EA7 Milano ends its first phase of the Euroleague with another victory, the third in a row, also beating the Poles' Turow away 101-96, thus exceeding the 100-point threshold for the first time in this edition of the maximum European competition. It was little more than a friendly match, since the official arrival of the Italian team in the Top 16 had already arrived a week ago thanks to Turow's defeat on the Bayern Munich pitch, a result that is therefore irrelevant but brings the Olimpia finished the group with an equal record (5-5), a somewhat unexpected conclusion given that the start of the tournament had certainly not been the best.
Five victories that bring EA7 level on points with Panathinaikos, engaged tomorrow in Barcelona but with an advantage in the two-legged match against Milan, preventing Olimpia from hoping for anything more than the fourth place finish, a position which in any case is the one required and predicted at the start of the group, considered by all as the toughest of the four in this first phase. It is also true that of the 5 victories, four came in double confrontations with Turow and Bayern, also insidious formations but very far from the level of the others, and the only prestigious victory so far was last week's victory over Panathinaikos in Desio (with witness Spike Lee, for the occasion a wild red and white fan on the sidelines), but certainly Banchi's team has grown game after game, with the new ones who, slowly and with a little too many empty passes, are however starting to be as punchy as hoped for in the summer (furthest back still seems to be James).
Speaking of the new ones, yesterday we saw the best seasonal version of Linas Kleiza, authentic star performer of the evening with 29 points (his maximum ever in the Euroleague), arrived thanks to a crazy 8/13 from three (with 6 straight bombs in the third quarter only). Beyond the percentages of this match, which as mentioned counted for nothing, the Lithuanian's performance makes it clear that, although he is almost non-existent in defense, when he is inspired he can become a machine, an offensive weapon that in the continuation of this Euroleague, when things get tough, he will have to go alongside the various Hackett, Gentile, Ragland and Brooks, who is also still too fluctuating, but with athleticism and offensive numbers that can be devastating (ask Varese). In the end it was a fun game, with several minutes on the pitch for Cerella (the hero of seven days ago with the suffocating marking on Diamantidis in the last seconds) and also for the twelfth on the roster Angelo Gigli (5 points for him).
A meeting that concluded the 2014 European Championship in Milan, a year that began with the exciting ride in the last Top 16, with the ex Langford and Jerrells at times unstoppable and an increasingly full Forum, and continued with the regret of the elimination with Maccabi , when the Final Four to be played at home seemed so close there, a regret that has become even greater with the surprise conquest of the cup by the Israelis. Then a summer to celebrate the Scudetto but above all, after a few departures regretted by many fans, to try to put together a group to try and repeat last season's adventure, with the undeclared goal of the playoffs again, aware that they cannot still be at the same level as the other 4 or 5 powers on the continent, and finally these first three months concluded yesterday in Poland, ready to start again from January 2 with the first meeting of the second phase (the calendar will be made official on Monday).
In the new group made up of 8 teams, Milan will certainly have to contend with CSKA Moscow of the various Teodosic, De Colò and Weems (the only one unbeaten in this first phase, even if facilitated by a quiet group), Spanoulis' Olympiakos (arrived first in another not too demanding group) and Efes Istanbul, second behind Real Madrid in the Sassari group and with Matt Janning among its ranks, or rather the one who gave a hard time wearing the Siena shirt more than anyone else at Olimpia in the last championship series (and if his shot ten seconds from the end of game 6 had gone in now we would be writing another story). Also taken for granted the presence of Fenerbahce already faced twice in this first phase (unless today the Turks beat Bayern and recover more than a hundred baskets from the Spaniards, if they lose badly at Panathinaikos... don't worry it won't happen), the 3 other rivals will leave one of the ballots between Alba Berlin and Unicaja Malaga (with the Germans, who, after yesterday's defeat of the Andalusians against Maccabi, if they beat the Croatian side of Cedevita tonight, they will end up in the group in Milan, and this would not be bad for Hackett and his companions, given that the Spaniards at the moment are even ahead of Real and Barça in the league), another from the loser of the match behind closed doors between Red Star and Vitoria (in the group that decreed yesterday that the fourth Galatasaray will pass, thanks to the victory over Olympiakos, putting an end to the dreams of the Lithuanians of Neptunas, authors of a good journey but collapsed on the most beautiful at the home of a Valencia who has already been out of action for weeks) and the last one from the Zalgiris trio Kaunas, Unics Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod, which today are mainly playing the qualification for the Top 16 (one will remain out).
The Lithuanians are favorites receiving Sassari at home, while the other two will face each other in the direct match, a real play-off. The group in Milan would become terrible if Kazan of the former Langford and Jerrells were to happen too, but this only in the event of a surprise knockout by Zalgiris against Dinamo, instead taking the success of the Lithuanians for granted, at that point in case of victory for Nizhny (who plays at home) he will become Olimpia's opponent, otherwise (unics Kazan's external blow) Milan will find Zalgiris (in both cases we are talking about the most affordable of the group).
Hoping to have been clear, consequently the other group will foresee the presence of Maccabi, Panathinaikos, Real, Barcelona, Galatasaray (from which our Pietro Aradori has just left, now in Spain at Estudiantes, due to the limited playing time but above all due to the club's economic problems, which could cause other departures), and then probably Kazan, Alba Berlin and one of the Serbian side of Red Star or the Spanish side of Vitoria. It is difficult to say which of the two is the worse grouping, it is certain that if Milan really wants to play the playoffs again in April, in the coming months they will have to fully complete the process of inserting the new champions who have arrived and, there is no escaping it, above all they will have to at least a couple of companies against stronger formations on paper, just like 12 months ago.
In the continuation of the Euroleague obviously there will be no Sassari, which however will be able to play its cards in the Eurocup, where it will keep company in Rome (which finished first in its group) and Cantù, while sorry for Reggio Emilia, holder of the trophy and at the top of the standings in our championship, but which, last in its group, had already had to leave the European adventure for this season prematurely and somewhat surprisingly from the penultimate round. Three Italians will therefore be involved in the Last 32 and all with legitimate ambitions to go as far as possible, but also in the second European competition there will be no shortage of worthy opponents, starting from the other eliminated Euroleague matches, up to the various Bamberg, Khimky, Kuban, Lietuvos, Besiktas, Banvit, Strasbourg and Gran Canaria already present in the first phase. To try to keep up the Italian colors in Europe also in the second part of the season there will also be Brindisi, who brilliantly passed (even if he had to fight until the last match) his mini round of Eurochallenge (the third continental event), while Biella didn't make it (currently in mid-table in our Lega Gold), capable of playing its chances until the last day and with fate in its hands, but fell in France under the blows of the already Le Mans qualified.
