Olimpia Milano, Peppe Poeta between surprise and awareness: the new head coach's admission
After Monday’s thunderbolt represented by Ettore Messina’s resignation, Olimpia Milano is ready to start a new era with Peppe Poeta at the helm. The new head coach of the Red Shoes spoke to Sky Sports microphones on the eve of the Euroleague game against Maccabi Tel Aviv on the neutral court of Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade.
“Circumstances are not the ones I hoped for to become a coach, the project was different but I respect Ettore–s decision so much,
explained Poeta.
I am charged up, full of enthusiasm and I want to try to give my contribution to the cause as early as tomorrow. How am I living the wait? Like I’ve always experienced it as a player and as a coach: with serenity, with a smile, trying to convey positivity. We want to put the three consecutive defeats behind us and return to victory”.
Official debut as head coach for Poeta against Maccabi: “It is a team that does not reflect the ranking it has (Maccabi is last along with ASVEL, ed.): it has often lost in sprints, I am thinking of the game that ended in overtime with Monaco or the one lost on the last shot with Fenerbahce. It is a team that likes to run, we will have to be good in defensive transition and try to exploit their defensive gaps with aggressiveness”.
One of Olimpia’s sore notes at this stage of the season is related to the full infirmary. “We are recovering someone, the condition is not homogeneous – Poeta said. We will use the break for that: there’is someone coming back from long stops, someone who still has to wait, in any case we have everything to try to compete as early as tomorrow”.
