Milan threaten Olympiakos because they learned to win everywhere without the player who did it all

Milan join SEF for the eighth time in their history as Italian Cup winners. Hours after Olympiacos tipped Panathinaikos’ double-digit lead and triumphantly lifted the trophy in the Greek Final Four at Heraklion after 11 years, Ettore Messina’s team – with MVP Malcolm Dilleni – defeated the “78” 61) who had previously defeated Virtus Bologna had caused the surprise.

It was the 18th game in a row (7 leagues, 8 European championships, 3 cups) that Armani played without Savon Shields. In mid-December, the 27-year-old American hit hard after a controversial Rudy Fernandez defense, underwent surgery and was out of action for the next two months, leaving Hector without the key player in his plan as he linked defense with attack.

Milan seemed to deregulate at the beginning, losing to Trieste and Pesaro in Serie A. Troy fell out from the inside. However, in the period leading up to the victorious Italian Final Eight, the Italian team struggled to regain their balance and won 83% of their games. Especially in the EuroLeague, where the demands/needs are greater and mistakes are severely punished, he has measured 7/8 on away wins in Barcelona, ​​Moscow, Belgrade and Kaunas (easy or difficult).

That performance placed her third in the rankings, behind Barcelona and Real, having largely secured home field advantage in the playoffs, as her program heading into the home stretch is cheap enough not to lose anything hard-earned.

What he lost to Shields

Shields was invaluable in the first half of the season. It’s no coincidence that he’s still a member of the two most prolific fives Messina fielded at the event. With the first (Hall, Shields, Datome, Meli, Hines) in almost 52′, Milan was at +37 and with the second (Delaney, Hall, Shields, Mitoglou, Hines) at +22, according to its Instat Scout database.

In any case, the American was the one who played the longest than anyone, he was the top scorer (12.6 pence) with the highest accuracy rate from the squad’s peripherals (44% FG) and led 24.3% of attacks from Milan from behind the screens. He was also the third rebounder and most effective defender, according to data from the same source, with impressive numbers at both the operator after the change (0.77p per opponent possession) and the post (0.21 per opponent possession)!

Theoretically, Milan should be heavily influenced, but Dinos Mitoglou, who was also injured, was actually absent. Instead, he appeared resilient, developed defenses, and after learning to live without shields, made sure to win. Messina took the cards to his mother and re-dealt the deck, re-defining the roles.

The new data

The most typical example had to do with Troy Daniels, whose average participation increased from 9’57” to 12’30” to fill the gap in the long shot. The 30-year-old American has doubled his goal tally (from 4.4 to 8.4) in his 8-year tenure in the NBA as he now shoots more than before. He was previously vulnerable on defense, so his offensive support offset that invariable disadvantage.

Dilleni has also become much more determined with the ball in hand and has improved his percentages from the three-pointer. Up until the game against Real, the one Shields hit, he was shooting 30.8% from behind 6m75, but since then he’s hit almost 1 of the 2 he executes (48.6%).

As a team, without changing pace, Armani has increased his productivity on defense and lowered his opponents’ scores. Yes, he played 2 games with bottom Zalgiris, but at the same time he held CSKA to 57 (3/24 three points, only 6 assists).

It was already a set with a defensive approach in his game, but it’s gone from 71.9 points and 0.91 per possession to 67.5-0.88 per possession. A performance that reflects dedication and focus, constantly pushing the ball and stopping the long shot as he now receives a 7.3 out of 8.6 per game.

The…Shield of Olympiacos

What is certain is that something like this will succeed at SEF to steal the double: playing at a low tempo and pressing the respective operator affects the productivity of Olympiacos, who achieve 81.2 possessions and count 1 point per possession (3rd best performance in the Euroleague). In this case, it will depend on the right distances and good reading of the situations by the respective Bartzokas “ace” in order to ensure excellent circulation and liberation from difficult situations.

Sloukas, Wookup and second-degree Dorsey, Papanikolaou and McKissick (who download all the time) have a lot to do as a pair, but the red-whites are superior (in stats and tradition).