Venice: Spahija Provides an Update on Olinde’s Injury

Reyer Venezia coach Neven Spahija analyzed the loss to Trento in the Orogranata’s third preseason exhibition game: “We played a game that was appropriate for where we are right now: very physical. For our part, we focused heavily on managing playing time and workload to avoid injuries, but I’m not saying this as an excuse—on the contrary: that’s exactly how it should be done during this phase of preparation.”

“Today, we made a lot of mistakes on both offense and defense: we need to get back to the gym, work hard to correct them, and improve,” said the Reyer head coach. “I think the delay on the bus ride, due to heavy traffic, affected our approach a bit, especially in the opening minutes, but as I’ve already said, there are no excuses. We need to learn to play these tougher, more physical games right at this stage of the season so we can learn.”

Louis Olinde had to leave the court: “That was the only real sour note of the evening. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.” The player took a hard blow to the head, but his condition shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

Amedeo Tessitori was one of Venice’s best performers with 14 points and 7 rebounds; Ky Bowman also played well with 14 points, and Glynn Watson scored 13. Saturday brings the fourth preseason game against Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù.