Olimpia Milano are back in action with the Super Cup

Olimpia had to win the Italian Super Cup twice – the first trophy of a season that is about to plunge into a league campaign full of question marks, especially when one considers what happened in Rome this summer. Reyer Venezia forced the Italian champions to claw back the victory in extra time after coming very close to pulling off a major upset, even though after the first quarter everything seemed all but decided, with Milan pulling away (22–8). But at the start of the season, nothing can be taken for granted, because after 15 truly brilliant minutes, Olimpia allowed Reyer back into the game and ultimately came very close to losing the seventh Super Cup in its history (the third in a row) – the nineteenth trophy of the Armani era, with Leo ‘dell’Orco’ on the court to lift the trophy as a symbol of the team’s continued commitment.

From this first official weekend of the season, Olimpia can already draw its first lesson: even in Italy, they cannot afford to take too many breaks; they must remain fully focused because nothing can be taken for granted, even in a league where no other team has Milan’s budget or squad. “As well as the usual suspects – Bologna and Venice – I’m thinking of Tortona, Varese, Naples, Reggio Emilia and the two teams from Rome. For years, Milan has been the driving force; now we find ourselves in a league that is once again among the best in Europe. We’re delighted and we’re ready for the challenge,” Poeta had said earlier in the week.

Peppe Poeta is the coach who took over the team mid-season from Ettore Messina last year; he hasn’t put a foot wrong. Three wins from three: the Coppa Italia, the Scudetto and the Supercoppa – his very own treble. This year he has a team he has built himself, one that is closer to his vision of basketball, even if there is perhaps something missing in the playmaking department, to the extent that there is no real leader in that role. “The transfer market has taken us in a certain direction. We don’t have a clear first-choice player, but we do have the flexibility to vary our approach,” he explained. “RJ Cole is a EuroLeague rookie but has flair and hunger; Darius Thompson has more experience and physical presence. Then we can always call on Hall, Guduric and Bolmaro. A new trend in Europe is the use of three ball-handlers simultaneously. So there will be situations where the player marked by the slowest of the opponents will be the one bringing the ball up.” The toughest test will be in Europe, where Olimpia has really disappointed in recent years. Whilst they cannot afford to lose focus in Italy, in Europe they will often have to play to the very best of their ability. And in such a long season, that won’t be easy.

For Italian basketball, which was left out in the cold during the Azzurri’s summer (a big round of applause for the wheelchair basketball team who won silver at the World Championships), a season full of new developments is getting underway. The first crucial match was entertaining and hard-fought. A great start. Let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come.