By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Olimpia Milano swingman Michael Roll discussed the suspension of EuroLeague due to the coronavirus pandemic, a decision he thinks it arrived with a delay.
“I thought Adam Silver did a great job. Really, he’s been so proactive and forward-thinking about so many topics in the NBA,” Roll said on Tim Haberstroh’s “The Habershow” podcast when asked about his reaction when he saw that NBA is shutting down.”And he did it so quickly in my eyes. In Europe they took forever, they dragged their feet. Their decision was later than it should have been, I think. But Adam Silver was quick. Especially with March Madness around the corner. I feel that everybody took on his leadership and took with it.”
Roll talked about how he experienced the days before EuroLeague’s suspension on March 12.
“We played with Real Madrid at home with no fans. And then we went to Valencia to play another game. No fans there, the Spanish government didn’t allow it. Then, the following week, we were supposed to play a home game against Olympiacos. Two days prior to that, the Greek government banned all flights to Italy. That threw them a wrinkle on the travel. We didn’t want to play the game because we didn’t want to have to leave the country and then maybe not being able to get back in. Nobody knew about the border situation and if someone from the team was to get the virus while we were gone, then we would have to quarantine away from our families for 14 days.”
“It was a disaster,” Roll added. “The EuroLeague came up with the idea that we would play the game in Berlin, Germany so that it was mutual for both teams. The game was on a Friday. They traveled on Thursday morning. We elected to travel on Friday to do just a quick in and out. They had already flown to Berlin and then we saw that the NBA had put the season on hold so eventually EuroLeague was forced to do the same.”