By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BRESCIA, Italy – After facing each other in three straight LBA Finals, Olimpia Milano and Virtus Bologna stepped on the court of the PalaLeonessa in Brescia for the first official game of the season in Italy, playing the semifinal of the 2023 Italian Supercup, won by Luca Banchi’s side 78-73.
Tornike Shengelia was by far the best player on his team, as he had 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Providing energy and intensity on both sides of the floor, Awudu Abass ended the first win of Virtus Bologna’s season with 10 points. Jordan Mickey helped on the glass with 13 points and 3 boards, while the team’s captain Marco Belinelli had 15 points with 9/11 at the free-throw line.
“A solid and serious game. We struggled to produce continuously on offense, the physical level was high. Mirotic is a booster for their game now. I talked with the guys at halftime about the turnovers”, Luca Banchi added in the post-game press conference.
After four years in Barcelona, Nikola Mirotic played his first official game with Ettore Messina’s team, ending the encounter by going close to a double-double with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Shavon Shields was a factor for Olimpia Milano on offense, as the former Baskonia forward provided 26 points but had to leave the court earlier with 1:52 minutes left after committing his fifth foul. Coming back from years on loan, Giordano Bortolani added 12 points off the bench.
“I expected a tough game, we now know where to improve. We can’t think to win games with only one player dragging us, we wasted Shavon Shields’ game”, Ettore Messina commented in the post-game press conference.
The first quarter saw the two Italian forces struggle from the field, as Virtus Bologna ended the opening ten minutes up only by two points (14-12). In the second quarter, Milano stepped up on offense especially dragged by Shavon Shields reaching a seven-point lead (32-25) with 2:27 minutes left, but the black-and-white side remained close and went to the locker room up by two points (34-32) closing a 9-0 run with a step back three-pointer by Daniel Hackett.
The second half saw Virtus Bologna get the early seven-point lead (46-39) with 6:19 minutes on the clock, while the tense nerves increased as time passed. Both Luca Banchi and Ettore Messina, in fact, were awarded technical fouls, just like Shavon Shields. The newcomer Jaleen Smith put his team up by 11 points with a three-pointer later on, and the black-and-whites went to the fourth quarter up 59-53.
In the last quarter, Olimpia Milano started things off better than the opponents, as Shavon Shields reduced the gap up to three points (64-61) with a three-pointer off the inbound at 7:57 minutes on the clock. Tornike Shengelia put his team back on track with a thunderous dunk for a 2+1 play in transition. Kevin Pangos gave Milano the lead once again at 69-68 with 3:10 left. The game remained on the edge all throughout the end of the forty minutes, which saw Virtus Bologna come out on top.
Considering the high amount of players in the respective teams, there were a lot of absences in the first official encounter of the season for Olimpia Milano and Virtus Bologna. Maodo Lo, Ismael Kamagate, Diego Flaccadori, Kyle Hines, and Billy Baron were out for the red-and-white team; Iffe Lundberg, Leo Menalo, and Ognjen Dobric didn’t play for Luca Banchi’s newest team.
Brescia wins the second semifinal against Derthona
In the second game of the night, between the hosts Germani Brescia and Bertram Yachts Derthona Tortona, the former completely dominated the encounter straight from the beginning, getting to the Italian Supercup final with an 86-63 victory.
Alessandro Magro’s team ended the first quarter up 23-8, with Amedeo Della Valle particularly inspired for the blue-and-white squad. The 30-year-old captain of the team had 20 points with 4/6 from beyond the arc, followed by CJ Massinburg’s all-around performance of 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. John Petrucelli was also everywhere tonight, ending with 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals.
On the losing end, Tommaso Baldasso gave his all to try to keep Bertram Yachts Derthona Tortona afloat with 13 points and 7 rebounds, but the former Olimpia Milano playmaker wasn’t enough. The former ASVEL guard Retin Obasohan also had 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in the losing effort.
Brescia will now face Virtus Bologna in the final of the Italian Supercup 2023 tomorrow at 18:00 CET in front of its people in PalaLeonessa. On the first day of the competition, the arena was sold out with 5.097 fans who attended the games in the stands.
PHOTO CREDIT: Virtus Segafredo Bologna