Reyer Venezia, Neven Spahija doesn’t get it right: "This is too much"

Neven Spahija takes his hat off to Olimpia Milano, which was able to win by a score of 85-90 in Venice by resisting Reyer’s late-game comeback attempt, but he also pulls his own ears. “Congratulations to Milan, they played a better endgame than we did and thus managed to take home the victory. Today’s game had three key moments, starting from the two times when we found ourselves at -20 having to try different quintets to find a solution,” noted the coach of the orogranata.

“In the end we found the square, we came back down by only 2 points and reopened the game – continued Spahija in his analysis -. We could have even won, but decisive for the result were some fouls we committed on their shooters. At that point Armoni Brooks had three shots from the lunette that allowed Olimpia Milano to rebuild its lead.”

But there is one aspect of the game that particularly bothered Spahija: “Today we missed 11 free throws, that’s way too many. In a game that is decided point-to-point, every detail becomes crucial. I can’t get mad at the players after a hard-fought game like today’s. But we learned a big lesson before the playoffs, in the locker room I told everyone. Reyer Venezia must have a great defense, like the one we showed in the second half. We have to keep working like this and be tough on the court. Against great teams like Milan we have to be perfect.”

On the other side of the court, Peppe Poeta also wanted to analyze his team’s performance, admitting lights and shadows. “We played a serious and solid game, unfortunately, however, we are not able to be as consistent as we would like to be for the whole 40 minutes,” the biancorosso coach pointed out to LBA TV. “Against a strong and physical team like Reyer Venezia, which made a lot of baskets, even difficult ones, I perhaps saw in flashes Olimpia Milano’s best game in the league. We were also good at not disuniting when they came back down.” Poeta then wanted to emphasize a defensive aspect that particularly pleased him: “We managed to dominate in rebounding, against a very physical team. I’m proud of Olimpia Milano, even if there are sore sides like the blackouts we take that complicate our lives. In the season we have had to face comebacks by our opponents too often, but this time we did not break down.”

The victory on Reyer’s court also takes on considerable specific weight in terms of the standings. Olimpia Milano thus rises to 38 points, overtaking Venice in third place, in a ranking dominated by Brescia and Virtus Bologna paired at the top. For the Biancorossi, this is a valuable result in view of the playoffs, the only remaining seasonal goal after failing to qualify for the Euroleague post-season for the fourth consecutive year. Brooks himself, a protagonist in the final with the three decisive free throws mentioned by Spahija, is one of the hottest names on the market: sporting director Daniele Baiesi publicly admitted that the time to negotiate the renewal was too long, personally taking responsibility for the delay, but he also confirmed that the dialogue with the player’s entourage has never stopped and that Brooks’ will is to remain in the biancorosso.

In the Reyer household, on the other hand, the future of the bench is already being looked at carefully. Spahija will not be confirmed at the end of the season and the orogranata management is working to identify his successor. The first name on the list was Luca Banchi, coach of the Italian national team, but he declined the offer to focus exclusively on the Azzurri project. Candidates left in the running include such big names as Sasha Djordjevic, with whom the Venetian management has already initiated initial contacts, and Ettore Messina, who left the Olimpia Milano bench last November. The list also includes Paolo Galbiati, currently at Baskonia, and Francesco Tabellini, who has just returned from his experience at Paris Basketball. A choice that is intertwined with the club’s European ambitions, projected toward a move to the new 10,500-seat arena and with the Euroleague dream always in the background.