From rookie to savior: Olimpia Milan is now in Mitrou-Long's hands / News - Basketnews.com

Naz Mitrou-Long is now the biggest hope for Olimpia Milan to get out of the current slump, as the Canadian looks like the only one capable to impress a change of pace inside the team.

Credit: Dainius Lukšta Credit Dainius Lukšta

Sometimes there is no time to adjust. You get thrown into the middle of the fray and must stand your ground despite little experience. It's as if someone wanted to teach you how to swim by throwing you straight into the deepest part of a pool, and you don't have time to work on technique. You just have to stay afloat.

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan / Schedule

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul72-82 Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz EA7 Emporio Armani MilanThu19:30

This is basically the situation Naz Mitrou-Long, one of the additions made by EA7 Emporio Armani Milan during the offseason, found himself in. The Canadian player of Greek descent played a top-notch season in Brescia in his rookie year in Europe, being named rookie of the year at the end of the season.

Originally Milan's idea was that Mitrou-Long would be a complementary piece within an experienced roster full of top players, using him mainly as an alternative to a marquee-signing Kevin Pangos.

But things during a season can change quickly. Mitrou-Long was forced to miss the first part of the season due to a muscle injury suffered during the Supercup.

By the time he returned, Milan was already in a fair amount of trouble, with Kevin Pangos struggling more and more to integrate and impose himself in Ettore Messina's schemes.

With a nightmarish first part of the season in the EuroLeague, Milan is last in the standings and has the worst offense in the competition.

Mitrou-Long has found himself having an almost fundamental role for Messina's team, having to make up for the various absences in the backcourt and the offensive shortcomings of a team that has tremendous difficulty in creating anything dangerous on offense.

Credit EA7 Armani Milan

Now that Pangos will be out for at least 6-8 weeks due to the knee injury he suffered in the game against Fenerbahce, the Canadian/Greek guard remains the only viable option for Messina in the backcourt and probably the only player that could give Milan a boost in terms of creativity and ability to attack the opponent's defense.

Free throws this season

78%10,2Points made:10,2Accuracy:78,5%Place in standings:18Record max:15Record min:2Most made FTs:Brandon DaviesTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

In the 5 games he has played in EuroLeague so far, Mitrou-Long has always scored at least 10 points, providing his season-high 19 points in a loss against Zalgiris Kaunas.

The guard is averaging 14.2 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.4 rebounds, shooting with an impressive 45% from 3-point. These are definitely impressive stats for a rookie in the competition.

Although Mitrou-Long has only been back in the rotation for a handful of games, he immediately became a key player for Messina.

A statistic that further underlines how much of Milan's game passes through his hands is the 35% usage rate. Whether it is through the pick&roll or in isolation situations, the game flows through his hands whenever Mitrou-Long is on the court.

The former Brescia player is the only player with a change of pace capable of giving more speed to Milan's stagnant offense and one of the few who seems not to have lost confidence in his abilities despite the negative period the team is going through.

In the last two games of the Italian Serie A, the Canadian guard was hands down the best player of Olimpia Milan, scoring 23 points against Trieste and 19 against Treviso. In both games, he shot more than 50% from three-point and always had at least 5 assists.

Certainly, Mitrou-Long still suffers from some flaws typical of a player still adjusting to the new level. He loses trivial balls from time to time, and some of his choices offensively are a bit forced.

Defensively, he is sometimes beaten a little too easily, but at the same time, his skill on loose balls is something to be reckoned with. Pangos' injury will give even more autonomy to Mitrou-Long, who will literally have the keys of the team in his hands.

Milan does not seem intent on adding another player in the backcourt department, at least not for the time being.

The Italian team has only one remaining signing available in the domestic league, and to take advantage of it already now would mean depriving themselves of the possibility of making further adjustments in the coming months.

The Italian league could become a crucial competition if things do not improve in the EuroLeague.

In addition, the club is confident that Pangos will fully recover from the knee injury without surgery, which will obviously reduce the recovery time. However, the Canadian player will be sidelined for at least 2 months.

The idea, then, is to give full confidence to Mitrou-Long and also use Devon Hall as a point guard, as was the case last season when both Sergio Rodriguez and Malcolm Delaney had injury problems.

The presence of Tommaso Baldasso should allow Milan to use the Italian player more in the domestic league and, if necessary, give him minutes in EuroLeague as well.

Messina, of course, will try to get more players that struggle in rhythm. Especially Brandon Davies, who was the other main addition in the offseason after Pangos.

Credit Erikas Ovčarenko

The former Barcelona big man remained on the bench for the entire game against Fenerbahce after playing an extremely disappointing game against Anadolu Efes. The Italian head coach tried to send a message to the American big man, who needs to be much more involved, both offensively and defensively.

Davies showed some positive signs in the domestic league game against Treviso, especially when he received the ball in front of the basket and not in the post.

This is an element that, most likely, Messina should start to consider more because, as a dynamic big man, Davies looks much more comfortable when he gets the ball in dynamic situations and not in static ones like in the low post.

Trying to revitalize Johannes Voigtmann and Deshaun Thomas will also be another part of the operation to start the ascent in the EuroLeague. Both players have been underperforming for a while now, and Milan needs desperately to get some rhythm and some scoring out of them.

Meanwhile, Billy Baron officially made his return after the injury in the last game against Treviso and will definitely provide some much-needed scoring on the perimeter.

Milan, so far, has been terrible in terms of 3-point shooting percentage, and a sharpshooter like Baron can only help in that department.

But in the coming weeks, the main difference between a resurrection and a final fall in the EuroLeague will be Naz Mitrou-Long and his ability to turn around the difficulties of an offense that so far has been barren, to say the least.

It was not the initial plan, but circumstances have changed, and now Mitrou-Long will have to adapt to a leadership role. No one anticipated this for him, and there will be no time for a learning curve.

The Canadian player will have to jump in and swim, casting away the fear that he might drown. For the current state of affairs, he is the only one who can keep this team afloat and lead it out of the storm that has hit Olimpia Milan in recent weeks.

From a EuroLeague rookie to the potential savior of the team, this is the change in perspective that awaits Naz Mitrou-Long.

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