Messina: “We need one on the road, hopefully Shields and McGruder will help”

The schedule burned through four EuroLeague rounds in two weeks. Olimpia (2-2 in the new year) finally flies to Valencia with a minimum break after its last game, the Italian league win over Tortona. In general, it has won four of the last five games played, despite a roster decimated by absences. At the Valencia crossroad, Olimpia reports 11 games missed by Maodo Lo (9.9 points per game), 10 by Nikola Mirotic (17.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game), five by Shavon Shields (16.9 points per game, 45.5 percent on threes) who should return on the court with the necessary restrictions ("He practiced well the last couple of days, if there are not setbacks he will be able to play for about 10 minutes," Coach Ettore Messina said). Billy Baron’s missed 18 games. A heavy bill that cost something in terms of wins even if Olimpia responded reasonably well, winning some games in spite of the situation. In Valencia, Rodney McGruder will make his debut, and Shields hopefully will be available again. The other injured players will still be out. Giordano Bortolani won’t be available for this game (muscle overloading) and will be re-evaluated before the next one in Pesaro. Valencia, beaten in the Milan game, has one more win than Olimpia. Recently, they have not been lucky: they lost by one point in Munich and by one at home against Panathinaikos; in Madrid they lost in overtime. They also had to deal with some injury problems: Jared Harper missed nine games; and Semi Ojeleye missed seven. For the second part of the season, Kevin Pangos was signed to improve the guard play and Justin Anderson came to deepen the small forward spot. However, for this game, Coach Alex Mumbru has everyone available.

THE REFEREES – Fernando Rocha (Portugal), Jakub Zamojski (Poland), Robert Vyclicky (Czech Republic).

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – "We are going to face a healthy Valencia team, a team who has been playing really well lately, including games that didn’t reward them with a win, like the one against Panathinaikos and the overtime loss in Madrid. We need to find the energy and consistency to get the one win on the road that is much needed. Unfortunately we are still missing players but we worked well the last few days. Hopefully, Shields, for the 10 minutes he might be able to play, and McGruder will help the team with some infusion of energy on both ends of the floor."

VALENCIA OUTLOOK – Valencia is a deep team, built around three elements: Chris Jones is a scoring point guard who played at Villeurbanne and Maccabi and is now producing 12.8 points per game with 4.6 assists and 44.3 percent from three; the small forward, the former Bologna player, Semi Ojeleye adds 13.0 points on average, 4.1 rebounds and an exceptional 51.2 percent on threes; Brandon Davies averages 12.2 points per game. Among the guards, the dynamism of Jared Harper (8.9 points per game), the solidity and experience of Stefan Jovic (5.6 points and 3.0 assists per game) stand out, while guard Kassius Robertson (4.2 points on average) often starts at the 2. At small forward, behind Ojeleye, there is Anderson (5.8 points in his first five outings) or the veteran Victor Claver (3.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game). At the power forward and center positions, there are the former Reggio Emilia player Nathan Reuvers (4.6 points per game), a fearsome jumper, Damien Inglis (7.9 points and 4.4 rebounds), Boubacar Toure (4.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game), as well as Davies. The Spanish players also have playing time: Josip Puerto is an explosive forward who often starts; Jaime Pradilla is a huge leaper; Xavi Lopez-Arrostegui is a small forward and a fearsome shooter.

HISTORY VS. VALENCIA– Olimpia has played against Valencia 11 times in its history with a favorable record, 8-3. In the 2010/11 season Olimpia won in Valencia 80-69 with 26 points from Jonas Maciulis, 18 from Marjonas Petravicius and 17 from David Hawkins. In the return game, which however was played in Biella, Valencia took revenge by winning 75-60 with 20 points coming from Rafa Martinez. In 2017/18, Olimpia won 103-98 after two overtimes in Valencia, coming back from 17 points down in the third period, making 17 threes, a team record, in the process. In the return game, in Desio, Valencia won 93-89. On that game, Vlado Micov scored 27 points, a personal best in the EuroLeague. In 2019/20, Olimpia won in Milan 78-71 with 15 points scored by Amedeo Della Valle, 13 and 10 rebounds coming from Kaleb Tarczewski, 10 and eight assists from Sergio Rodriguez. In the return game, Olimpia won again, 83-81 in overtime, because of a buzzer beating three made by Vlado Micov (13 points and seven rebounds). Sergio Rodriguez scored 16 points with nine assists. In 2020/21 the two teams faced each other twice with one home win for each side. In Milan, Olimpia won 97-80 with 27 points scored by Gigi Datome. Last year Olimpia won both games, 90-70 at home and 88-84 in Valencia with 28 points by Shabazz Napier. In the previous game, in Milan, Olimpia prevailed 84-52. Overall, Olimpia is 4-2 at home and 4-1 on the road against Valencia.

THE VALENCIA CONNECTION – Brandon Davies has played 33 EuroLeague games in Milan last year with 336 points scored and 107 rebounds grabbed. Kevin Pangos over one year and half in Milan appeared in 21 games and scored 178 points.

NICOLO’ MELLI NOTES – Nicolò Melli has just passed Georgios Printezis and is sitting in 4th place all-time for defensive rebounds grabbed in the EuroLeague. He is 12 defensive rebounds shy of the 3rd place that belongs to Felipe Reyes (1.094). He is also eight rebounds away from catching Georgios Printezis as the 8th-best rebounder ever. Melli has 1.443 rebounds, Printezis has 1.452

GIORDANO BORTOLANI NOTES – Giordano Bortolani went in double figures in all of the last four EuroLeague games, scoring 47 points overall, 11.8 on average with 11-for-17 from three. As of now, his 51.7 three-point shooting is the fifth-best in the competition. However, he won’t be available for the Valencia game.