From Final Four dreams to uncertain futures: Milan's EuroLeague tale / News - Basketnews.com

For the second season in a row, Olimpia Milan failed to qualify for the EuroLeague playoffs. Between injuries, lack of chemistry, and a questionable offensive system, there are a lot of questions to be addressed this offseason.

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com Credit ZUMAPRESS.com

Ambition is important; it pushes you to try to get to the top and be better than others.

After reaching the Final Four in Cologne in 2021, in whichEA7 Emporio Armani Milanwere defeated in the semifinal byFC Barcelona, the Italian powerhouse had the ambition to return to that level in the last two seasons.

But the team from that Final Four is long gone:Sergio Rodriguezhas returned toReal Madrid,Kevin PunterandZach LeDaynow play forPartizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, and professors of the game Gigi Datome and Vlado Micov have retired.

OnlyShavon ShieldsandKyle Hinesremain of all the key players on that team. After that defeat in the last seconds against Barcelona, Milan's executives developed a belief: to return to this level again, we have to change. This team was too small, and we had to build a roster with more size.

However, this belief did not bring the desired results in the past two seasons, and Milan has often appeared as an overbalanced team, a colossus with feet of clay.

For example, this season, Milan started the season with a really large number of players in the frontcourt: Hines,Nicolo Melli,Johannes Voigtmann,Nikola Mirotic,Alex Poythress,Ismael Kamagate,Guglielmo Caruso, andGiampaolo Ricci.

Mirotic, in his first season in an Olimpia jersey, did what was expected of him; the former Barcelona man scored with great continuity, averaging 17 points per game in the EuroLeague, shooting at 42% from 3-point range.

Nikola MiroticCredit ZUMAPRESS.com - Scanpix

Courted by many clubs during the offseason, and after being very close to signing with Partizan, Mirotic eventually chose to sign for Olimpia Milan.

The Italian team followed the case from the beginning, and the presence of Igor Crespo, agent of both Ettore Messina and Nikola Mirotic, favored them.

By the time the player seemed destined for Belgrade, Olimpia had already considered a different structure with the addition of Alex Poythress. He was initially supposed to be the team's starting center, with veteran Kyle Hines and young Ismael Kamagate behind him.

Team captain Nicolò Melli, in that idea, would have been used more as the 4 along with Johannes Voigtmann.

However, after Mirotic's signing, Melli was again moved to the center spot, and Kamagate's presence became essentially redundant.

Moreover, Mirotic's arrival changed the tactical and locker room presence balance.

By moving to Milan, the former Barcelona star became the team's highest-paid player, which has created some jealousy within the team. It started with

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