By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MILANO, Italy – Despite a severe injury situation and still without Shabazz Napier, Milano bounced back from the defeat against Panathinaikos, beating Baskonia 76-67 within the friendly walls of Mediolanum Forum. The Basque team didn’t follow on the latest victory over Maccabi, staying 10th in the standings with a 9-8 record, while Milano is now 7-10.
Against his former team, Johannes Voigtmann had a monster night from the very first minutes, concluding the night with a double-double of 19 points – including a monstrous poster dunk with 1:54 minutes to go in the fourth quarter – and 12 rebounds. “I’m very proud of the guys who came in and didn’t play a lot of minutes in the last couple of weeks and made a great effort”, he commented.
Olimpia Milano’s captain followed the gold medalist at the 2023 FIBA World Cup by adding 21 points (7/11 2FG).
“It was an important game for us, mostly after the injury of Shavon [Shields]. We stuck together to try to get this win, everybody made a step forward. We knew it wasn’t easy because we have a lot of absences and Baskonia is a very good team”, Nicolò Melli said in the flash interview.
Without both Maodo Lo and Shabazz Napier, Diego Flaccadori took advantage of the opportunity by starting the game and ending with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. This is his second-best-ever scoring performance in the EuroLeague after scoring 15 points against Barcelona. “Johannes Voigtmann and Nicolò Melli were amazing. Diego [Flaccadori] is improving game by game”, Ettore Messina shared after his team got the victory over Baskonia.
On the losing end, very few players still managed to come out with a good showing from the away trip in Milano. The most effective one was Baskonia’s captain Tadas Sedekerskis, who went really close to a double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds in the defeat. Moreover, Chima Moneke was one of the main pivotal assets in his team’s comeback attempt with 14 points and 8 rebounds.
After the defeat on Italian soil, Dusko Ivanovic shared his disappointment. “They were better, especially in the first half. We didn’t play aggressively, let them take advantage. Milano played with three big guys, everybody inside, it’s both Milano’s credit tonight”, the Serbian head coach commented in the post-game press conference.
Milano managed to overcome the injury problems
Playing the small forward position due to Shavon Shields’ absence, Johannes Voigtmann started the game well, being involved in Milano’s first seven points of the night with a beautiful pass to Kyle Hines after opening it 5-0. Chris Chiozza dished two straight beautiful assists to Tadas Sedekerskis and Chima Moneke to reduce the deficit, but the German forward closed the first quarter up 20-12 from deep.
Opening the second quarter with three consecutive transitions after stealing the ball, Stefano Tonut extended Milano’s lead to 14 points (26-12). The Italian team suffered a 6-0 run by the opponents, but rapidly bounced back to go up 34-18 at 5:55 minutes on the clock. Nicolò Melli led his team as captain before halftime scoring eight points in a row, and Ettore Messina’s team ended the second up 46-31.
Things didn’t change to begin the second half, as the red-and-white side entered an 11-0 run to extend the lead to 24 points (57-33) with 5:38 on the clock in the third quarter. From then on, however, Baskonia found a way to build a comeback attempt, producing a 15-3 run that put them down by 12 points (60-48), ending the third quarter on a positive note.
Shaking his team off frustration to enter the fourth quarter, Nicolò Melli scored the first points of the last ten minutes, blocking Tadas Sedekerskis’ attempt immediately afterward. Khalifa Diop, who entered the court only late in the game, provided some needed energy to the Basquet team, reducing the deficit once again to 10 points (67-57) with 5:59 minutes before the final buzzer. It wasn’t enough.
With Billy Baron still not in perfect shape, Ettore Messina’s team had to deal with a complicated medical situation, adding the youngster Samuele Miccoli to the rotation. Shavon Shields, Nikola Mirotic, Maodo Lo, and Giampaolo Ricci were all forced to miss the game against Dusko Ivanovic’s side.
In next week’s double-game action for the EuroLeague Round 18-19 to open 2024, Milano will first visit Olympiacos on the road and then host Bayern Munich three days later. Baskonia, instead, will have to deal with Panathinaikos at Buesa Aresa Arena and then with Barcelona on the road.
PHOTO CREDIT: EA7 Emporio Armani Milano