By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
For the second straight season, Olimpia Milano didn’t make it to the EuroLeague Playoffs. After ending 2022-23 in 12th position with a 15-19 record, this year the Italian side went close to the Play-In Showdown but kept the same spot with the same win-loss rate.
One of the reasons for this downfall after playing in the 2021 Final Four and making the Playoffs in 2022 against then-champions Anadolu Efes was a bad-oiled machine in the playmaking spot, with issues regarding Kevin Pangos, Naz Mitrou-Long, Maodo Lo, and ultimately Shabazz Napier.
Talking to Repubblica, Ettore Messina admitted the mistakes. “We didn’t handle well what came after Chacho Rodriguez and Malcolm Delaney, who left Olimpia for different reasons, not guaranteeing the same level in that position”, he commented.
However, things could have been different with another American guard on board, unavailable for the vast majority of the season. “But I ask myself: what if we had had Billy Baron this year? In some seasons you get everything right, while in others you make mistakes in a market where, except for very few clubs, it’s complicated to keep important players staying for a long time”, Ettore Messina added.
Moreover, he also touched on making Nikola Mirotic involved in the team. “We made the wrong choice on the point guard and we got stuck. I don’t want to hide behind a finger: transplanting a superstar like [Nikola] Mirotic to this team wasn’t easy. We had some difficulties, let’s hope that in the final phase of the season, they won’t come back again”, the Italian head coach also said.
Adding that he feels “great” in Milan, being “a place that encourages you to do better every day”, saying that he “must ensure to stay”, Ettore Messina will now focus on the LBA Playoffs. With one game left in the regular season, Milano is 2nd in the standings, tied at 21-8 with frontrunner Virtus Bologna.
Out of the EuroLeague Playoffs,