By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MILAN, Italy – After four consecutive defeats, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan finally found the light at the beginning of the EuroLeague season, getting its second victory since starting the year after beating Olympiacos in the Round 3, once again at home. This time, the victim was Valencia Basket, who was coming off two consecutive wins: the Italians won 83-52.
Scoring 14 points in the first quarter, Nikola Mirotic ended the encounter as clear MVP of his team with 19 points and 7 rebounds, shooting 5/6 from two and 3/6 from beyond the arc.
“It was a consistent win, we really enjoyed playing this game tonight. We made a step up today on both sides of the court and hopefully, we can start building on this good moment”, Nikola Mirotic commented in the post-game flash interview.
Despite Shavon Shields being scoreless, Milan didn’t have any problems forward-wise: Johannes Voigtmann added 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in his team’s impressive victory. The Alex Poythress-Kyle Hines duo combined for 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Still without Kevin Pangos, out for Ettore Messina’s technical decision, Diego Flaccadori and Maodo Lo shared playmaking duties. The Italian scored 7 points off the bench, while the 2023 FIBA World Cup winner with Germany shone with an all-around performance of 10 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals.
“I’m extremely happy about the win, we needed it. We played really good defense until the end and I think this was the key for us”, the former ALBA Berlin playmaker added after the win.
“Valencia was missing two important players, and we know what that means. We played with great energy with a great push by the second unit and a great start by Nikola [Mirotic] and the team moved the ball. We played a complete game, which is encouraging, and we continue to move forward. I’d like to add that Maodo Lo and Diego Flaccadori complemented each other very well”, Ettore Messina said in the post-game press conference.
He also added about the long-rumored addition on Milan’s roster that it’s not an easy decision: “We need to bring a player with actual qualities. We’re following a pair of options, we would need a facilitator with physical energy and defense. The market doesn’t offer a lot”.
Without Chris Jones, Jared Harper saw his minutes increase and ended with 10 points scored off the bench. Brandon Davies received a standing ovation by the audience in Mediolanum Forum before the tip-off having played here last season, winning the 2022-23 LBA. The former FC Barcelona center ended with 9 points and 7 rebounds – with 5 turnovers as well -, as his replacement Boubacar Toure was out due to an intestinal virus.
“We couldn’t play tough, in the second quarter we made a good reaction. They played good defense, we were very bad on shooting percentages”, Alex Mumbru commented in the post-game press conference.
“Stefan Jovic started vomiting right before the game, we have an intestinal virus. We didn’t have point guards, and it was difficult playing the game”, the Spanish head coach added after the loss.
Ettore Messina’s team dominated from the start
Milan dominated almost from the get-go, leading 23-12 after the first quarter and by 19 (35-16) before halftime. Valencia managed to reduce the gap to 10 points (41-31) right before the end of the first half with a 9-1 run.
After Ettore Messina’s timeout at 1:43 on the clock in the second quarter, Kyle Hines lost the ball out of bounds, but Nikola Mirotic rapidly solved issues with a three-pointer from the left corner. Milan went to the locker room up 44-31.
The second half opened with Maodo Lo shooting a frontal three-pointer built with the right ball movement, and the German playmaker served Alex Poythress for a one-handed dunk later on to bring Milan up by 20 points (53-33) at 6:45 on the clock. Kyle Hines extended it to 60-37 with 4:00 minutes to go with a vintage play in the paint, and overall Milan entered the last ten minutes up 64-39. Finishing things off without problems, the Italians went all the way to the final victory while resting some key players.
Opening the second double-game week of this year’s EuroLeague Regular Season, both teams will play derbies in Round 8. Milan (2-5) will travel to Bologna for the umpteenth chapter of its Italian rivalry against Virtus (5-2), coached by Luca Banchi, scheduled on November 14 at 20:30 CET. At the same exact hour, Valencia (5-2) will host the so-far unbeaten Real Madrid (6-0) in one of the many Spanish derbies in the season.
PHOTO CREDIT: EA7 Emporio Armani Milan