Sandro Gamba isn’t under any illusions: “Many teams have surpassed Milan”

Sandro Gamba once again discussed Olimpia Milano’s situation in his regular Thursday column in the Milan edition of *La Repubblica*. The former coach analyzed the differences between the level of Italy’s Serie A and that of the EuroLeague, emphasizing how numerous European teams have made significant strides in recent years, substantially increasing the competition’s overall competitiveness.

This evolution has made Olimpia Milano’s path even more challenging, as the team is now tasked with closing the gap on its main European rivals. Gamba then highlighted the challenges facing the red-and-whites, also focusing on the quality of their next opponent: “The teams have improved a great deal, and many of them have now surpassed Milan. Even those that, in my day—first as a player and then as a coach—were clearly inferior. Tonight’s game is another important milestone. Barcelona has always played high-quality, very technical, and clean basketball. Perhaps without necessarily having absolute superstars, but with a consistently very high level of team play.”

The former coach’s assessment comes after a disappointing European season for the red-and-whites. For the fourth consecutive year, Olimpia has failed to qualify for the EuroLeague playoffs; its last appearance dates back to the 2021–2022 season. Last April, in the aftermath of the home loss to Bayern Munich (94–84, with the deficit reaching as high as 26 points in the third quarter), Gamba had already used harsh words, describing a team lacking “consistency or continuity over 40 minutes” and “too lackluster to merit a spot in the European playoffs.” On that occasion, he had also called for the ownership to intervene, citing a lack of leadership both on the court and within the team.

As early as last fall, Gamba had identified the lack of a vocal leader as one of the team’s weaknesses, noting its tendency to concede heavy runs at decisive moments. At the same time, he had recognized Armoni Brooks as a clear offensive anchor, a “EuroLeague-caliber player.” Brooks was among the best even in last March’s loss in Istanbul against Fenerbahçe (22 points), a game in which Milan had led until halftime before being outscored.

That same month, Olimpia celebrated the club’s 90th anniversary with a sold-out Forum di Assago decked out in red and white for the game against Dinamo Sassari, and Gamba was among the club legends in attendance at the event, alongside Dan Peterson. That celebration marked the end of the “away-from-home” stretch for the red-and-whites, who had played 15 games at the Allianz Cloud (10 in the EuroLeague and five in the league). The last of these had been the EuroLeague matchup against Barcelona.

In the background looms the future of the competition, of which Milan is a part. This week, President Dejan Bodiroga announced that starting next season, the EuroLeague will expand from 20 to 24 teams, moving away from a single-group format in favor of a two-conference structure, modeled after the NBA. “We haven’t yet established the criteria for the composition of these conferences,” Bodiroga clarified, noting that the tournament “has never been as strong as it is today,” with over 3,300,000 spectators in arenas and more than 500 million television viewers last season.