By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Before the Round 30 (the last one) of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan stands on a 10-19 record. The Italian side is far from the playoffs picture with that record, but their coach Simone Pianigiani believes this year is a just a start and that they have been competitive despite losing 19 games.
Per Olimpia Milan coach Pianigiani, talked about this EuroLeague season coming to an end.
“The first goal was to improve during the course of the season and stay always competitive. There was some type of road games that in the first half of the season we controlled and then lost (see Istanbul and Malaga). But that same kind of games during the second half we have been able to win (in Vitoria, Barcelona, Moscow, Bamberg). And the team never gave up, it came back to secure the win in Valencia, at home with Bamberg, other times the comeback wasn’t successful but we still tried until the end, against Red Star or Valencia at home, for example. In seven losses we have been ahead or tied in the fourth period, we had the potential winning shot with Olympiacos, with Valencia, also in Malaga. We went to the overtime with Fenerbahce. Three times, because of technical fouls and a double-tech ejection, we lost in the closing minutes while playing without Jordan Theodore. Getting close to winning and winning are two very different things. I do not want to underestimate it, but getting close to winning means being competitive. We definitely deserved three or four more wins to give to our EuroLeague a completely different outlook. We will start from here and from a new work method that we developed in this first year of a project that wants to be consistent.”
And from a nucleus of returning players…
“It was another stated goal: to understand what we need to do in order to be closer to the best eight teams. During the season we have already tried to put some pieces in place with Curtis Jerrells and Mindaugas Kuzminskas. Unfortunately, the addition of Jerrells was forced by the injury of Goudelock in Valencia (he stayed out for four games) and this also affected his own physical condition. Kuzminskas came from a long inactivity, then he came in and had to play consistently at the 4 while he’s better at switching positions 3 and 4, 4 and 3. But we will not make a second roster overhaul. We worked hard not to have to do it again. What happened with Gudaitis is significant “.
Why is it significant?
“We hoped to have Patric Young in that position but when we realized that it wouldn’t be possible we did not go to the market again. We developed a long-term project with a young center with different skills. We did not look for another Young, we turned a problem into an opportunity. Gudaitis was basically a rookie in the EuroLeague. But now look at the numbers, he was one of the competition’s best centers. Let alone that no other team started the Euroleague with two rookies at the 5 position”.
The second season with the new format is ending and here’s what the Italian coach has learnt.
“Playing a minimum of 60 games before the post-season (and in the EuroLeague you are facing only tough teams, the best in Europe), with a hectic, demanding schedule, just look at the five weeks with two EuroLeague games in three days, depth is not a choice, it’s a real necessity. The schedule inevitably generates injuries that for some teams, like Olimpia, are more difficult to absorb. Finally, the commitment to the EuroLeague affects the performance you are having in national leagues. If you look at the teams comparable to our team, the ones who won a little more than us in the EuroLeague are struggling more in their domestic league. Take a look at all the Spanish teams with the exception of Real Madrid, which is on a different level (but still last year it did not win the Spanish championship and this year did not win either the Supercup or the King’s Cup). Keep this in mind. I understand what happened to Bamberg, Efes, Barcelona, Malaga even at Khimki, a team doing very well in the EuroLeague but stuck around 50% of wins in VTB. This is a reality with which we need to compromise. Over the course of the season, as in the NBA, there are certain defeats that are basically determined by the schedule. Everyone tries to overcome this but the reality of the facts is inescapable. The EuroLeague teams are supposed to be the best in Europe but not all of them in their own leagues are at the top and some of them are really struggling. Then, as the CSKA coach, Itoudis pointed out talking about his team, we all have EuroLeague rules and local eligibility rules. Those differences are forcing everybody to move the local players towards the league competition and others towards the EuroLeague. It also happens to Fenerbahce: it has great Turkish national team players, like Guler and Mahmatoglu, who practically play only in the domestic league. They are not inferior players, it’s just the rules. It’s happened to us too but it was not always understood.”
Photo credit: Olimpia Milan