The Israeli champs are still without star guard Wade Baldwin IV, who will gradually return to team activities next week. The Italian rivals announced that their star, forward Nikola Mirotic, is questionable with an achilles tendon injury.
“We are coming off a very bad game in terms of energy and also basketball-wise”, said head coach Oded Kattash, “We have to find the energies to lift ourselves up, even though it is a complicated situation. As always, our thought are with the people back home, the soldiers, the fans - and we would like to play better and give ourselves a chance to win for them”.

“Milano offers different challenges to us, mainly in terms of size”, added Kattash, “They are a very disciplined team. Our keys are limit our turnovers - we are turning the ball over too much lately - and control the boards on both sides of the court. It will not be simple”.
Swingman Antonius Cleveland had this to say ahead of the game: “(We need to) let our defense lead to our offense and enjoy our game. We enjoy the game when we are playing free. our keys defensively are to guard without fouling, rebound the ball well and stick to player personnel”.
Milano, led by veteran head coach Ettore Messina, had a sluggish start to the season, winning only one out of 4 EL games. Apart from Mirotic, who joined the team from Barcelona, Milano also added German point guard Mando Lo and former Maccabi big-man Alex Poythress.