Olimpia Milano, far from Euroleague play-in: what didn’t work?
After having won the Final Eight of the Italian Cup, Olimpia staked its last hopes of staying in the running for a spot in the Euroleague play-in in the treacherous trip to Tel Aviv, against Coach Itoudis’s Hapoel. Despite an appreciable effort, the Red and White came out defeated. A misstep that, in fact, makes the dream of playing the Euroleague post season almost impossible.
A blow to the ambitions of the team now in the hands of Coach Poeta. Getting to the play-in was one of the season goals, also because it is since the 2021/22 season that EA7 has not participated in the post season (last time, eliminated by Efes). Unfortunately, even in this European campaign, something has been missing. First and foremost, under indictment the summer market moves.
The choice to bet on Lorenzo Brown did not turn out to be a good one. Once it was understood that the former Pana was not the right point guard to be entrusted with the team, it was complicated to find a worthy replacement (in a season in progress is never easy). In addition, once again, Olimpia had to deal with an endless series of injuries that deprived it, for a long time, of many key men, forcing some, for example Guduric, LeDay and Ellis, to play without ever stopping.
There is also the strength of the opponents to consider. In the Euroleague, many clubs have spent big (think of the Greek teams and Hapoel’Hapoel). High budgets to set up top-notch rosters with endless talent.
Finally, the feeling is that, compared to other countries, the double commitment is complicated for Italian teams involved in the Euroleague. The Italian league is challenging and, compared to other battleships, Olimpia, as well as Virtuis Bologna, does not have infinite rosters that allow players to rotate serenely.
