Milano is set to play against Trento in Round 10 of the Serie A, but is facing massive availability issues ahead of the game at home.
Milano lost to Baskonia 88-78 on the road in Round 14 of the EuroLeague, and a big part of that result was the state of the Italian side, who was missing several players. Head coach Peppe Poeta had this to say about his Milano debut, illustrating the problems within the team:
“Our physical condition is not good—Ellis, Booker, and Tonut have a fever, and Lorenzo returned today. However, that’s not an excuse; we could have done better, but Baskonia’s energy didn’t allow us to compete the way we wanted. We played the game without our rhythm. That’s something Ellis usually brings, but he had the flu and wasn’t in his best shape. Still, that’s no excuse for our loss.”
Claim Now Poeta is ready to make his Serie A debut against Trento, in a game that will be played on Sunday, December 7th, in front of the Milano home crowd, as they will look to support the team in their effort to improve their 5-4 record. However, it is a challenging moment due to the abnormal number of absences, and the following players are out: Nate Sestina (right arm), Diego Flaccadori (surgery), Nico Mannion (fractured nasal septum), Ousmane Diop (right knee), Stefano Tonut (flu), Marko Guduric (scheduled sideline), and Lorenzo Brown (right shoulder). The situation is so dire that three players from the Under-19 team (Samuele Miccoli, Mattia Ceccato and Luca Bandirali) will be on the bench.
Quinn Ellis is the one key piece in the rotation that actually will be fully ready to go, and Poeta will have to use all of his coaching wits to balance his short rotations against Trento, who are 4-5 in the Serie A.
