Nico Mannion best Italian in league in April
It’s hard to call him a surprise, although coach Ettore Messina’s team is full of established superstars and profiles with an background that is enviable. The way he accelerates, decelerates, changes pace and gives opposing defenses no reference – sending them into total confusion – makes his game as unpredictable as it is spectacular.
Niccolò Mannion has always started in the starting five of the’Olimpia Milano, he did not have to climb the hierarchies, because he himself was the missing pawn in the chessboard wanted by the biancorosso head coach. The Best Italian of the Month award certifies, if there was need for further confirmation, the quality of the Siena-born point guard who was the protagonist of the 3-1 recorded by the EA7 Emporio Armani in April; the four teams that answer to the names of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Trapani Shark, Germani Brescia and Dolomiti Energia Trentino do not seem to want to give way, but the same goes for the Milanese team ready to take advantage of the right moment to make the leap in the standings, necessary to obtain the home factor in the play-offs. Three consecutive victories arrived against Estra Pistoia, Vanoli Basket Cremona and Bertram Derthona Tortona after the external defeat on the UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia’s parquet; in the last two successes is certainly visible the hand of Niccolò Mannion, especially in the derby with Cremona in which he recorded 21 points (9/13 from the field), 3 assists, 3 fouls suffered, 1 rebound and 1 recovery for a total of 22 in the evaluation voice with +18 of plus/minus.
When the game got complicated or had begun to take different tracks than budgeted before the two-ball, the Arizona University product held up the bench by raising the’bar of his game, pulled the proverbial rabbit out of his hat and imposed his own pace not only on his teammates, but on the contention. In the month of April he held an average of 11.5 points, 4.0 assists, 3.5 fouls incurred, 2.5 rebounds and 13.5 rating with +9.5 plus/minus in about 24.3 minutes.
