Milutinov Named in Olympiacos Squad for EuroLeague Opener in Vitoria

Olympiacos finalised their travelling party for Vitoria early, and I read the list three times in one evening. Nikola Milutinov was on it. The EuroLeague opener between Baskonia and Olympiacos tips off at 21:30 Greek time on 24 September at the Fernando Buesa Arena — 01:30 on 25 September, Vietnam time — shown on Novasports Prime. For Vietnamese fans it is a night worth losing sleep over. For me it is an old appointment that has been postponed too many times.

Tonight, the pitch whispers — and I hear the breathing of the game.

I have burned many nights rewatching EuroLeague tape, and what I hunt for is not the dunks. I hunt for the way a defence changes its rhythm of breathing when a 2.13-metre giant steps into the paint. Some players make the stands scream. Milutinov makes defenders turn and whisper to one another. That is an influence that never appears on the scoreboard, and it is exactly the kind of influence opponents underrate in September, when the season is too new for anyone to trust what cannot be seen.

Milutinov was born on 30 December 2026 in Novi Sad, Serbia. He stands 2.13 metres, was picked 54th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA draft, and never played a minute in the NBA. His road went the other way: Olympiacos from 2026 to 2026, three seasons at CSKA Moscow, then a return to Piraeus from the 2026-24 campaign. At 30 he has completed a circle most European centres only half-finish.

In Piraeus he won domestic titles, was part of the squad that lost to Real Madrid in the 2026 Final Four semi-final in Berlin, and endured seasons cut apart by injuries at the exact moment he reached his prime. I remember watching him warm up near the sideline, taped from ankle to shoulder, and wondering whether that body still had enough time left to play the basketball his mind had designed long ago.

Georgios Bartzokas, the coach who led Olympiacos to the EuroLeague title in 2026 and returned to the bench in 2026, builds on half-court defence, tempo control and inside-out passing. Baskonia go the other way: pace, three-point volume, and a Fernando Buesa Arena loud enough to make visiting teams forget their own defensive rules.

One piece of practical information for anyone planning their night: this opener tips at 21:30 Greek time on 24 September, broadcast on Novasports Prime.

Milutinov's value lives in the passes that never reach him. In Bartzokas' system he sets the screen, rolls, drags the weak-side defender inward and leaves a corner open for shooters such as Sasha Vezenkov, Evan Fournier or Kostas Papanikolaou. When a 2.13-metre centre dives that hard, the defence must choose: cut the roll, or hold the corner. Very few systems choose correctly.

Then there is offensive rebounding — the statistic newspapers ignore and road games in the EuroLeague are decided by. An offensive board is not just two points. It extends a possession by 15 seconds, forces the defence into fouls, and slowly drains the patience of a home crowd, which is Baskonia's real weapon. In healthy seasons Milutinov sits among the EuroLeague leaders in offensive rebounds, and that is why Olympiacos pay to keep him.

There is also something the box score struggles to measure: shot creation when the game slows down. Olympiacos have nights when the ball will not drop, the shooters are smothered, and the team needs a silent way to score. Milutinov, with his back-to-the-basket seal and an ugly but reliable hook, is that way. He does not score 25. He scores 12 in the minutes when nobody else can score at all.

And then comes the hardest tactical question of all, the name Moustapha Fall. Bartzokas owns two centres who occupy the same space with different natures. Fall protects the rim in tight areas. Milutinov attacks the rim and reclaims the ball. Playing them together costs floor spacing. Playing them in sequence costs the team two different tempos inside one game.

Baskonia know how to punish that hesitation. The Basque club play fast, with Markus Howard as a cannon capable of detonating from nine metres and Tadas Sedekerskis as the connector who moves without the ball. At the Fernando Buesa Arena, every time Milutinov sinks deep into the paint he gifts an open three.

That is why I believe the key to this game sits not in Milutinov's hands but in Thomas Walkup's legs. If Walkup navigates the screens, chases over the top and forces Howard into contested shots, Olympiacos can turn the night into a half-court torture session. If he cannot, it becomes a race, and Milutinov will be the last man home.

Based on my experience following Olympiacos games over the past few seasons, I have learned they win by making opponents play slower than they want to. Their big wins tend to come in games with fewer possessions than the league average. Milutinov is part of that formula: he does not merely score, he shrinks time.

Here I want to push against the crowd. People call Milutinov's return the missing piece. I think he is a stress test.

The modern EuroLeague is ruled by five-out offences and switch-everything defences. In that world the traditional centre is a double-edged blade. He dominates when opponents miss and the game lives in the half court. He becomes a target when opponents drag him to the arc, where a 2.13-metre stride is no longer a weapon.

Olympiacos' real risk is not Milutinov's body. It is pace. Baskonia want an 80-possession game. Olympiacos want 68. If the night drifts toward the first number, Milutinov's presence turns from solution into problem, and Bartzokas must choose between his basketball and the basketball that keeps his centre on the floor.

One more counter-intuitive point: the summer transfer market screamed with big names and beautiful numbers, yet Olympiacos' most valuable move was keeping their core intact. Giants buy brands. Small clubs such as Baskonia find players in places the databases have not yet named. EuroLeague history shows continuity usually beats glamour — at least in September, when new teams are still learning each other's names.

So I will stay awake. I will stay awake at 01:30 on 25 September to watch a Serbian man set a screen at mid-court in the Fernando Buesa Arena, and to hear whether the Basque crowd whispers or screams.

The pitch has a voice — and it has never stopped singing.

Milutinov may play only 22 minutes. He may score only 10 points. But if Olympiacos fly home with a road win and a 12-6 offensive rebounding edge, this season will have started the right way.

Basketball is the most beautiful sadness I have ever known, and every time the opening whistle sounds, I realise I have grown a little older.