2018-19Regular SeasonRound 16
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 111
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 94
January 03, 2019 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 MEDIOLANUM FORUM

Milan blasts Buducnost with record scoring performance

AX Armani Exchange Emporio Milan set a new club scoring record in a 111-94 rout of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica on Thursday night at Mediolanum Forum. Milan never trailed and set club records for points after one quarter (36) and in a half (56) en route to a lopsided win that took its record to 8-8. Vladimir Micov led the attack with 20 points, Mindaugas Kuzminskas netted 19, Mike James produced 17 points and 8 assists, Dairis Bertans added 17 on 5-of-6 three-point shooting and Arturas Gudaitis posted 14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Teenager Goga Bitadze shined with 23 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks for Buducnost, which saw its record slide to 3-13. Norris Cole compiled 17 points and 6 assists, Earl Clark scored 16 and Petar Popovic 12 in defeat.

Kaleb Tarczewski, in his last appearance before undergoing surgery on his thumb, opened the scoring with an alley-oop dunk courtesy of a James assist. Clark got Buducnost on the scoreboard, but then Milan reeled off 13 straight points, with Kuzminskas, James and Bertans each knocking down three-pointers. Cole and Bitadze tried to get the visitors going, however, a Kuzminskas dunk on the break made it 21-6 after 5 minutes. Kuzminskas was hot from behind the arc with a trio of triples – all via James assists – as the lead grew to 33-15. Coty Clark free throws ended the first quarter with the hosts in charge 36-22. Bitadze scored the first two baskets of the second quarter, but soon Gudaitis took over for Milan in the paint and kept the hosts cruising. Cole scored 7 points over three possessions to keep Buducnost in the hunt before Milan called timeout at 44-33. James Bell nailed a triple to shave the deficit to single digits, 45-36, however, Gudaitis answered with 4 points. Bell corrected his own miss in the final minute of the half to again get Buducnost within 9, but James's floater made it 56-45 at the break. Little changed at the start of the second half as Milan continued scoring at a record pace and Bitadze continued dominating in the paint with the help of Cole. Kuzminskas's basket-plus-foul was followed by Bertans's fourth three-pointer, which made it 71-54 and resulted in a Buducnost timeout. Christian Burns took the margin to 18 with free throws before Popovic split free throws to make it 82-66 through three quarters. Buducnost clawed its way to within 10, however, Curtis Jerrells knocked down a three and Gudaitis scored from the line to keep Milan rolling. Clark again drew the visitors to within 10, but James responded with a three-point play and the hosts held on the rest of the way.

A few almost-records

Milan not only set a club scoring record, which had been 105 against Anadolu Efes Istanbul in November 2016, but its total performance index rating of 126 was the second highest in club history and its 16 three-pointers tied for third most. Dairis Bertans set a personal best with 5 three-pointers and Mindaugas Kuzminskas tied his best with 4.

First-quarter dominance

Milan took the game by storm in the first quarter through Mike James and Mindaugas Kuzminskas to lead by 14 after 10 minutes. James had 10 points and 6 assists in that period; 4 of those dimes resulted in Kuzminskas triples. Kuzminskas did not miss from downtown in amassing 14 points in the quarter. Milan was 7 for 10 from downtown and made 6 of 9 shots inside the arc in racing to a 36-22 start. Buducnost made only 1 three in the first quarter.

A Rising Star soars

If anyone thought Goga Bitadze's spectacular debut in Round 15 was beginner's luck, the teenage center showed off his skill set again with a monster performance off the bench. Bitadze had a monster game with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks in 27 minutes, many of which came against Arturas Gudaitis, who is among the league leaders in PIR. Just two games into his EuroLeague career, Bitadze is already making a strong case for Rising Star Award consideration.

Next week

Buducnost starts January's two-round week with a trip to Tel Aviv to face Maccabi on Wednesday, while Milan stays home for a date with FC Barcelona Lassa.

