Milan-Bologna basketball championship final: calendar, key players, coaches

For the first time in the history of the playoffs that began in 1976-77, the championship final is played between the same teams for the third year in a row. Simmenthal and Ignis Varese played three consecutive play-offs from 1971 to 1973. Forty years later Milan and Virtus, in order of standings at the end of the regular season, re-propose that duopoly that the introduction first of the championship poule and then of the playoffs intended to break. Since 2021, before the finals they have lost only once (Milan against Pesaro in game 3 this year) out of the 36 matches between quarter-finals and semi-finals. In the last semifinals they eliminated Sassari and Tortona with a margin of 20ppg per game.

In 2021 Virtus won the title with a clear and unpredictable 4-0 in the final. Last year Milan ended the series 4-2. For this year’s “beautiful” the home court is in favor of Milan thanks to the 22-point victory in Bologna at the beginning of January. In the previous seasons, except for the last day of the Euroleague with teams that have already been eliminated, the victories have all been away from home. Virtus also won on the neutral field of Brescia in the Super Cup semifinal.

The parallel story of the two coaches is enriched by another intersection. They made their debut in the same year, 1989, and at the end of that championship Scariolo won the title with Pesaro. At 29 he is the youngest coach to win the championship in history. Messina has won the Euroleague four times, Scariolo four European Championships and a World Cup with Spain. The Milan coach could win the sixth Scudetto in his history, after the three with Virtus and those with Treviso and Milan. At six, behind the unrivaled Cesare Rubini with 15, Guido Brocca player coach of the Assi Milano in the 1920s, and Simone Pianigiani (5 in Siena and one in Milan). Both have NBA experience: Messina for a year as a consultant to the Lakers and 5 as deputy in San Antonio, Scariolo for 3 years on the Toronto staff with the 2019 title. And he’s running for the Raptors bench.

From the bench to the field, the challenge remains of the highest level. Shabazz Napier has changed the face of Olimpia since he arrived at the end of January with leadership, points, assists, steals. Milos Teodosic changes the face of Virtus practically every time he sets foot on the field with his splendid assists and triples at the right time. An important part of the Scudetto challenge passes through their hands and their talent.

Gigi Datome will turn 36 in November, Marco Belinelli has already turned 37. The baggage they bring to their teams is not just experience. Beli is the best scorer of Virtus with 12.8 points in just over 20 minutes per game. It’s often his triples that trigger the winning runs. The bad mood of the winter for little employment passed like this. Datome experienced a complicated season due to injuries and a virus which limited him. In the league he played 22 of the 37 matches in Milan. In the playoffs, however, he found form and strength: against Sassari he was fundamental in game-2, with two triples in a row he launched the decisive partial in game-3 and in the series he scored 12 points in 14.6 minutes on average with 46.6% from three.