Head coach Simone Pianigiani analyzes Olimpia Milano's EuroLeague effort

Coach Pianigiani, let’s talk about this EuroLeague season coming to an end.

“The first goal was to improve during the course of the season and stay always competitive. There was some type of road games that in the first half of the season we controlled and then lost (see Istanbul and Malaga). But that same kind of games during the second half we have been able to win (in Vitoria, Barcelona, ​​Moscow, Bamberg). And the team never gave up, it came back to secure the win in Valencia, at home with Bamberg, other times the comeback wasn’t successful but we still tried until the end, against Red Star or Valencia at home, for example. In seven losses we have been ahead or tied in the fourth period, we had the potentially winning shot with Olympiacos, with Valencia, also in Malaga. We went to the overtime with Fenerbahce. Three times, because of technical fouls and a double-tech ejection, we lost in the closing minutes while playing without Jordan Theodore. Getting close to winning and winning are two very different things. I do not want to underestimate it, but getting close to winning means being competitive. We definitely deserved three or four more wins to give to our EuroLeague a completely different outlook. We will start from here and from a new work method that we developed in this first year of a project that wants to be consistent.”

And from a nucleus of returning players…

“It was another stated goal: to understand what we need to do in order to be closer to the best eight teams. During the season we have already tried to put some pieces in place with Curtis Jerrells and Mindaugas Kuzminskas. Unfortunately, the addition of Jerrells was forced by the injury of Goudelock in Valencia (he stayed out for four games) and this also affected his own physical condition. Kuzminskas came from a long inactivity, then he came in and had to play consistently at the 4 while he’s better at switching positions, 3 and 4, 4 and 3. But we will not make a second roster overhaul. We worked hard not to have to do it again. What happened with Gudaitis is significant “.

Why is it significant?

“We hoped to have Patric Young in that position but when we realized that it wouldn’t be possible we did not go to the market again. We developed a long-term project with a young center with different skills. We did not look for another Young, we turned a problem into an opportunity. Gudaitis was basically a rookie in the EuroLeague. But now look at the numbers, he was one of the competition’s best centers. Let alone that no other team started the Euroleague with two rookies at the 5 position”.

The other one is Tarczewski.

“The day of our debut in Moscow, their center, Othello Hunter, had about 100 games and three Final Four of EuroLeague experience; Kaleb was a rookie. Today he and Gudaitis have evolved and became very competitive players. This is a job that the club and the coaching staff have agreed to do. Giving up something in the short-term, in order to invest in the future.”

The second season with the new format is ending. What did you learn?

“Playing a minimum of 60 games before the post-season (and in the EuroLeague you are facing only tough teams, the best in Europe), with a hectic, demanding schedule, just look at the five weeks with two EuroLeague games in three days, depth is not a choice, it’s a real necessity. The schedule inevitably generates injuries that for some teams, like Olimpia, are more difficult to absorb. Finally, the commitment to the EuroLeague affects the performance you are having in national leagues. If you look at the teams comparable to our team, the ones who won a little more than us in the EuroLeague are struggling more in their domestic league. Take a look at all the Spanish teams with the exception of Real Madrid, which is on a different level (but still last year it did not win the Spanish championship and this year did not win either the Supercup or the King’s Cup). Keep this in mind. I understand what happened to Bamberg, Efes, Barcelona, ​​Malaga even at Khimki, a team doing very well in the EuroLeague but stuck around 50% of wins in VTB. This is a reality with which we need to compromise. Over the course of the season, as in the NBA, there are certain defeats that are basically determined by the schedule. Everyone tries to overcome this but the reality of the facts is inescapable. The EuroLeague teams are supposed to be the best in Europe but not all of them in their own leagues are at the top and some of them are really struggling. Then, as the CSKA coach, Itoudis pointed out talking about his team, we all have EuroLeague rules and local eligibility rules. Those differences are forcing everybody to move the local players towards the league competition and others towards the EuroLeague. It also happens to Fenerbahce: it has great Turkish national team players, like Guler and Mahmatoglu, who practically play only in the domestic league. They are not inferior players, it’s just the rules. It’s happened to us too but it was not always understood.”

On the road, Olimpia’s record is almost good enough to make it to the playoffs. But at home it’s not that great.

“It’s true. Part of it comes within the concept of those 3 or 4 extra wins that we deserved. Games we were very close to win. But beyond the single plays it is a a matter of personality, experience, values to be developed during the course of a season. Our starting point-guard, who missed seven games due to injuries, for example, until this year had only played in second-tier European competitions. Amath M’Baye, who was a starter before Kuzminskas’ signing, is another EuroLeague rookie. Nobody noticed that in the starting line-up that began the season we had three rookies. M’Baye, Tarczewski and Theodore. Let’s say that “finish” games down the stretch was not easy. But in the second half we were a lot better in this regard, let’s take a look at the Vitoria and Barcelona games. So today we are all less inexperienced as a group, we are all improved, we have earned credibility around the continent and no one has ever underestimated us.”