Armani Milano - Pesaro

Italy - Serie A, Playoffs, Quarterfinal

Since the end of the season in the Euroleague, Armani Milano perfectly uses the program of matches in the domestic championship, to raise the form before the end of the fight for the Lega Basket Seria A title.

First of all, the famous team from Milan seems to be getting better offensively. Since the middle of April, the squad of the celebrated and experienced coach Ettore Messina has shown extreme seriousness and achieved six victories in a row. In that period, the best match was the last one, against Pesaro (94:68), at the start of the playoffs on May 13.

What the Armani team shows more and more continuously, is the absence of drops of quality in their game. The first reason for that is the timing of the form for the season's end and the potential final, this club has a clearly defined goal to defend the Italian championship title. Against Pesaro two days ago, Milan outscored their opponents in each of the quarters. Coach Messina in the playoffs demands that there is no relaxation in any situation or phase of the game. The result – only 12 points conceded in the fourth quarter, in a situation where the match against Pesaro was already decided.

Second reason is that Armani can finally count on healthy key players continuously. First of all – on the healthy and recovered offensive options of the players of the outside line. Thus, in the first match against Pesaro, excellent guard Billy Baron scored 19 points; there was no need for former NBA star Shabazz Napier to force (nine points and four assists, but also important six rebounds for him). Messina did a great job of distributing the playing time to all 12 players – and they all showed seriousness.

Counting on the fact that Pesaro really does not have options in the rotation and individuals, or any variant of the team on the court that could match Armani Milano away from home - we should expect a similar new match in this quarter-final series. Only Dejan Kravic was in a solid scoring rhythm two days ago with 13 points (8-5 shooting from the field) and much more is expected from Austin Day (stopped at nine points and only two field goals in Milan).

In reality, Pesaro will still look for a chance for even an uncertain match in the playoffs against Armani Milano - but on their home field. The famous historical team from the end of the eighties (two-time champions of Italy), led from the bench by veteran Croatian coach Jasmin Repesha (for years without success in a number of clubs, wherever he worked) - plays dominantly poorly away from home this season. The last time Pesaro won as a guest was on January 15, against Scafati 81:69. Since then, as guests, they have lost as many as nine matches in a row, mostly convincing defeats. In the loss before the last one, away to Napoli, Pesaro received as many as 98 points. In total, both home and away, Repesa's team has lost ten of their last 13 games in all competitions.

That this first match of the quarter-finals is not a coincidence, is also evidenced by the victory of Armani in Milano against Pesaro 102:70, in their duel played on April 9 in the league part of the competition. Simply, Pesaro cannot compete with the current champion either tactically, energetically or in terms of individual quality, and the basketball public in Italy is aware of this - as well as the members of both teams. The situation is such, that even a single digit triumph by Armani Milano would be a surprise in this match.