Vladimir Micov - AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan - EB18
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: ROCHA, FERNANDO; MANTYLA, PETRI; HALLIKO, AARE
Attendance: 7865
By Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan36202629
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica22232128
End of Quarter1234
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan365682111
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica22456694
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 DELLA VALLE, AMEDEO 7:15 3   1/2     1 1             2 5
2 JAMES, MIKE 31:39 17 5/10 1/5 4/7   3 3 8 2 1   2 3 6 18
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 35:46 20 4/7 2/3 6/6   2 2 5 1 2 1 1 2 5 25
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 26:11 14 2/3   10/13 5 7 12 1   4 3   3 7 26
9 BERTANS, DAIRIS 22:31 17 1/2 5/6     1 1 1         3 1 15
13 FONTECCHIO, SIMONE 1:36     0/2                   2   -4
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 11:30 4 2/2     2 3 5 1         4   6
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 30:25 19 3/7 4/5 1/1 2 2 4 1   1 1 2 3 3 17
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 9:06 5 1/2 1/2     1 1     1     1 1 3
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN 7:52 4 1/1   2/2       1         2 1 4
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 16:09 8 1/2 2/5     1 1 3             8
92 OMIC, ALEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 111 20/36 16/30 23/29 10 23 33 21 3 9 5 5 23 26 126
        55.6% 53.3% 79.3%
Head coach: PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 JACKSON, EDWIN 14:34 3 1/3 0/1 1/1   1 1           2 4 3
3 COLE, NORRIS 23:25 17 7/16 1/2   2 1 3 7 1 1   2 2 2 15
4 SEHOVIC, SUAD 15:00 3   1/2   1 1 2   1       2   3
5 CLARK, EARL 27:05 16 5/10 1/2 3/4 1 2 3 2       1 1 3 15
6 BAROVIC, FILIP 10:14 3 1/1   1/2 1   1 1   2 1   4 1  
7 CLARKE, COTY 12:00 6 2/2   2/2   1 1 1   1       1 8
8 SEHOVIC, SEAD DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 GORDIC, NEMANJA 19:18 2 1/4 0/2 0/2       3   1     2 1 -4
11 BITADZE, GOGA 26:50 23 8/12 1/1 4/6 5 3 8 2   1 3 2 4 8 31
30 POPOVIC, PETAR 14:54 12 3/5 1/1 3/4 1 4 5 1         3 2 14
31 BELL, JAMES 23:19 5 1/3 1/4   1 2 3     1 1   2   1
34 NIKOLIC, DANILO 13:21 4 2/2 0/2 0/2 4 2 6           4 1 3
Team           1 3 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 94 31/58 6/17 14/23 17 20 37 17 2 8 5 5 26 23 92
        53.4% 35.3% 60.9%
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN

Head Coaches

PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
For me, it's important that everybody comes inside, makes a contribution. We are in a very difficult moment because many players are tired because we played so many games, also in our league, in December and also the injuries that we have. To win tonight, because now with the new players Buducnsot has unbelievable potential to score. For us, it was important to start the way we did, the right way, and then to get contributions from everybody. So I am proud of my players. We know that we are not in an easy moment. When we hoped to be our best, we have to change because of injuries, but my players showed a desire to stay at that level.
REPESA, JASMIN
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
"You have seen how we started the game. To let Milan run and shoot easy shots, it is impossible to play them, especially at home. They scored 9 triples in the first half, 16 three-pointers for the game, and with high percentages. It is enough to see where our problem was from the start of the game. I took over this team three days ago, which has lost seven games in a row. We had two practices, but it is easy to see that the conditioning and the shape of the team is not on a level high enough to play in the EuroLeague. It is because of the difficult two competitions the team is playing, EuroLeague and the Adriatic League, where travels are tough, and day by day and game by game, spending a lot of energy and not having enough time for practices, it got to one situation like this. The most important is to continue to believe and to work. After a long time will now be seven days at home and I hope with some practice we will improve our conditioning and shape of some players and start changing things in our system."

Players

KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"Most important is to start the new year this way, like coach said, we have a lot of injured players, but I think that's a strength of our team that even without them we can still play a the highest level. Like you saw today, we used 11 players on the court, except for Alen [Omic], who just joined the team yesterday."