By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MILAN, Italy – Coming off four consecutive defeats to start the EuroLeague season, Milan finally managed to escape with a victory within its home walls, beating Valencia 83-52 in what was a predictable outcome straight from the beginning, with the result never in doubt.
After the win, Ettore Messina opened with a clear consideration: “Valencia was missing two important players, and we know what that means“. Joining Chris Jones – who had left knee problems – on the sideline, Boubacar Toure couldn’t let Brandon Davies rest too much, being forced to miss the encounter due to an intestinal virus that also affected Stefan Jovic, who only played the first 4:13 minutes.
Despite this heavy 31-point defeat, however, the Spanish side stays at the front row of this year’s standings with a 5-2 record, starting the season on a positive note – the best ever in the club’s history next to the 2003-04 season – in Alex Mumbru’s second year in charge. Before the game against the Italians, the 44-year-old head coach touched on his team’s promising European beginning.
What changed in Valencia’s approach?
At the end of the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, Valencia was standing out of the Playoffs in the 14th place, tied with Milan at a 15-19 record. Being averaged in offensive rating (113.2 on the 10th spot), the Spanish team found many problems defending-wise, being the team with the worst defensive rating of the whole competition with 118.6 points conceded over 100 possessions.
Talking about what changed defensively for his team – which is now 3rd for the best defensive rating (120.8) in the EuroLeague, only behind Real Madrid and Barcelona -, the Spanish head coach opened. “Well, we wanted to change the team a little bit, and these are our virtues. We made seven changes among the players, bringing in people with more physicality which allowed us to defend better. The commitment is high, there is a big difference between last year and this year”, he said about what the Spanish club needed.
Saying goodbye to the team’s veterans Bojan Dubljevic and Sam Van Rossom, other big men like Jasiel Rivero and Kyle Alexander, and outside weapons like Klemen Prepelic, James Webb III, and Jonah Radebaugh, Valencia decided to bring in some already accustomed players to the EuroLeague.
“There were important players who didn’t continue with us and it was important to make a nucleus of players with experience at this level; some had touched the EuroLeague, such as Stefan [Jovic], Brandon [Davies], and Semi [Ojeleye]. And then well accompanied by players with progression, others who had played in other leagues but at high levels: we thought they could be good additions to our group”, Alex Mumbru commented on his team’s transfer market.
Talking about Brandon Davies and Semi Ojeleye, the two passed from being rivals on Italian courts by representing Milan and Virtus Bologna to teammates in sunny Valencia. “I trusted them to do the teamwork. It was important not only to come here but to integrate well into Valencia, both the club and the city. We were trying to find the profiles we needed, and they both fit very well into the profiles we were looking for. At the moment they are delivering, but we’re only one month into the season and a lot remains to be done”, the head coach said about the team’s two powerful additions.
𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗜 𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗬𝗘 𝗟’𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘 𝗔̀ 𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗥𝗘 ! 🔥
Élu MVP de la soirée, Semi Ojeleye s’est particulièrement montré très adroit avec un joli 4/6 à longue distance face à Berlin ! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/bFuEWJcJoe
— SKWEEK (@skweektv) November 2, 2023
What to bring from a player’s career and coaching changes
Debuting in 1997 with Joventut Badalona, the now 44-year-old went on to live a successful career as a small forward for the Spanish national team, Real Madrid and Bilbao, where he started his coaching adventure right after ending his player’s trajectory.
Moving from the court to the bench, he naturally brought experience and details in his bag. “You always have things, little details that you like and that you try to put out as a coach. You look at coaches you’ve had – and I’ve had very good ones – to look at things and be able to bring them back as a coach. There are always details you need”, he said before touching on the coaches from whom he learned mostly.
“Aito [Garcia Reneses] is one of the most I’ve always looked up to, because I consider him a kind of teacher for everyone, many years being very competitive in the business. You always look and contribute your things, and then depending on the team you can adapt to the various styles of play”, Alex Mumbru added.
Talking about coaches, there have been already three changes since the start of this year’s EuroLeague: Ioannis Sfairoupolos replacing Dusko Ivanovic in Crvena Zvezda, Dusko Ivanovic himself replacing Joan Peñarroya in Baskonia, and Gianmarco Pozzecco replacing TJ Parker in ASVEL, while also mentioning Luca Banchi replacing Sergio Scariolo at the lead of Virtus Bologna before the beginning of the season.
Being asked about this matter, Alex Mumbru kept it simple. “I can’t speak for them because, in the end, you don’t know what’s going on inside [of the teams]. It’s clear that a coach needs time to be able to [express his talent]. I mean, everyone wants to win yesterday, not even today”, he first underlined.
“But making a winning team is not achieved in two days, it takes a lot of work, and many hours on it. It doesn’t always come out in the first or second season. Sometimes it takes longer. You need time”, he said. “I can speak very well of Valencia, but you never know what happens within the other clubs”, the 44-year-old coach added about his own personal situation. Making his EuroLeague debut as head coach in 2022-23, Valencia trusted him. “It also happened to me last year, I was a bet. In the end, these are clubs’ decisions. Coaches have to be prepared to take on any project, and they need a chance”, he said.
The new EuroLeague with the Play-In format
“The EuroLeague is very competitive, and I understand that clubs want coaches who are used to it very well because they need to win every day and the results are above all. Each club looks for its profile, and what it wants and therefore creates its project. I believe that last year we did a “correct” job in the EuroLeague and now we are in my second [season], trying to do better than last year”, he added about clubs relying almost always on coaches we already saw on the big stage.
Entering his second straight EuroLeague season with Valencia after some uncertainties during the summer relating to Gran Canaria’s position by winning last year’s EuroCup, Alex Mumbru talked about the level of the competition. “Every year is surely the most competitive EuroLeague, because every year it becomes better, every year clubs spend more money on signing, and better players come over, before from the G-League and now directly from the NBA. More good players are coming and the rosters get reinforced better”, the former Joventut Badalona, Real Madrid, and Bilbao player added.
This year will also mark the introduction of the Play-In. “It’s something that is going to make things way harder because there are no longer eight teams in contention but ten, and we will see way more fights. Before this season, the fight could have involved a total of 12/13 teams, now it’s up to the 14th or 15th classified teams. It lengthens: more teams are fighting to get in”, the Spanish head coach commented on this new classifying system.
Talking about teams that are particularly catching Alex Mumbru’s attention, there are a few that stand out the most. “Real Madrid has great players and they’re playing at an incredible level. I think there are teams that may not have started well like Milan or Panathinaikos, but they will be up there because they can count on great squads and very good coaches”, he said about Chus Mateo’s, Ettore Messina’s, and Ergin Ataman’s teams.
At the end of the day, the competition keeps improving, as he mentioned earlier. “It’s a EuroLeague in which everyone has something to say. ASVEL wins in Kaunas, a complicated field; Zalgiris itself always competes, and Bayern Munich has Pablo [Laso]. I could not say only one team: I like how Olympiacos, Fenerbahce, and Barcelona are playing. I’d like to add us as well: we want to make the best out of this year in Valencia”, Alex Mumbru finally concluded.
Milán!! pic.twitter.com/NaYTgltJgB
— Alex Mumbrú (@Alexmumbru15) November 9, 2023
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague