Troy Daniels: Everybody knows I’m a shooter, but I want to help at defensive end of the floor too

Olimpia got the job done in Paris, defeating the local Paris Basketball team, minus Kyle O’Quinn, 95-64. Olimpia approached the game with laser-like focus and intensity, never let the opponent coming back. Olimpia started 12-0 over the first five minutes. Paris because of couple of players getting fire at different juncture of the games was able sometimes to reduce the margin but was not able to threaten Olimpia’s lead. Milan started Malcolm Delaney, in his first outing in months, and he responded defending at a high level and setting up his teammates. He had an incredible seven-assist first half then added one more in the third period, before sitting out the rest of the night. In terms of scoring, Shavon Shields was the top guy early in the games, scoring 12 in the first half to close with 15. During the third period, Paris Basketball attempted an early comeback getting within 11. Then Troy Daniels happened. The Olimpia’s sharpshooter made four consecutive threes, added two free throws, and put the game at rest. By the end of the third quarter he had 17 points with five threes out of seven attempts. Impressive. Olimpia finished strong and on Sunday will face ASVEL Villeurbanne to wrap up its preseason.

Troy Daniels: "I made a couple of mistakes in the first half, the Coach jumped on me, rightly, but I want to help the team win, I want to help the team defensively too. Everybody knows I’m a shooter, and my teammates and coaching staff put me in a position to take my shots. But I want to help at the defensive end of the floor too. The biggest difference with the NBA is that here every game counts, even preseason games, in this respect the NBA is a little different."

Coach Ettore Messina: "We approached the game very seriously, we respect what they are doing here and we want to develop the right mentality, testing ourselves as much as possibile. This season, we might be a little deeper, a little stronger, we have more physicality. But the goal doesn’t change. We want to make the playoffs again. That’s the goal. The EuroLeague is very competitive, everybody got better and there are only eight playoff spots. I can’t imagine the ten teams that are going to make them. The on-court product will be great, as always. But the goal doesn’t change."

BOXSCORE

Paris Basketball-Olimpia Milano 64-95 (14-23; 33-48; 49-75)

Paris Basketball: Allman 3, Dadet, Genders, Sy 8, Boatright 8, Kamagate 9, Denis 9, Barbitch 15, Sleva 5, Begarin 5, Diawara, Dembele.

Olimpia Milano: Melli 5 (1/2, 1/2, 4 r), Grant (0/1, 0/4), Rodriguez 8 (0/1, 2/5, 4 a), Tarczewski 8 (3/5, 7 r), Ricci 2 (1/2, 0/1), Biligha 6 (3/3),  Moraschini 2 (0/1, 0/1), Hall 6 (1/1, 1/5), Delaney 2 (0/1, 0/2, 8 a), Mitoglou 7 (1/1), Daniels 19 (1/2, 5/9), Shields 15 (4/5, 2/3), Alviti 6 (2/3), Hines 7 (2/2).