Olimpia: Banchi, 'manageable double assignment, no risk of overlap'

No conflict of interest, but two compatible roles and the belief that I can manage both. Luca Banchi leaves from Armani Milano without giving up leadership of the Italian national team, rejecting the doubts linked to the dual role. "For me there is no risk of overlap - his arguments in the first press conference at the Forum as coach of Olimpia -, I have sufficient energy to be able to direct them according to different needs. With the support of both organisations, which are two absolute excellences, I think it is a sustainable and manageable commitment. I did it with a foreign national team, it is a foreign club team, here hypothetically things should be facilitated at least from a logistical point of view. Thanks to the closeness of the Petrucci presidency and the presidency On both sides I am in good hands at the Orco and I hope Italian basketball is also in good hands."

Banchi brings together a team in difficulty (1-9 in the Euroleague) and in shock due to Poeta's dismissal. "Out of intellectual honesty, the potential of this group was glimpsed, I don't think it's an impossible mission", he explains, indicating among the priorities also the reconstruction of the relationship with the public, one of the strong points of his first experience in Milan from 2013 to 2015. The memory of the "crowded, warm, supportive team" Forum is still alive in his memory and the objective is to rediscover that spirit, bringing the fans back to "identify" with an Olimpia capable of expressing energy, belonging and competitiveness. "The short term is an absolute necessity, it is an urgency that I want to contaminate myself, my collaborators and the people who work around the team which absolutely needs everyone's contribution".

The coach does not want his recent experiences at Efes and Virtus, where he took over during the current season, to become a label. "I wouldn't want to be labeled as the one who works in these circumstances, because they are not easy to manage either professionally or emotionally."

"It is never easy and never pleasant to end the relationship with the coach - says the GM of Armani Milano, Christos Stavropoulos, speaking at the end of the press conference -.

Poet was a wonderful person, a friend, he brought many titles to Milan. Unfortunately, however, in our world of sport results count, results lead you to make decisions. The owners made a decision after the defeat against Valencia to reverse this negative moment. Banchi is the best person and coach who could have taken his place."