Hi everybody, it's once again blog time! As I write this, we are awaiting our plan to leave for Athens to play the last Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season games against Panathinaikos on their court at OAKA, which I am sure is a special place to play. Since the last time I wrote my blog, a lot of things happened. First of all, we played probably our best game of the season against Efes Pilsen at home, getting very close to reaching the Top 16, while getting the head-to-head tie-breaker with the Turkish powerhouse on our side. Just one thing remained to be done, beat Power Electronics Valencia a week later. We played the game on a neutral court, at Lauretana Forum in Biella, because our court was not available, and it turned out to be a very bad night for us. Valencia played an excellent game, taking the win, while we played nervous. I don't know if it was because of the court, but for sure I know that to advance to the Top 16 now, we need to win in Athens, and hope that Efes or Valencia loses, or both. On paper, those are not the likeliest things to happen, but we know that anything is possible as long as we win.

To tell the truth, Valencia played a great game against us. After we beat them in Valencian, they had changed their coach, and by the time they came to Italy, their mentality, too. They were playing better defense, a strong defense with heavy pressure on the opponents. We knew that and we were ready,... more

 Hello, it's blog time!

This is a very good moment for my team, Armani Jeans Milano: two victories out of the last three games in the Euroleague and six victories out of seven games in the Italian League, where we share first place. When we went to Valencia to play Power Electronics, we got a big road win, as you might know. The victory was sweeter than others for a simple reason - the weather. When we were in Valencia, it was 25 to 30 degrees and sunny. Back in Milan, the bitter winter had started earlier than expected, with 5 to 8 degrees. The taste of sweetness for our team was quickly taken away by Panathinaikos. We lost at home in front of our fans. It was sad to see the red carpet being rolled away. However, I was so impressed by that great team - its excellent players, club and coach.

This is my first experience in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. I'm starting to see and understand the differences in the type of players, the level of play, the coaching strategy and the fan support. Playing against CSKA last week, which was a very important game for both teams, wasn't an easy game. For us, a victory meant a big step towards passing through the first round of the Euroleague and hopefully being able to reach the Top 16. And for CSKA, a victory would have meant a better chance to stay in the middle of the standings in order to not be eliminated. But everybody knows the strength of this team, and under-estimating CSKA due... more

Hi everybody! I'm Nicolo Melli, a forward here at Armani Jeans Milano. I'm 19 years old and honored to be the blogger for my team, writing for Euroleague.net and reaching fans worldwide. This is my first experience at a such a high basketball level, both in my country, Italy, and in Europe. We face a tough season to face with a double mission: getting back to the Euroleague by reaching the Italian League finals while trying to do our best in the Euroleague now won't be easy. This is a great group of guys and we are doing our best to focus on definite goals.

This season marks an important jump for me. I played for three years in the Italian second division, at Reggio Emilia (a small, but nice city in northern Italy) and now have moved to a big commercial city like Milan. To be a part of a team with such a great basketball tradition - both in the Euroleague and the Italian League - is very exciting! I'm playing now against players who I would have watched on television until October, and that's great! It's great playing against big teams in important cities like Moscow and Istanbul. To be honest, these have been my most impressive first experiences. I came away with two very different sensations in Moscow. The first one was a sweet victory, while the second one was sadness seeing the gray shadows settling over the capital. On the contrary, Istanbul appeared to me a city with a special atmosphere, perhaps because it is near the sea. Anyways, I had never been there, so playing in the Euroleague gives me the opportunity to see different cultures, and that gives you a new perspective on life. Understanding new worlds, different traditions and respecting other lifestyles can only allow you to expand your... more