Alba is coming to Milan, Messina: They are fast and aggressive; We need transition defense, rebounds

After the Tel Aviv battle, Olimpia returns to the court in the EuroLeague to play the rescheduled Round 6 game with Alba Berlin, which was postponed due to Covid reasons that blocked the German club’s departure for Italy. It will be played on Tuesday 1 December at 8.45 pm at the Mediolanum Forum. If Olimpia is coming off a huge road win, Alba has just won the third game of its season by clearly defeating Khimki Moscow. The game opens a month of December in which Olimpia will play eight EuroLeague games and four Italian league contests. This week the team will play the first of three consecutive European double rounds week. A grueling program.

OLIMPIA – Kevin Punter, after missing the first five EuroLeague games, quickly returned to be his old self and in the three games played he averaged 16.7 points per game, and set his new career highs in index rating and minutes played in one single game. Malcolm Delaney, who was injured in the first quarter of the game with Real Madrid, averaged 14.5ppg with 4.5 assists in the last two and scored the Olimpia’s winning basket in Tel Aviv. Milan arrives at this game with the most prolific offense in the EuroLeague, 83.3 per game, the second place in three-pointer accuracy, 40.4 percent, third in fouls received and fourth in free throws attempted. However, Olimpia will find a very dangerous Alba team, which was able to win in Moscow, and plays a fast, high-paced basketball with many assists. Alba is featuring Luke Sikma, who was named the last round EuroLeague’s MVP.

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – "Facing a Coach Aito’s team, you know you are going to play against a well-prepared team, very aggressive defensively and with an uptempo style of play. They are coming off a very convincing win over Khimki and showed their quality last season when they came here and won. A good transition defense and controlling the boards will be two crucial aspects to try to win the game."

SHAVON SHIELDS – "We face a very good Alba team, they are playing well and are dangerous. For us, especially playing at home, it’s important to try to set the tone early, execute the game plan and play defense for the entire 40 minutes."

THE REFEREES – Matej Boltauzer (Slovenia), Piotr Pastusiak (Poland), Carlos Cortes (Spain).

ALBA BERLIN – Alba won the German title last season and won the first three games of the new season. The coach is Aito Garcia de Reneses, who has been around big-time basketball for thirty years now. The team has added five new players since last season, losing among the most notable players Rokas Giedraitis, Martin Hermannsson and Larry Nnoko. Granger, Lo, Fontecchio, Olinde and Lammers are the newcomers. The guards are Peyton Siva (8.3 points, 5.0 assists per game), Jayson Granger (who’s averaging 4.9 assists per game), Maodo Lo (playing for his third German EuroLeague team, after Bamberg and Bayern) and Jonas Mattisseck. The small forward is Simone Fontecchio who is averaging 9.8 points per game and is converting 57.8 percent of his two-pointers. Against Khimki Niels Giffey played a career game, with 22 points and 4/4 from three in the last round, making up for the absence of the Swede Marcus Eriksson, who would be the team’s leading scorer. Giffey is averaging 10.0 points per game. Eriksson has an ankle problem and labeled as doubtful. Luke Sikma, a power forward, is the most experienced player with Granger, a jack-of-all-trades (9.3 points, 64.4% from two) who is also the best rebounder on the team with a 4.8 average. Louis Olinde and Tim Schneider are also playing at the 4-spot. The starting center is Ben Lammers, backed up by Johannes Thiemann. Lammers is one of the best shot-blockers in the EuroLeague and in the last two games he has produced 33 points combined averaging 8.5 rebounds per game and going 14/23 from two.

THE BERLIN CONNECTION – Simone Fontecchio played 17 games with 33 points scored over three partial seasons spent in Milan. He is in his first season in Berlin.

NOTES – Gigi Datome has an open streak of 21 free throws made. Sergio Rodriguez has scored at least one three in 20 of his last 21 appearances. Kevin Punter has scored a three in each of his last 15 EuroLeague games. Kyle Hines is 10 shy of 1,000 two-point baskets in his EuroLeague career.