyway – said coach Mario Fioretti -.

For us, it will be important the mental approach and the attention with which we will execute our things both on offense and defense against a Cremona that plays well as a team on offense, in a choral way, and on defense manages to be very aggressive”.