First half
Strong departure from Baskonia; 8-0 after less than 2 minutes with Kobi Simmons’ triple. Milan’s first basket with Leandro Bolmaro after an offensive serve. Baskonia wants to run and play many possessions in the transition and Faried’s mate forces coach Poeta to the first timeout after 3 minutes (13-2). Jumper from Hall, two layups from Wright; Milan now has to fix the Defence, his main problem in the first quarter. Kobi Simmons’ mate after a PnR, Lawson’s triple. Baskonia continues to attack well and find easy baskets due to Milan’s inattention. Rotations begin for both teams and Sedekerkis’ support leads the Spanish team to the maximum advantage (24-11). 6/22 in the shot for Milan, despite 8 offensive rebounds. Baskonia 10/16 and 63%, with 9 assists. 26-16 after 10 minutes.
The second quarter begins with the two free throws scored by RJ Cole; zero baskets from the court for both teams in the first 2 minutes and many lost balls. Kurucs’ layup brings Baskonia back to +10; Hall’s assist for Booker’s dunk. Another triple by AJ Lawson, who started the game very well in the archery. The mistakes continue and neither team can find rhythm for more actions. Ball recovered and Darius Thompson’s basket, Marcio Santos’ fade away on the other side… Baskonia continues to play its game plan; for Milan problems in both halves of the field, both in Defence and in attack with only 25 points scored after almost 18 minutes. The first half is closed in the same way. Baskonia ahead 46-38 at the interval; the advantage of the Spanish team could be much wider. Throughout the first half, Milan’s Defence was at a low level and the attack was also very difficult. Only 1 three point shot scored by Pippo Ricci out of 11 attempts (9%). Galbiati’s team was very good in the 2-point shot (11/13, 85%), which took full advantage of all the easy shots granted by the Italians.
Second half
The second half starts with two triples from Devon Hall and the basket after a backdoor cut by Bolmaro. Small signs of Milan’s life, which seems to have returned to the court much more attention. Baskonia, at this moment, relies on DJ Stewart, who makes the most of his offensive qualities. 4 points also for Kobi Simmons approaching the basket; Duarte’s triple, Baskonia’s reaction and timeout for Poeta on the score of 58-49. Two baskets of the Italian team coming out of the timeout and with Bolmaro’s triple in transition it reaches -4. It’s time for Chris Duarte again, who scores 5 points in a row. Monster block by Marcio Santos: Baskonia is back to control the game, +11 and Milan is back in trouble on both sides. RJ Cole’s crowd minute: scores 2 free, then in the next action Simmons stops, recovers the ball and scores in the counterattack… in the end MIlano closes the third quarter by 5 points: 65-60. A strange third quarter, where first Milan and then Baskonia had good moments, alternating, still minutes of difficulty…
The last 10 and decisive minutes of the game begin. The first basket is for AJ Lawson for Baskonia. Burnell’s triple from the corner a few seconds later. Another triple by Lawson chases Milan back by 5 points; so far his baskets have always been decisive to guarantee the advantage in Baskonia when the Italian team was trying to get closer. Ball recovered and Booker’s assist. Back to back triples of Burnell and Milan for the first time equalise the match. 70-70 and timeout for coach Galbiati. Hall’s basket from PnR and first advantage of the match for Milan. Baugh immediately responds with the first two points of his match and the dunks of Duarte and Santos put the Spanish team back in the lead, 76-72 with 4 minutes to play and timeout for Coach Poeta. Baugh’s triple brings Baskonia to +7 at the start of the crunch time. Ball lost by Hall and Baskonia that closes the game with Kurucs’ triple. Well-deserved victory for Baskonia. 87-76 the final result.
Considerations and conclusions
First victory for Baskonia this season, against a Milan that played a bad game and was unable to impose its pace in the 40 minutes. Galbiati can smile this evening because his players have shown to have improved compared to the first two games, managing the ball better and always attacking well against Milan; the Italian team has shown a lot of difficulties on both sides of the field. Tuesday’s signals, despite the victory against Bologna, have been confirmed. Poeta and his team will have to work hard, starting from the Defence… too weak and fragile to be in the Euroleague considering the possibilities of the team having players like Bolmaro, Hall, Wright and Peters. Both teams are 1-2 in the standings after 3 rounds of Euroleague.
Some protagonists: Lawson 16 PTS, Stewart 12 PTS ; Moses Wright 17 PTS + 6 REB Devon Hall 12 PTS + 12 AST
Photos: profile X of Olimpia Milano
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