Big cheers to all the 2011-2012 Turkish Airlines Euroleague fans from yours truly. I'm very happy to have once again the chance to write and to talk to you about my feelings on our games. We're now on the eve of the most important game of our Euroleague season and ready to play in one of the toughest and hottest court all over Europe: Belgrade. It's the classic do-or-die game, no future for the losers!

We arrive after winning at home against Spirou Charleroi, a win that allowed to us to be in condition to play to advance to the Top 16 on Thursday night against Partizan. In the home game we played against Partizan, we played very well for the first 35 minutes and had a big advantage, but we stopped playing in the closing minutes and they never gave up and rallied to win. I'm sure we'll give 1000% on the court this time, as we have always so far, because we want to do everything possible to reach the Top 16 and extend our Turkish Airlines Euroleague season.

I have played three other times at Pionir Arena in Belgrade, and the atmosphere there was always incredible and very hot; I can even say unbelievable. The Partizan fans push the team to outstanding performances and I think also this time they will be there chanting and supporting their team, because this is the most important game of this regular season. I think this game represents for us a great occasion to confirm all the good things we have accomplished in the last week, both in the Italian League and in the Euroleague. Despite some physical problems among our players, we are improving our game, and we hope to take another step forward son Thursday night.

The... more

Hello to all you Turkish Airlines Euroleague fans! I'm Jacopo Giachetti, playmaker of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. I'm very happy and proud to write here and talk to you again.

We are on the eve of a crucial challenge, the latest and most important one of our regular season. We're going to play against Anadolu Efes on Wednesday in one of the hottest and most impressive venues in the entire competition, the Sinan Erden Arena of Istanbul. We have lost three games on our homecourt in Milan so far, so this trip to the Turkish capital and this game against Efes represents for us a great occasion to take an important win and, in so doing, keep our hope alive to advance to the next round.

Anadolu Efes is showing itself to be one of the big protagonists of the season, but we're ready to go there and play our game, leaving on the court all our pride and heart. We will use all our weapons for doing just that. We have a big desire to come back with a victory!

Our friend Danilo Gallinari left the team this week to go back to Denver. He has been a very important player for us in these months, and I want to congratulate him not just for his contribution on the court, but mainly for his humility, his willingness to work hard with us from the very first day he came here.

But now, we have to look ahead to our goal for this week. We know it's a... more

Hello to all Euroleague fans! My name is Jacopo Giachetti and I am a playmaker for EA7 - Emporio Armani Milano. I’m very happy to have this chance to write here for you and to have a space to talk with you. This past summer was very strange for me. After seven fantastic seasons in Roma, I changed jerseys and landed here with an ambitious club in EA7 Emporio Armani Milano. I joined this new project with great enthusiasm and I feel completely involved. It was an important move for me. Everybody wants to take this club back to the top level and all of us are giving more of ourselves to be better, doing little things that make the difference at this level. We’re a team with many new players and a great coach in Sergio Scariolo, who has great experience in European basketball. This club thinks big and to be part of this project is a big honor for me. I’m very proud to help my teammates with my experience and skills. And I would like to use this opportunity to thank my general manager, Gianluca Pascucci, and my coach.

Let me tell you a little story. When I started my Euroleague experience in 2006, I entered into a completely different world. This is the top level, so different from the Italian League. Everybody here is obsessed by details and in the beginning I was totally confused, because of the level of the game, but now it is different for me! It was October 2006 and I was with Lottomatica Roma, ready to play against Partizan Belgrade, which was coached by Dule Vujosevic. It was a physical game, we won 65-60 and I played very well, finishing with 10 points and a 20 index rating. Not bad for a debut. I still remember the tension before the tipoff: they... more