L'Olimpia Milano amazed even Peppe Poeta

Olimpia Milano is enjoying the round 103-87 trimming of Virtus Bologna in the Euroleague in an Italian derby that is always particularly heartfelt. This is also clear from the words of Peppe Poeta, who praised his players and also revived the meneghini’s ambitions in Europe. All this after the league clash had rewarded Dusko Ivanovic’s Black Vu’s.

“I didn’t expect all this energy tonight. We played great on offense and were good at sharing the ball,” Poeta said in his end-of-game analysis. “I saw Olimpia Milano balanced on offense and good at avoiding their counterattacks. We managed to lower the pace by playing more in the midfield, just to avoid too many runs. And in the Euroleague we are still alive, an aspect that I think is very important. For us it’s game after game, we will try to keep winning with this awareness.”

Just over ten days before the big Euroleague challenge, however, came a heavy defeat for Olimpia Milano. “The course of the game was very clear, Virtus Bologna had more energy than us,” Poeta had said on that occasion. “Edwards and Alston, who played guard, made it difficult for us in the one-on-ones and we suffered their initiative. They have a lot of athleticism in the wings, an aspect that helps them build a lot of play. We should have countered them with a balanced offense capable of losing few balls. We did not always succeed. Really a great pity to have lost this game.”

“At the end of the third quarter we were at -1, so we were alive. When the fourth quarter started, however, we immediately lost two or three balls and went off. A real shame. Bologna was missing their point guards, but we know that they are able to give their best when they are in emergency,” Poeta had added.

In the meantime, Olimpia Milano’s great Euroleague victory, which Dusko Ivanovic also pointed out. “They played much better than we did. They were faster, while we lost all the confrontations that came in one-on-one situations. Our individual defense was not up to the situation,” the Virtus Bologna coach admitted at the end of the game.

Against Olimpia Milano, moreover, a Carsen Edwards case broke out. Just 9 minutes on the court came for him, with coach Ivanovic himself very clear and dry on the matter. “My decision,” said the coach of the Emilian team at the end of the game.