By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Sergio Rodriguez will not play for AX Armani Exchange Milan versus his former team, Real Madrid, the Italian giant announced Wednesday.
“He asked to stay in Milan, for personal reasons,” noted head coach Ettore Messina in Olimpia Milano’s official preview of Thursday’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 29 fixture, “It is clearly a huge loss for us.”
Rodriguez, 35, had appeared in all 26 games of the 2021-22 EuroLeague Regular Season so far. He put up 8.5 points, 4.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.7 steals per contest. Sitting at 18-8, his side is ranked third overall behind leading FC Barcelona’s 21-5 and Madrid’s 20-7.
“This is a very important game for the standings and the homecourt playoff push,” pointed out Malcolm Delaney regarding the meeting at WiZink Center, “Real Madrid is a very good team, coming off of a few losses, so we know they’ll have extra motivation at home, in front of their crowd.”
Shavon Shields (wrist), Luigi Datome (knee), and Trey Kell (leg) will stay on the Italian team’s injury list.
“They had a few injury problems, like all other teams, but they remained competitive,” commented Madrid’s play-caller Pablo Laso, “We have to be aware that we play against a great opponent that is playing great defense in general, and they also move the ball well in offense.”
As for his side, on a four-game losing streak and fresh off the Round 20 makeup game opposite Crvena Zvezda mts Tuesday, Jeffery Taylor (thigh) and Nigel Williams-Goss (leg) are considered questionable. Fabien Causeur (hip) and Carlos Alocen (knee) will remain sidelined.
Photo Credit: EuroLeagueBasketball.net