Not even against an Olympiacos who has already qualified for some time, without its leader Spanoulis (and Young) and who at times puts in the field the same intensity as a professor on the last day of school, in Milan he fails to seize a victory that suddenly he would have completely changed the fate of his group. At Piraeus it ends 83-73 for the Greeks, the EA7 built in the summer, at the moment this is it, it can't give more at these levels, especially if it has to do without Alessandro Gentile (in addition to Macvan), the only with his plays capable of giving a boost within a game and finding baskets even in the most delicate moments. As we (not) saw in the last quarter last night, which started with the two teams on equal points and in which Olimpia should have pulled out everything they had, but instead, also due to the rotations reduced to the bone , the reserve light came on, the ideas went out and Olympiakos with minimal effort (and with a Hackett certainly more active than the last few months in Milan) flew away, leaving Milan with only one field goal in the first eight minutes before the final garbage time.
It's a shame because the opportunity to find such an Olympiakos was tempting and the first thirty minutes, extremely balanced, played point by point (although not an unforgettable match) had given hope for a possible different ending. Probably with Gentile on the pitch the coup could have become feasible, but this time McLean and Simon were also a bit lacking (respectively 11 and 9 points), certainly the two best reinforcements of these first few months, with Jenkins and Cinciarini the top scorers 12. But beyond the singles, once again in Europe the kilos and centimeters gap that Milan has to pay against the other squadrons was evident, with, at this moment, only Barac fighting under the knife, with the Croatian who has shown that he can become an important element, but for now far from the best condition and unable to hold up for thirty minutes per game.
Milan which remains with one foot out of the Euroleague, but for which, as we already knew, nothing is definitively lost yet, "only" that now it will have to go, next Friday, to win with a gap of more than 9 points at the home of Cedevita, defeated yesterday in Zagreb in the direct clash with Efes after facing +8 in the last period, hoping that the Croatians also lose in the last round in Spain against Laboral Kutxa, while EA7 will receive the Limoges bringing up the rear. A very difficult task, but not impossible, even if Cedevita proved to be an excellent team in this group, perhaps wrongly underestimated in the first leg (finished 68-77), and in Zagreb the arena that awaits Olimpia will certainly be a bedlam. The recovery of captain Gentile will be essential, but the company will need the best performance of all, from McLean to Simon, from Lafayette to Jenkins, from Barac to Hummel, another hitherto too soft and tremendously similar to last season's Kleiza.
Meanwhile, two rounds from the end of the first phase and awaiting the other matches of this seventh day scheduled for today, the fundamental success of the reigning champion Real Madrid in group A is worth noting in comeback on the already qualified Fenerbahce, with the Spaniards remaining incredibly still at the bottom of the standings, but now with a better chance of catching up and overtaking Strasbourg, Red Star and Bayern (Khimky currently have one more win), with the Germans receiving Real next week with the possibility of ousting from the games the holders of the trophy. In group C the big match between Panathinaikos and Barcelona is scheduled, with the Spaniards sure to lead the table together with the surprising Lokomotiv Kuban, while for the Greeks a success would mean not reaching the last two rounds with the Turks from Pinar Karsiyaka one only victory from their fourth place, while third is Zalgiris and last are the Poles of Zielona Gora.
Finally, in group D, Cska Moscow obviously commands, with Unicaja Malaga in second place and the surprising Germans of Bayern in third place, in whose ranks plays the former Milanese Nicolò Melli, protagonist of a great start to the season especially in Europe, past from 5 points per game in the Olimpia jersey to 11 in these first 7 days (always adding a good number of rebounds and assists) and pleasantly elected player of the last month by the Euroleague, in which his team beat Maccabi in a row, Sassari also thanks to his 26 points, Malaga and Darussafaka (while also yesterday he was the best in the defeat against CSKA). Vital success yesterday for Maccabi Tel Aviv on the Sassari field, reaching the eighth knockout out of eight but which in the latest outings has absolutely not disfigured, with the Israelis who seem to be distant relatives of the battleship seen in the last decade and who at the moment would be clamorously eliminated, but who thus move to only one victory away from the Turkish side Darussafaka, who however have one game less (today at home against Malaga) and in a hypothetical play-off in the last round they will start from the +11 obtained in Israel. At Dinamo, on the other hand, they stay at home with Malaga next week and in a fortnight in Bamberg to try and remove that annoying zero from the box of victories.
Sassari who has already known for some time that its European future will continue in the Eurocup, like all the two eliminated players from the four Euroleague rounds, a fate which therefore could also be that of EA7 and which, looked at with a minimum of rationality, would certainly lower the prestige of the Milanese season, but would aim for another European cup, a minor one, but this one is realistically reachable by Gentile and his companions and which is missing from the '93 Korac Cup on the bulletin board. Competition in which Sassari will certainly also be able to have its say, although the lot of teams already qualified for the Last 32 includes level teams such as Valencia, Gran Canaria, Unics kazan, Zenit and Galatasaray (in addition to those who will come down from the Euroleague). The splendid Trento is also already qualified, which in its first European experience in its history even managed to get the pass early and is currently the leader of its group together with Bilbao; the hope is that in the end the Italians involved in the second phase will be 5, given that Reggio Emilia after the last victory has a foot and a half in the Last 32, while Venice starts from a favorable position in the standings, but after the last misstep she will be forced to fight to the end with Ulm and Charleroi (and next week she will be busy on the pitch in Valencia, the only one in the whole tournament with full points). Nothing to do for Brindisi, last in the same group as Reggio Emilia and already eliminated.
