Armani Milano has no excuses in front of Zenit Sankt-Petersburg
Tonight, in Mediolanum Forum, Armani Milano has to sweep Zenit Sankt-Petersburg. The host team has made another move on the market acquiring Keifer Sykes, an explosive guard who will replace the injured Nemanja Nedovic. He has previous experience in Italy with Avellino, being a natural-born scorer.
Now Armani Milano has the roster almost complete and a lot of possibilities to rotate players on every position. But their biggest advantage is the rest. Because I am sure the squad was a bit affected by the long trip in some of the weeks when they had 4 games in 8 days. Let’s not forget that Luis Scola, Sergio Rodriguez, Vladimir Micov, Christian Burns or Andrea Cinciarini are not teenagers anymore. They needed more rest, not to play every 2 days, travelling long distances and so on.
Now, at the game time, the squad from Milano will be really rested, because they had the last game relatively close, in Bologna, almost a week ago. They lost to the best team in Italy at the moment but doesn’t matter now. Their Euroleague campaign is more important and this can be a crucial time for them to prove it. Losing at home with Zenit would be the worst that can happen now for Armani Milano, after all their effort and investments for this season. Actually I expect a game where the Italians will dominate without mercy.
On the other side, Zenit Sankt-Petersburg is an ambitious team, but their roster is not so deep. The Russians had some good games so far this season, but they are not a force in the Euroleague. Last week, Zenit was beaten at home by Crvena Zvezda in an incredible game where they scored only 58 points. The lack of offensive solutions in front of the good defense remains their main problem.
Photo: Euroleague
Gratian Cormos
