Ettore Messina: "This is a very important first trophy for Peppe Poeta"

Ettore Messina — president of basketball operations at Olimpia Milano — commented on the team’s victory in the 2026 Italian Cup.
“For Olimpia, it means the team deserved to win. It’s a good group, very well coached by Peppe and his staff. And by battling through adversity, as always happens in these competitions, they brought home an important trophy. The last time was four years ago, and winning is always important. This year we have won the Supercup and the Italian Cup; now we’ll see if we can overturn the predictions in the EuroLeague. Then we’ll be ready for the Scudetto playoffs.”

The victory
“They worked very well, with Peppe and the assistants. Peppe had a path already outlined ahead of him. The ownership had identified him as our coach for the future. Because of my decision, he found himself having to anticipate everything. I believe this is a very important first trophy, with great meaning for him, the club, and what we planned to do this season. It’s never easy — we had moments when we struggled. Then finding ourselves again and playing three games at a very high level against three great opponents, top-level teams, makes us very happy. Now we celebrate and prepare for what’s next.”

Armoni Brooks and Leandro Bolmaro
“When we signed Armoni Brooks two years ago, he was a shooting specialist. Today he’s a player who holds his own defensively, and offensively his personality has emerged. His teammates look for him, and he has added many elements to his game. He works individually every day to improve. Leandro Bolmaro is admirable. We asked him to move away from playmaking and play more all over the court. Even today he was hugely impactful. His plays, steals, and defense had an exceptional impact.”