Diego Flaccadori returned to Dolomiti Energia Trento this season after two years away ready for a bigger role. He spent the previous two seasons as a reserve with FC Bayern Munich and played in 44 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games, however, he was not getting the minutes he was accustomed to.
Who's Hot: Diego Flaccadori, Trento
Eurocup News
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Trento had big plans for its former star, who was 18 when he played the first of his five consecutive seasons with the club. However, despite being inserted directly into the starting lineup and getting big minutes from day one, Flaccadori took some time to settle in. He failed to score in double figures in any of his first four games, during which time he struggled with his shooting from all ranges.
Everything changed in Round 5 when Flaccadori went off for a career-high 22 points against Slask Wroclaw to lead Trento to its first win of the season. And with the exception of a quiet Round 7 game against Turk Telekom Ankara, Flaccadori has stood out in every game since.
He tallied 17 points and matched his career-high with 6 assists in a narrow loss at Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in Round 6. Round 8 brought a season-high in PIR with 23 from 19 points – including a personal best 10-for-11 free-throw shooting, 6 assists and 2 steals against Hamburg Towers. The following round saw him match his personal best with 3 steals and tie his season-high with 6 rebounds.
All told, Flaccadori is enjoying the best stretch of his career over his last six games with his numbers improving on – and in many cases soaring past – his averages from the start of the season. He is one of five Trento players to have appeared in all 10 EuroCup games this season and one of only two to start all of them. Flaccadori's total of 282:32 minutes played is the most on the team. For the season, he is averaging career-highs in scoring (10.9 ppg.), rebounding (3.2 rpg.), assists (3.5 apg.) and fouls drawn (3.9 per game).
Trento has been plagued by player absences over the past two months with key players Jordan Caroline, Cameron Reynolds and Wesley Saunders each missing two games. As the team returns to full strength, a confident Flaccadori will be as important as ever to get the team out of the mud and rolling to challenge for a spot in the knockout rounds.