Coach Messina: “In Athens, we need to take good care of the ball”

The eighth week, with two EuroLeague rounds, is starting and this time Olimpia faces them both on the road, both very tough, first in Oaka against Panathinaikos then at Sinan Erden Arena against Anadolu Efes. Panathinaikos, coached by Ergin Ataman, a two-time European champion with Efes, is 9-3 on its court, has won eight of the last ten games played and is 0-3 in games that have ended in overtime. Its position in the standings is good and perhaps the team is worth even more. The last round, they lost against Maccabi, but in a complicated situation because of the absences of Vildoza and Sloukas and then Kendrick Nunn had to exit the floor due to an elbow injury. The American scorer however returned in the Greek league game last Sunday, therefore, he will be in unform next to Jerian Grant against Olimpis, taking with him his 17.8 points average over the last four outings. Olimpia is also going through a positive moment overall: between the EuroLeague and the Italian league they have won 12 of the last 17 games played regardless of who was available or not and for how long. After Shavon Shields and Maodo Lo, Nikola Mirotic is also available again albeit with severe minutes restrictions. In the EuroLeague, he’s missed the last 11 games (5-6), but before the stop he had averaged 17.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He offers the team one more option in the front line, just as Rodney McGruder did in the back court against Barcelona by lengthening the rotations despite Billy Baron’s unavailability on the perimeter. However, these are two defensive teams: Olimpia is third in terms of points allowed, Panathinaikos is fourth mostly because of its great perimeter defense (33.7 percent allowed on threes) and forced turnovers (13.9, no one does better). Of course, playing in Oaka where the average attendance is close to 14.000 spectator per game is raising the bar even higher. Tip-off time in Athens will be 20:15, Italian time, on Wednesday.

THE REFEREES – Damir Javor (Croatia), Gytis Vilius (Lithuania), Kristaps Kostantinovs (Latvia)

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – "Communication on the court will be very important inside a very noisy arena. From a basketball standpoint, we need to take good care of the ball to keep them from scoring easy baskets off turnovers and to control the rebounds. Panathinaikos, just like us, has had some injury problems to overcome, but on the court they are showing to be almost unbeatable and we are aware of how difficult the game will be."

NICOLO’ MELLI – "Before the last round, Panathinaiks had collected a streak of wins that validated the quality of its roster. They have physicality, individual talent and a historically very effective home court advantage. We need to play our kind of game, paying close attention to details, with intensity and mental toughness during the critical moments of the game. We are aware that to win this game we’ll need a huge performance but we’ll try with every ounce of energy."

PANATHINAIKOS OUTLOOK – After eight wins over a nine-game, with two streaks of four wins in a row, Panathinaikos lost last week in Belgrade against Maccabi, in part because of the injury problems that affected Ergin Ataman’s team. In fact, in the last outing Luca Vildoza (meniscus), Kostas Sloukas (adductors) and Aleksander Balcerowski (appendix) were out. On the other hand, Ioannis Papapetrou returned after twenty-one games of absence. With two point-guards out, Ataman chose Kendrick Nunn in the starting lineup along with Jerian Grant. The former Miami, Lakers and Washington scorer is averaging 13.5 points per game plus 2.6 assists. Grant averages 8.9 points and dishes 3.9 assists per game and impressively he shoots 46.7 percent on threes. Sloukas (10.9 points and 5.5 assists per game) could still return against Olimpia, however. The three men on the front line are generally untouchable: Marius Grigonis as a small forward (10.2 points, 3.0 rebounds per game, 41.7 percent from three-point territory), Dinos Mitoglou as a power forward (14.0 points, 6.5 rebounds per game, 60.8 percent on twos, 37.5 percent on threes) and Matthias Lessor at center (13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds on average, 63.7 percent from two-point range). The second unit includes Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, Juancho Hernagomez (3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds on average), Kostas Antetokounmpo (3.4 points per game) and Ioannis Papapetrou who has just returned to the court.

HISTORY VS. PANATHINAIKOS – Olimpia has faced Panathinaikos 27 times during its history. The record overall is 10-17 (9-16 considering only the EuroLeague era). In Athens, Olimpia has prevailed four times: during the 2011/12 Top 16, 67-58; during the 2018/19 season, 86-83 with 20 points and eight rebounds by Arturas Gudaitis; in 2019/20, 79-78 with Vlado Micov scoring 18 points and Luis Scola added 17; in 2021/22, 76-75 with 13 points and 10 rebounds from Kyle Hines, who decided the game from the line at the end. In Milan, the record is 6-8. In Athens, it is 9-4 in Panathinaikos’ favor, including the 90-77 overtime win conquered last season. During the 1997/98 season the two teams met in the Europe Cup semifinal. Panathinaikos won the first game 77-58, but Olimpia, coached by Franco Casalini, came back in the second game with a memorable 86-61 that clinched the berth for the championship game.

THE PANATHINAIKOS CONNECTION – Jerian Grant spent in Milan the 2021/22 season, helping the team win the Italian Cup and the Italian championship. While in the Italian Cup, he was barely used, his impact was huge during the playoffs. He appeared in 36 Italian league games, 11 in the playoffs. In the EuroLeague, he had 26 games and 42 points scored. Dinos Mitoglou, over the same season, played 13 EuroLeague games with 99 points scored with Olimpia before his season was interrupted for a suspension.

NICOLO’ MELLI NOTES – Nicolò Melli climbed on the podium of the all-time defensive rebounders in the EuroLeague, surpassing Georgios Printezis and Felipe Reyes. Melli now boasts 1,095 defensive rebounds, 69 less than 2nd best Ioannis Bourosis, who was his teammate for two years with Olimpia. Melli is also eighth in total rebounds with 1,455: he has surpassed Georgios Printezis, who preceded him, during the last game.

SHAVON SHIELDS NOTES – Against Barcelona, ​​Shields made at least two threes in the same game for the eleventh consecutive game. Overall, he is second for average numbers of three-pointers made with 3.1. His current 44.4 percent from three would be a career-high for a season (his personal high is 43.2 percent in the 2020/21 season). The 16.8 average points (top: 13.8 in 2020/21) and the 17.5 personal rating (top: 15.0 in 2020/21) would also be records. Shields’ most notable stat is his number of three-point shots. In 2021/22 he averaged 4.1 attempts (34.6 percent), currently he has 6.9 with 44.4 percent. The 23 points scored against Barcelona represent his 14th game with Olimpia with at least twenty points scored.