Messina addresses critics, mistake regarding Pangos and Napier's desire to return / News - Basketnews.com

Ettore Messina revealed considering stepping aside due to poor results but received support from team executives, emphasized the stability and success of the project since 2019.

Credit: Fabrizio Carabelli/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix Credit Fabrizio Carabelli/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan snapped their four-game EuroLeague losing streak on Thursday night with a resounding 83-52 victory over Valencia Basket.

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan / Schedule

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Valencia Basket83-52 Virtus Segafredo Bologna EA7 Emporio Armani MilanTue19:30 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Anadolu Efes IstanbulThu19:30

The convincing win not only halted the team's recent struggles but also shushed speculations and criticism surrounding head coach Ettore Messina.

In a recent interview with Italian media outlet Il Foglio, Messina shed light on some pressing issues. He revealed that he approached the team's top executives at the start of the week to discuss the possibility of leaving the job.

"At the beginning of the week, I went to Mr. [Giorgio] Armani and Mr. [Pantaleo] Dell'Orco to ask them if they wanted me to step aside due to the poor results. Armani told me, 'Go to work,' while Dell'Orco stated, 'Let's go back to winning.' I have a tremendous amount of respect for them," Messina said.

The 64-year-old also shared insights into his role and the team's vision, which he took over back in 2019.

"When the ownership called me the first time, they weren't happy with the situation at the club," Messina underlined. "There were too many decisions and too much confusion. The ownership asked me to provide stability, not change the course after every season. And I think that things are going well because, since 2019, the project has been clear. We won two Italian League titles and returned to the EuroLeague Final Four.

"I want to say that my double role [head coach and president of basketball operations] was decided in full cooperation with the club," he continued. "I'm always the same Ettore Messina that I was in Madrid or Moscow. My job didn't change, even though I now have the role of president of basketball operations.

Points this season

47%77,0Points made:77,0Accuracy:47,2%Place in standings:15Record max:90Record min:65Best scorer:Nikola MiroticTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

"I'm not interested in title jobs. What matters is that I'm the one who picks the players I'm going to coach. Do you believe that Dan Peterson didn't pick his players? And it works in the same way in the other EuroLeague teams. Critics don't like the double title coach-president? The most important thing is that technical decisions belong to me. And it is not true that there's no internal dialogue. I don't deal with contracts and salaries. There's Christos Stavropoulos for that, our GM, who has great international experience."

Lastly, Messina acknowledged an error in signing Kevin Pangos, who had been left out from the previous two consecutive EuroLeague rounds.

Messina admits that the team lacks a suitable playmaker right now. Shabazz Napier was the one in 2022-23, but he left for Crvena Zvezda in the summer and, interestingly, now wants to return to Milan, as Messina says.

"At the base of this poor start of the season, there's a critical mistake -- we don't have the right driver for our car," Messina stressed. "Pangos is not the right man to make this team play in a certain way, and I didn't make the right adjustments trying to simplify the game, making him pass more through two big men like Nicolo Melli and Johannes Voigtmann. With a simpler game, we'd have fewer turnovers, something that cost us several losses.

"I admit that I made a mistake," he added. "Maybe I should have understood that, when Pangos went from being Cleveland Cavaliers backup guard to being out of the rotations in a few months.

"Last season, with Shabazz Napier, we fixed the situation during the ongoing season and won the Italian League. But this summer, after he [Napier] said that he wanted to stay, he increased his requests even more; we had already offered him the triple of what he was making. We couldn't do more than that, and now he's sending texts to his friends saying that he'd love to come back."

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