By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Taking a look at the very first minutes of Dolomiti Energia Trento’s BKT EuroCup season, everybody thought another year of European disappointment was on the way after two consecutive fiascos.
Two back-to-back three-pointers made by Juan Nunez and the first ratiopharm Ulm’s points of Trevion Williams welcomed the newest Italian team’s head coach Paolo Galbiati to the European landscape with an 8-0 run on the road, an immediate notice how tough competing would be again.
But despite losing that regular-season opener in Germany, the black-and-white away side still showed some personality, taking a second-quarter lead of 5 points and proving the talent was there and needed only a few adjustments.
After that defeat, two other losses against high-level Group B contenders JL Bourg-en-Bresse and reigning champion Gran Canaria arrived, both at home. Was it the dawn of the third straight EuroCup where Trento can’t make it through the group stage?
A first and encouraging answer came in Panevezys Kalnapilio arena, where with little less than 4 seconds remaining, when up-and-coming 20-year-old playmaker Quinn Ellis took care of business on the final possession, rapidly dribbling with his right hand to then release a left-handed floater at the buzzer for Trento’s first victory
QUINN ELLIS WINS THE GAME 🚨🚨🚨@AquilaBasketTN #MagicMoment pic.twitter.com/EfuHLhwwJ2
— BKT EuroCup (@EuroCup) October 25, 2023
This team is not only about buzzer-beaters, but…
The thrilling victory in Lithuania against Lietkabelis – the first one after a losing streak of 24 away encounters – was followed by two wins in a row, over Turk Telekom Ankara and Slask Wroclaw. Trento was starting to put some gasoline in the tank to build up confidence.
A blowout 38-point loss at home against U-BT Cluj-Napoca followed, and when Prentiss Hubb’s comeback attempt against host Buducnost VOLI in Podgorica was shattered late, it looked like nightmares were about to appear as ghosts once more for Trento.
However, Quinn Ellis appeared once again to steal the show and save his team in copy-and-paste fashion against Aris Midea Thessaloniki, with a clutch two-pointer in traffic, losing balance but winning the game.
The young British playmaker has been surely one of the revelations of this year’s BKT EuroCup. Playing in the Italian third division only three years ago, he’s now averaging 8.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game, sharing playmaking duties with Kamar Baldwin as well.
QUINN ELLIS FOR THE WIN 💯@AquilaBasketTN #MagicMoment pic.twitter.com/6Q6l0KFg3s
— BKT EuroCup (@EuroCup) November 29, 2023
Returning overseas after a G-League campaign with the Maine Celtics, the 26-year-old Baldwin is the one controlling the team’s tempo, taking responsibility and shots off the dribble, putting up 14.1 points, 4.2 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals over 11 games.
Another young Trento prospect, 19-year-old Saliou Niang, is seeing his name appear more and more, too. Niang, who had 10 points in the 85-83 loss against ratiopharm Ulm, is averaging 30.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.0 assists – yes, you read it right – in Italy’s Next Gen Cup 2023.
Finally, among Trento’s protagonists in this so-far fruitful BKT EuroCup season, Andrejs Grazulis has to be mentioned. Living proof of a pretty remarkable era in Latvian basketball, the experienced forward is having the best season of his career, starting in September with a fifth-place finish at the World Cup.
If it wasn’t for his two-way versatility on both ends of the floor, Trento would have suffered more in the last two victories in the competition, respectively handing Gran Canaria only its second defeat in Group B and getting a comfortable victory over Lietkabelis to sweep the Lithuanians, which could prove crucial when the playoff qualifications are counted.
Grazulis, 30, is the most-used player on the roster, with 26:08 minutes per game, and averaged All-EuroCup numbers in these two wins: 20.5 points and 6.0 rebounds, with 11-for-13 shooting from two-point range and 6-for-8 from beyond the arc. He was absolutely everywhere for the Italian side.
Grazulis with the BIG DUNK 🔨👀#MagicMoment l @AquilaBasketTN pic.twitter.com/YKEj0bpDaZ
— BKT EuroCup (@EuroCup) December 6, 2023
What to expect from Dolomiti Energia Trento?
One ingredient for Trento coming back to winning ways was hiring an inexperienced head coach who is sitting on a European bench for the first time in his eight-year career. Paolo Galbiati grew up as a coach in Milano‘s youth system, replaced his mentor Luca Banchi in Torino by winning the Italian Cup in 2018, coached another former young Trento talent, Matteo Spagnolo, in Cremona, and learned from Matt Brase and Luis Scola in Varese.
Since the 39-year-old arrived in Trento, things have been going pretty well. The team qualified for the Italian Cup Final Eight earlier than expected from a fourth-place tie in the domestic standings at 9-4. And since its early struggles, Trento captured more EuroCup wins this season (6) than in the past two editions (5) combined.
Yes, Dolomiti Energia Trento is only two wins from Group B’s ninth place, currently occupied by Turk Telekom Ankara (4-9), but the same distance from fourth-place Ulm (8-5). With five games left in the regular season, the Italians need to capitalize against Turk Telekom, U-BT Cluj-Napoca and Aris on the road, as well as against Slask and Buducnost at home.
Since the new format, Trento has never reached the Playoffs. In 2020-21, their path was interrupted in the Top 16, and the last time they went deep into the competition came in their first-ever EuroCup appearance, with the 2015-16 semifinals series loss against Strasbourg.
The symbol of the black-and-white club has always been an eagle, ready to spread its wings before catching the right breath of the wind and flying high. Maybe, the time to take off and reach once more the elimination rounds of the BKT EuroCup has finally come for Trento.
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PHOTO CREDIT: BKT EuroCup