Olimpia faces the league-leading Fenerbahce on the road

Olimpia has won four of the last five games in the EuroLeague, correcting its position in the standings, but the new game in Istanbul is the most difficult it could face at this time. Fenerbahce, 9-2, is first in the standings and has won its last six games. They have been perfect on the road, have lost twice at home, but not in the last three games. After losing Scottie Wilbekin (he has been replaced with the signing of Skylar Mays and the relaunch of Arturs Zagars), it settled down and never lost again, showing great ability to close out games (it is 4-1 in games finished within two possessions of difference) and to absorb injuries. In the last two games, Fenerbahce didn’t have Wade Baldwin, but it won them all; in the last it was without Devon Hall too and won that game too. Depth is its trademark. Fenerbahce have so far been the best rebounding team and is second in offensive rebounds: they don’t have great specialists, but they have many players to rotate among power forwards and centers and therefore they always have a lot of energy and size on the court. Olimpia in turn is the team that allows the fewest offensive rebounds in the entire competition. This is one of the keys to the game: the battle under the Milan backboard. For Fenerbahce it is essential to build second options, because they are last in two-point shooting (48.7 percent) so they normally overcome this problem by shooting a lot, as well as shooting well from beyond the arc (38.4 percent on threes, fifth overall) especially because they can play with five potential shooters at the same time, when Sertac Sanli is on the court.

Olimpia’s offense is doing well at the moment: with 86.1 points per game, it averages almost seven points per game more than the league leaders. Olimpia is shooting 40.2 percent from three (third overall). But Fenerbahce’s defense has so far managed to hold its opponents to 75.2 points per game and 27.4 percent from three-point distance, the best figure in the entire EuroLeague. However, being able to develop the offense will be crucial for Olimpia. The interchangeability on the court of Zach LeDay and Nikola Mirotic has given great results even if with the two of them on the court there is less size and less rim protection. However, with great sacrifice, Mirotic is leading the competition in defensive rebounds (and overall rebounds). They will all be needed in Istanbul to resist the assault coming from the three centers, or maybe four, that Jasikevicius will send on the court. Olimpia will have the chance to use Freddie Gillespie for the first time, but Josh Nebo and Leandro Bolmaro will still be out, along Diego Flaccadori (groin) and Stefano Tonut (back), who will undergo some treatment for their ailment. Neno Dimitrijevic, who left the court early in last Sunday’s game with the North Macedonia National Team, underwent tests that came back negative. He is with the team and expected to play.

THE REFEREES – Sreten Radovic (Croatia), Emilio Perez (Spain), Luka Kardum (Croatia).

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – “We are about to face a team who was capable to win many games despite some injuries. They have a very physical defense and offensively are dangerous both with the low post game and off pick and roll situations. Moving the ball on offense and controlling the rebounds on defense will be necessary to build ourselves the chance to win the game against an obviously good team.”

FENERBAHCE OUTLOOK – Fenerbahce, a Final Four team, last season, and one of the favorites to contend for the championship this year, lost starting point guard Scottie Wilbekin to an injury early in the season. The team currently has Devon Hall out because of a band injury. Due to some absences, in the last few games the starting point guard has been the Latvian international Arturs Zagars, flanked by Tarik Biberovic as an off guard in a starting lineup equipped with great size. Zagars averages 4.6 points and 2.2 assists per game. Biberovic is averaging 10.2 points per game while shooting 40.2 percent from three-point distance. Wade Baldwin, however, could return against Olimpia. He is averaging 10.1 points and 4.0 assista per game. Marko Guduric, usually the third man in the backcourt, rarely starts but is staying on the court for more than 20 minutes during which he produces 10.2 points and 2.8 assists per game (55.2 percent on twos, 35.3 percent on threes). Part of the rotation is also Skylar Mays, a former NBA player who was signed after Wilbekin’s injury. The two forwards have always started so far: Bonzi Colson, a former Maccabi star, in 23.3 minutes on the court, scores 9.3 points and captures 4.6 rebounds per game; Nigel Hayes-Davis is a EuroLeague veteran (six seasons, two at Zalgiris and one at Barcelona before coming to Istanbul), who is at the top of his game and scores 17.6 points per game, grabs 5.5 rebounds, shoots 50.0 percent from three and plays almost 29 minutes on average. The backups are the Canadian international Dyshawn Pierre (3.4 points per game) and Nicolò Melli (4.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game) who also spells the centers, a position with impressive depth and several options. Initially, Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius had counted on Boban Marjanovic (4.8 points and 3.6 rebounds on average), returning to Europe after a long NBA career (nine years), but during the most recent outings he rarely played him, preferring the Canadian Khem Birch (3.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game) or Sertac Sanli (5.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, 45.5% from three).

THE FENERBAHCE CONNECTION – Nicolò Melli, who played two seasons in Fenerbahce already, came back to Istanbul during the summer after three seasons and three championships won with Olimpia Milan. With 180 games played he is the all-time leader in the EuroLeague with Olimpia. During the last three seasons, Devon Hall – who is out because of an injury – played for Olimpia. He had 93 appearances in the EuroLeague with 806 points scored.

MIROTIC NOTES – Nikola Mirotic has made at least one three in 17 of his last 19 games and just became the 18^th player with more than 400 three-pointers for his career. With 22.1 on average, he is second overall in personal rating behind Olympiacos’ Sasha Vezenkov; with 17.5 points per game, he is the seventh-best scorer, and with 7.5 he is the best rebounder in the competition along Edy Tavares (Real Madrid). With an average of 5.5 defensive rebounds per game, he is leading the category. Mirotic has scored at least 20 points five times during the current season and 12 times during his Olimpia’s stay; he’s had at least five rebounds in each of the last six games. Mirotic has had PIRs of 12 or more in 10 straight games.

LEDAY NOTES – Zach LeDay, with 19.8 per game, is 7^th in personal index rating, he is also the 11^th-best scorer with 15.3 points per game and second for fouls received (6.5) behind Paris Basketball’s TJ Shorts. Finally, he is leading the EuroLeague in three-point shooting (60.0 percent) above Pippo Ricci who is second (55.0 percent). LeDay’s scored in double digits in 10 of his 11 games this season; he’s had at least 19 of PIR in each of the last five games. Take a look to the following table.

GAME NOTES – For the 16th time in the EuroLeague era two Olimpia players scored 20 or more points in the same game, the one played against Maccabi (Zach LeDay had 22 points; Nikola Mirotic 20). For the 12th time it happened without the help of overtime. In the last two seasons it has happened six times and in all of them, one of the two has been Nikola Mirotic. Olimpia is one of three teams that are shooting over 40 percent on three-pointers. The other two are Panathinaikos and ASVEL Villeurbanne. Behind Bayern and Olympiacos, Olimpia is also third for points scored, 86.1 per game. Shavon Shields is 22 points away from 2,000 career points in the EuroLeague.