EuroLeague restarts’ coach Messina: Asvel is more talented than its record”

Olimpia returns to the court in the EuroLeague on the road, playing in Lyon: for the first time the Asvel game will be played in the LDLC Arena, the new Lyon sports hall inaugurated this season which can sit over 12,000 spectators for a basketball game and is the largest indoor sports facility in France outside of Paris. With eight games remaining in the schedule, obviously, the margin of error for Olimpia is minimal, almost non-existent, but beyond the standings it would be important to play a quality game: before falling in the Italian Cup final, Olimpia had won eight out of ten games, counting all competitions, and in the last two home EuroLeague games the team defeated Barcelona and Real Madrid, the top two teams in the standings. Asvel has no standings interests but is playing for some prestigious results in a season in which it has alternated three coaches, and changed the roster, adding among other players Deshaun Thomas, who was in Milan during the last season. On top of it, Olimpia had a complicated approach to this game because seven players were involved with the National teams during the break and more guys will be out with assorted injuries. So, the roster is going to be decimated at least among the guards. To summarize, Shabazz Napier, Diego Flaccadori, Stefano Tonut and Billy Baron will not be available.

The game will be played on Friday, March 1st, tip-off time will be 20:00.

THE REFEREES – Fernando Rocha (Portugal), Emilio Perez (Spain), Anne Panther (Germany)

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – "We are restarting our season after a long break. During said break, many of our players have been involved with the National Teams. We will try to overcome the difficulties we faced preparing this trip, well aware of how important this game is to keep our chances alive. We will face a Villerubanne team who recently has changed the coach, found some energy back and a deeper roster. The game will be a tough one, because their talent level is better than the standings position indicates. Control the tempo and defending well over their scorers will be fundamental."

ASVEL VILLEURBANNEE OUTLOOK – Asvel’s main problem (the team is coached by Pierric Poupet, the third coach this season after TJ Parker and Gianmarco Pozzecco) was that Nando De Colo, the team’s most talented scoring player, was available for half of the games only. When available, he averaged 12.2 points per game, dished 3.3 assists on average and shot 39 percent on threes. The team has been led by point guard Paris Lee (12.1 points and 5.8 assists on average) and by the two big men, Joffrey Lauvergne (12.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game) and Youssapha Fall (8.3 points, 6.5 rebounds per game, 61.7 percent from two). In the starting line-up with these three normally goes the veteran David Lighty (3.3 points per game) and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot who is producing 13.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. The arrival of Deshaun Thomas (6.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game) allowed Asvel to play more with a classic power forward and use one of the centers off the bench. The other power forward is the former NBA player, Mike Scott, a dangerous shooter averaging 11.1 points per game while shooting 60.3 percent on twos. The rotation includes two veterans, Edwin Jackson and Charles Kahudi, and the young emerging Noam Iaacov.

HISTORY VS. ASVEL VILEURBANNE – The history between these two teams is made up of 14 games, eigth of which date back to the EuroLeague era. Olimpia faced Asvel for the first time during the 1966-67 season in the European Cup beating them 86-66 (23 by Gabriele Vianello, 21 by Austin Robbins) in France and at home 103-85 (Steve Chubin 26, Robbins 21). In the 1995/96 Korac Cup, Olimpia eliminated Asvel in the semifinals by winning 81-72 away and 73-69 at home. Finally, in the 1997/98 Eurocup, in the quarterfinals, Olimpia eliminated Asvel by winning 67-58 (24 points by Thurl Bailey) on the road and surviving a home defeat 70-62 (17 points were scored by Flavio Portaluppi). Curiously, on all these occasions Olimpia then reached, but lost, the final of the competition. In the EuroLeague there are seven previous games with five wins by Olimpia and three by Asvel. The first four clashes always rewarded the home team then Olimpia won in France on the last day of the 2022 regular season and on the first round of last season (69-62 with 18 points from Billy Baron and 16 from Nicolò Melli). Asvel returned the favor in Milan, prevailing 79-73. Then, led by Nik Melli’s 17 points, Olimpia won the Milan game this season 84-61. Overall, Olimpia is 10-4 all-time against Asvel, 4-2 at home, 5-2 on the road.

THE CONNECTION – Tim Luwawu-Cabarrot spent a few months last season playing for Olimpia. Deshaun Thomas had a full season with Olimpia during the same 2022/23 season.

NICOLO’ MELLI NOTES – Nicolò Melli climbed the chart of the all-time defensive rebounders in the EuroLeague, surpassing Georgios Printezis and Felipe Reyes. Melli now boasts 1,104 defensive rebounds, 60 less than Ioannis Bourosis, who was his teammate for two years at Olimpia. Melli is also eighth in total rebounds with 1,469: he has surpassed Georgios Printezis. Melli just became the third Olimpia player with 300 two-pointers in the EuroLeague after Kyle Hines and Kaleb Tarczewski.

SHAVON SHIELDS NOTES – Shields is the Olimpia leader in the EuroLeague with 1.243 points scored. All-time, he is trailing only Bob McAdoo’s 1.292 points scored. He is just 49 points away to make history. Over the last 14 EuroLeague games, he has made at least two three-pointers 13 times and 11 times he had at least two of them. His 27-point game vs Real Madrid was the 15th with Olimpia with at least 20 points scored, the 7th during the current season. They are also his second-best scoring output of his career after the 34 points he scored vs Bayern in Game 5 of the 2021 playoffs. Shields curiously has played exactly 4.000 minutes in EuroLeague games up to this point. He is also one free throw shy of 200 made with Olimpia.

KYLE HINES NOTES – Hines made 86 blocks in the EuroLeague with Olimpia. He is two away from the club record held by Kaleb Tarczewski.

NIKOLA MIROTIC NOTES – Nikola Mirotic scored a career-high six three-pointers against Real Madrid. Mirotic is shooting 61.3 percent on twos and 43.1 percent from three-point range. There are only a few players who are shooting over 60 percent on twos and 40 percent on three, this season: Mirotic, Alex Peters, Bruno Caboclo, Frank Kaminsky, Serge Ibaka, Rolands Smits, Dzanan Musa, and Gabriel Deck.

NOTES – During the last EuroLeague game, vs Real Madrid, Shavon Shields and Nikola Mirotic combined to score 50 points, both had more than 20 points. This is the 14th time ever that two Olimpia players scored 20 or more points in the same EuroLeague game, the fourth time this happened this season, the third time Shields and Mirotic were the scorers.