Olimpia is facing red-hot Fenerbahce, Coach Messina: We need all the energy we still have

Fenerbahce, a European powerhouse over the last decade or so, is coming to Milano on Thursday, January 3. Despite missing two big stars like Nando De Colo and Jan Vesely, it is playing better and better as its rally in the standing is witnessing. It is going to be a very tough game for an Olimpia team missing two crucial offensive players like Shavon Shields and Dinos Mitoglou and somehow forced to build its wins at the defensive end of the floor. In fact, Olimpia enters the game riding a three-game streak holding the opponents under 60 points scored. In Belgrade, during the first game of the week, Red Star was able to score just 57 points. Defense was the reason Olimpia won the Istanbul game, holding Fenerbahce to an unheard-of 43 points. Olimpia took control of the game right from the beginning and won. Olimpia has also won seven of its last eight games player, but Fenerbhace did just the same and now is totally involved in the race for a playoffs’ berth. It is the fourth game over a seven-game span for Olimpia.

COACH ETTORE MESSINA – "Fenerbahce right now is playing a very good quality of basketball despite missing two important players like Nando De Colo and Jan Vesely. They are taking advantage of a different spacing, they are increasing the tempo a little bit with Pierria Henry and going down low more often with Dyshawn Pierre. It is going to be a difficult game for us since we are coming off a very demanding battle physically in Belgrade. So, our first goal is to find a way to use all the energy we still have".

NICOLO’ MELLI– "I’m expecting a tough game, Fenerbahce is a very dangerous team playing well lately. We want to extend our winning streak, well aware that when you play at home the responsibilities are higher. To me, any Fenerbahce game will be special, but obviously we are here for a reason and that is to win."

GIGI DATOME – "The schedule is tough, a lot of games coming at us fast, so it is important to recover our energy to face a difficult opponent like Fenerbahce. They don’t have two great players like De Colo and Vesely, but they are playing well and every game they seem to have a new guy coming up strong, so it is going to be a hard game."

THE REFEREES – Sasa Pukl (Slovenia), Joseph Bissang (France), Josip Radojkovic (Croatia).

FENERBAHCE – Fenerbahce is one of the hottest teams in EuroLeague, having won seven of its last eight games, their only defeat suffered on the road in Villeurbanne. The recent streak allowed Fenerbahce to come back in the playoff race despite the injuries that prevented Nando De Colo and Jan Vesely from playing lately. The team coached by Sasha Djordjevic has clear characteristics, it is first in assists and in the two-point shooting; therefore, Fenerbahce tries to generate high-percentage inside shots. Defensively, it is second for forced turnovers and third for three-point shooting defense. Vesely (13.4 points and 5.9 rebounds on average) and De Colo (12.1 points per game and 4.0 assists) are the stars of a team that counts also on point guard Pierria Henry, guard Marko Guduric, small forward Dyshawn Pierre and the big men Devin Booker and Achille Polonara. Henry is an aggressive point guard (7.5 points, 38.1 percent from three), very good at stealing the ball (1.8 on average); Guduric is a perimeter player who is averaging 9.5 points per game and is shooting 40.1 percent from three; Pierre scores 7.4 points per game with 3.9 rebounds; Booker is a sweet-handed center, who averages 9.3 points per game, while shooting 59.0 percent from two. 42.9 percent from three and grabs 4.3 rebounds per night; Polonara over 22 minutes of playing time averages 8.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, but above all has he is shooting 72.3 percent from two. One player on the rise is the Turkish athletic guard Sehmus Hazer, averaging 4.5 points per game and is shooting with 64.5 percent on twos. Former Philadelphia 76er player Maryal Shayok scores 4.9 points per game; center Ahmet Duverioglu doesn’t score much (3.2 on average) but misses very rarely (73.9 percent). Fenerbahce also recently added Jeyhve Floyd to improve the center position and guard Markel Stark.

GAME NOTES – Sergio Rodriguez is fifth overall for assists averaging 4.8 per game. Kyle Hines is two offensive rebounds away from 700 for his career. Only Felipe Reyes has more with 705. Hines in Belgrade surpassed the 200 field goals made for Olimpia. Nicolò Melli, 21 out of 21 games as a starter, is the eighth-best defensive rebounder in the EuroLeague with 4.4 per game. Gigi Datome is eighth in the three-point shooting with 44. 0 percent. Malcolm Delaney in Belgrade surpassed 500 points scored for Olimpia. Kaleb Tarczewski is seven field goals away from 300 and 12 rebounds away from 600, both for Olimpia and overall. Olimpia is 13-0 when it holds its opponents under 74 points, 14-1 when it keeps them at 74 or less. It is first for points allowed per game with 70.0.