BARCELONA — At the end of last season, Olimpia Milano fans had every reason to fret. A poor showing in the Italian League was rough enough on its own, but when it left them without a Euroleague license, the Italian powerhouse had the look of an organization that had bottomed out.
Then the Euroleague issued a reprieve: a wild card berth. Milano would play in the continent’s toughest competition after all.
Once the news was official, Milano cracked open the piggy bank and assembled a squadron that, on paper, seemed strong enough to hoist Milano into Europe’s upper echelon once more.
With Greece down on its financial luck, Milano swooped in for a little looting spree, grabbing Ioannis Bourousis from Olympiacos and Antonis Fotsis and Drew Nicholas from the EL and Greek champs, Panathinaikos. They struck an even bigger blow when they coaxed Malik Hairston over from arch rival Montepaschi Siena, then hired Omar Cook to do the dribbling and top Croatian prospect Leon Radosevic to add some flavor to their bench.
When Danilo Gallinari announced he would weather the lockout in Milano, Final Four chatter bubbled up to the surface.
It made sense.
Milano had acquired weapons that had been to Euroleague Final Fours, won championships and put up gaudy numbers in the NBA. Pulling their collective trigger would be Sergio Scariolo, a native of Brescia, Italy fresh off his second consecutive EuroBasket gold medal as the head coach of Spain’s national team.
After his first European championship in 2009, Scariolo commented on his ability to steer star-laden groups to their expected levels of success.
“You know there are many coaches that are used to [driving] a Fiat and cannot drive a Ferrari,” Scariolo said. “On the other hand those who drive a Ferrari all the time, find it difficult to drive a Fiat.”
Milano’s automobile is certainly no Ferrari; Rubio, Navarro and the Gasol brothers would beat Cook, Hairston, Gallinari and Bourousis around any track, every time.
But Scariolo was still behind the wheel of a Lexus. Maybe a lightly used Beamer or a tricked out Acura. At the very least, something safe and dependable like a Volvo sedan.
For eight out of twelve weeks, however, Scariolo has rolled a lemon onto the showroom floor. With an 0-2 record in the six-game Top 16 and four straight losses in the Italian League, Olimpia Milano’s head man is in danger of having his license revoked.
Firing Scariolo, even with his résumé and reputation, would not be rash.
If there’s been one constant this season in Milano, it’s a general lack of effort, and it’s gotten worse with each loss. The redemptive aura following this club around all summer has relapsed into the same hopeless malaise that clung to Milano’s jerseys late last season. Losses come as easily as Wednesdays, and smiles have disappeared from the Milano bench almost entirely.
Aside from an absence of energy, they play with complete disregard for the fundamentals. Through two winless weeks in the Top 16, Milano’s 37 turnovers and 52 percent from the free throw line are both Euroleague worsts.
Did Gallinari’s return to Denver hurt Milano? Absolutely.
But Milano wasn’t the only team that lost a star to the NBA. In fact, 14 of the Euroleague’s 24 teams have had an NBA rental say farewell at some point this season. Scariolo doesn’t deserve extra sympathy merely because he failed to develop a successful contingency plan.
Between both leagues (Legabasket and Euroleague), Milano is 1-6 in 2012. As the losses have piled up for the team, the individuals on it have all found ways to sink to new individual lows as well.
A few examples…
Cook’s 37 percent shooting is his worst since coming over to Europe in 2005. Fotsis is hitting 31 percent of his threes, his lowest rate since he was a 20-year-old with Panathinaikos back in 2000. Nicholas, brought in to be a father figure on the wing, has fit the bill in all the wrong ways. He looks older, his jumper is more flat and his 7.5 ppg is (Surprise!) the measliest total he’s mustered in seven seasons.
Want more? Here it goes.
Just last week in a 65-63 loss to Fenerbahce Ulker, none of Bourousis’ seven two-pointer attempts found the bottom of the net (he made one of two from downtown). It was his worst two-point shooting performance in all of his 153 career Euroleague games, dating all the way back to 2002-03. Also, despite a bump in minutes from Scariolo this season, his scoring and blocked shots have come down from his 2011 totals with Olympiacos.
Radosevic has hardly seen the court enough—just six minutes per game—to make an impact, negative or positive.
Most of the team seems to be playing for themselves, and doing it lazily. It’s an AAU team minus the shooting sleeves, and the coach wears tailored suits instead of windbreakers.
The only player who seems to care enough to work hard is 34-year-old Mason Rocca, who danced dangerously close to career highs in both points and index rating—16 points and a 27 PIR—in that same road loss to Fenerbahce. Usually, 16 points from the Eduardo Najera-esque pitbull would be a bonus, virtually guaranteeing a victory.
Last week, however, his performance was an oasis of hustle amidst Milano’s trademark carelessness.
If Scariolo could bottle up Rocca’s vigor and force it down the other guys’ throats, he would. It’s what elite coaches do: harness the slightest bit of positive and extrapolate their way to wins. It takes conviction and, in the highly pressurized Euroleague format, a steady hand.
More than that, an elite coach should be able to straighten his team’s wheels, no matter the make and model.
Nick Gibson, editor of EuroleagueAdventures.com, covers Euroleague and other European basketball developments for SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear weekly. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
Nice article. The bit about the cars was especially funny.