Olimpia Milano coach and players give (mostly) high praise for Celtics brand of team basketball
Former Purdue Boilermaker standout Robbie Hummel (pictured above guarding David Lee), who played 98 games with the Minnesota Timberwolves over the past two seasons, was quit impressed with Boston's team-oriented play yesterday:
Robbie Hummel says at halftime, Milano players discussed the fact that the Celtics reminded them of the Spurs w/ the way they moved the ball
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) October 6, 2015
Hummel's Olimpia Milano coach, Jasmin Repesa, echoed a similar sentiment after the game. Via the Associated Press, Repesa said:
Honestly it surprised me because I know they started their camp a few days ago. But they played really well together.
The way they played, moved the ball, offense, defense... I'm really surprised they can play this sort of basketball after just a few days together.
Brad Stevens' club clearly put an emphasis on spreading the ball around--no player took more than 10 shots, while 13 different Celtics had four field goal attempts.
As complimentary as he was of the C's, Repesa apparently thinks very highly of his own ballclub as well:
Milano coach says they're is still jet-lagged from US trip (returned Mon.) & chose not to scout Celtics. Says they could've won. I disagree.
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) October 6, 2015
Hmm... I guess you should never doubt the importance of scouting your opponent?
Follow Mark Vandeusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan