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In the 2017-2018 EuroLeague season, Simone Pianigiani’s Olimpia Milan ranked second to last, and last year Ettore Messina’s “designers” ranked 12 when the season was frozen by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It took the Italian basketball teacher two seasons for Milan to once again rank among the four strongest in Europe after a 19-year hiatus.
Although Olimpia was in the semi-finals during the throw-in since Šarūnas Jasikevičius’s win over “Barcelona”, and because of the fight for third place in the Euroleague, they always looked bored, 61-year-old E. Messina was happy with the work done this season.
“I am very happy and very proud of my men. What these men did is amazing, said the Milan strategist after the victory. – The Euroleague season was great for us. We played 41 games and finished in third place. We can. cry over a two-point loss in the semi-finals, but I’m very proud of the team. From now on, we can hold out and build something. We won’t necessarily go back to the final four, but we will definitely fight for it. “
After the game, Joe Arlauck asked E. Messina if three years ago he would have believed in the team’s chances of being among the four strongest clubs in the Euroleague so quickly. The reporter did not know that at that time the Italian was still working for the San Antonio Spurs organization and did not even think about the Olympia midfielder.
“I came to the club two years ago, don’t put other failures on my shoulders. Only twelfth place last year is up to me! – E. Messina, who arrived in Milan in 2019, did not lack good humor. – But two years ago I could not have thought about this achievement of ours. Is awesome. I think these guys achieved the result thanks to their attitude and character. Things like that don’t happen to you anyway. They fought on every stage in Europe and earned the respect of others. That is important.”
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In the fight for third place, Olympia beat CSKA Moscow basketball players 83:73.
The attitude of both teams towards the game is demonstrated by the fact that all the registered basketball players have had time to play. CSKA did not register Italian Daniel Hacketto for this duel, with semi-final leader Will Clyburn playing in just 16 minutes.
“Nobody wants to play a game like this,” said Sergio Rodríguez, who had 14 points and 6 assists. – But it’s a good game to get back on track. I haven’t won the match for third place yet, I failed both times. We didn’t come for that, but we will use it as an experience and try to get back to the final four next year. “
34-year-old Kyle Hines made three blocks in the winning duel, with one of them elevating the four-time Euroleague champion to first place among all basketball players in the history of the final four.
“It shows that I am very old,” joked K. Hines, who learned the statistics. – But I’m happy. It’s always fun to be first on some stats or to achieve something historic. “
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