Olimpia Milano: huge investments, low results, as every year!
Ever since the format change that happened in the EuroLeague in the 2016-17 season, Olimpia Milan was always among the favourites for a Final Four spot. Owner Giorgio Armani invested heavily in the team and while the ‘’Little Red Shoes’’ had success in the Serie A winning the last three league titles, in the EuroLeague it was mostly a disappointment for the Olimpia fans.
In the first season when the EuroLeague adopted the league-type format that still exists today, Jasmin Repesa was the coach of Milan and even with some talented players on the roster like Ricky Hickman, Mantas Kalnietis, Zoran Dragic, Krunoslav Simon or Simone Fontecchio to just name a few, the team finished last in the standings. The next two seasons Simone Pianigiani took the head coaching job, but the results only slightly improved, as Olimpia finished in 15th and then in 12th place in the EuroLeague even with some strong signings like Mike James, Andrew Goudelock, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Vlado Micov, Nemanja Nedovic, James Nunnally or Curtis Jerrels ( they did win one Serie A title ).
Pianigiani left the team in 2019 and was replaced with Ettore Messina, a European coaching legend. The roster was revamped again, Mike James left, but Sergio Rodriguez and Luis Scola arrived in Milan. The season was not finished because of the Covid virus outbreak, but Milan struggled in the first 28 rounds, being in 12th place when the season was stopped.
The next season Olimpia looked like they should with awesome guards like Delaney, Punter and Rodriguez, veterans Hines and Datome, while Shavon Shields and Zach LeDay also played great. Milan reached the Final Four and was unlucky to finish only 3rd, losing by 2 points in the semifinal against Barcelona.
Unfortunately, things only got worse after this. They did finish 3rd in the EuroLeague regular season in 2021-22, but then they got eliminated 3-1 by Efes Istanbul, who became the champion. Milan finished in 12th place the next two seasons, failing to qualify for the playoffs. Messina remained the head coach (and became also President of Basketball Operations), and the roster suffered several changes, including some huge signings like Nikola Mirotic, Shabazz Napier or Nicolo Melli but the results were disappointing.
Milan did win a three-peat in Serie A and is the favourite to win a 4th title in a row, but with a 1-4 record to start this EuroLeague season, it seems they might be headed to another underwhelming season in Europe.
Imre Halasz
Photo credit: Euroleague
