Olimpia Milano wins in a comeback against Trento. Messina: “Kyle Hines monumental”

Olimpia Milano comesback to win against Trento: 91-86

“As usual, it was difficult after Friday's match to find the energy to play at my best on Sunday too. In fact, we created problems for ourselves by playing a poor first quarter, both in defense as the 33 points say but also in attack because we were not clear in making the choices and this exposed us to the counterattack of a Trento team, who played a very good match. In the second half we were much better in defense and in the end we won, holding them to 14 points in the final quarter.” Ettore Messina's analysis in the press room after Olimpia Milano's 91-86 victory against Trento (the former Alviti and Biligha, celebrated with a video on the screen and the delivery of the shirt before the match).

With four days to go, theEA7 Emporio Armani is tied for second with Virtus Bologna at 36 (who won the direct clash on the pitch in Venice, Umana now stands at 34) two points behind leaders Brescia.

Olimpia Milano: Napier, Mirotic and Hall change gears in the second half

The Italian champions go behind in the first half (20-33 the opening quarter, with a 44-52 at the siren of the second), then they change gear in the second half with a more attentive defense (which concedes 34 points overall in the second twenty minutes and only 13 in the final quarter) and an attack that runs well thanks to the growth of Shabaz Napier (15 points overall with 5/7 from 2 and 10 scored in the second half), Davon Hall (14 points all in the last twenty minutes) and Nikola Mirotic (16 points, 9 in the second half). Nicolò Melli's performance was decisive who hurts in attack (16 points), is present in rebounds (6) and always makes himself felt in defense.

Olimpia Milano, Ettore Messina: “Kyle Hines monumental”

“I would say the comeback started with Shabazz Napier: before he ran out of fuel, he repeatedly attacked the area and led us, then in the final quarter we were good at giving the ball to Mirotic in the low post and there he generated two baskets and an assist”, explains Ettore Messina. Which underlines the great performance of Kyle Hines: “Monumental, he scored 12 points, grabbed rebounds (9, ed.), was the first to run on defense to stop their fast break. Her mother was in the stands: I'm pleased that he played so well in front of her.”

On the test of the Milanese attack, the coach of the Italian champion team explains: “We sometimes take defense for granted because we are a team that can normally defend well. So the fact that it improved in the second half is important, but I think it's even more important that after two days we played another balanced match, in which we balanced shots from outside and from underneath. If we go down in the low post then maybe we get fouls, we go to the line, we create open shots and we tire out the opponents who have to defend for a long time. If we don't do it then we are also unbalanced.” What can Denzel Valentine bring to this team? “Both in college and in the NBA he demonstrated the ability to play three positions, shooting and passing ability as well as remarkable personality. Today we objectively saw nothing. He was a bit lost and I preferred to focus on Bortolani who among other things gave us quality minutes. We would have needed a calm game to give him minutes, but obviously this wasn't the right night.”

Olimpia Milan-Trento, scoreboard

EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN-DOLOMOTI ENERGIA TRENTO 91-86 20-33; 44-52; 69-73

OLIMPIA MILANO: Bortolani 5, Tonut 4, Melli 16, Napier 15, Ricci 2, Flaccadori 3, Hall 14, Caruso, Shields 5, Mirotic 15, Hines 12, Valentine. All. Messina

TRENTO: Ellis ne, Hubb 4, Alviti 16, Niang 9, Conti ne, Forray 5, Cooke 7, Diarra ne, Biligha 11, Mooney 10, Baldwin 24. Coach Galbiati

Notes: 2-point shots: MI 28/45, TN 22/41; 3-pointers: MI 5/24, TN 11/33; free throws: MI 20/29, TN 9/12; rebounds: MI 43 (Hines 9), TN 37 (Niang 7); assists: MI 18 (Shields 6), TN 19 (Baldwin 4)

Olimpia Milano next matches

Ettore Messina's team is preparing for the Euroleague away match on Thursday (8.05 pm) in Belgrade, against Maccabi Tel Aviv, then on Sunday 14 April at 5 pm Olimpia Milano on the away pitch and return to the Forum on Sunday 21 April (5 pm) against Scafati.