Celtics Finish Euro Tour with game in Milan


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Boston Celtics at EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
Sunday, October 7, 2012
12:00 PM ET
TV: NBA-TV, CSNNE
Radio: WEEI
Pregame on CSNNE at 11:30
Mediolanum Forum (Milan, Italy)
The Celtics complete their 2012 World Tour with a stop in Milan to face EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. EA7s the most titled basketball team in Italy, having won 25 Italian Championships, 3 European Championships, 4 Italian National Cups, and 1 Intercontinental Cup. Their last championship was in 1996. Several NBA players have been a part of this franchise including Bill Bradley, Antoine Carr, Mike D'Antoni, Joe Barry Carroll, Bob McAdoo, Antonio Davis, Darryl Dawkins,Rolando Blackman, Thurl Bailey, Beno Udrih, and others.

After arriving at their hotels around 5am on Saturday after their game in Istanbul, Doc gave the players their first day off since camp started. After a day to rest their achy muscles and to catch up on some rest, the players should be ready to take on another challenge. Hopefully this time with a different result.
I expect Doc to once again make player and team evaluation his main objective in this game. He will more than likely start the first unit and then let the reserves close it out as he did in the first game on the trip. Jared Sullinger, Jeff Green and Darko Milicic impressed in the first game. It will be interesting to see if they once again step up and also to see which other players step up their game. With one game under their belts, hopefully this game won't be quite as sloppy with fewer turnovers and missed defensive assignments.

 The Celtics turned the ball over 25 times in their first game, which could be chalked up to first game jitters and rust and learning to play with new teammates.   The rebounding was encouraging in their first game as they won the battle of the boards 37-32 and they corralled 14 offensive rebounds.  Hopefully that will become the norm this season.  The Celtics should also be concentrating on closing holes in their defense as Fenerbache were able to get to the basket the entire game for easy baskets.  The Celtics must defend the pick and roll better along with closing out on the 3 point shooters better. 

After this game, the Celtics will return to the States for the remainder of their preseason schedule. Hopefully, as in 2007-08 when they last began their season in Europe, the Celtics will return with a renewed sense of team and a championship level of chemistry. Note the early tip off time for this game at 12:00 pm ET.



Celtics Roster
Rajon Rondo
Courtney Lee
Paul Pierce
Brandon Brass
Kevin Garnett
Jason Terry
Jeff Green
Darko Milicic
Jared Sullinger
Fab Melo
Jason Collins
Dionte Christmas
Kris Joseph
Jamar Smith
Chris Wilcox
Rob Kurz
Avery Bradley
Micah Downs

Head Coach
Doc Rivers

Injuries
Avery Bradley (shoulder) out
Chris Wilcox (back) day to day
Micah Downs (shoulder) day to day



EA7 Emporio Armani Milano Roster
Lorenzo Bartoli
Andrea Amato
Jacopo Giachetti
Rok Stipcevic
Malik Hairston
Antonis Fotsis
Omar Cook
David Chiotti
Ioannis Bourousis
Nicolo Melli
Keith Langford
Alessandro Gentile
Richard Hendrix
Gianluca Basile

Head Coach
Sergio Scariolo