Bertram heads to Reggio Emilia for his second straight Serie A away game. "It's a tough opponent, but the EuroCup has boosted our morale."
The home team's desire to secure their first league win, Bertram Derthona Tortona's desire to further put the trip to Rome behind them, is palpable. In tomorrow's match at 5:00 PM at the PalaBigi against Una Hotels Reggio Emilia, Mario Fioretti's Bianconeri will face their second trip in three LBA Serie A SisalClub matches, reinvigorated by Wednesday's historic BKT EuroCup victory over Le Mans after last Sunday's heavy defeat at BC Roma.
The race will be streamed live on LBATV.
How do the two teams arrive?
Reggio Emilia and Tortona have had a fairly similar start to the season. The Emilian team, coached for the fourth consecutive year by Greek coach Dimitris Priftis, lost both their home games against Trento (78-83) and in Naples (99-93) in their two championship openers. Their first win of the season came a few days ago, also in Europe, with a resounding 82-65 home win over Czech side Pardubice in the Champions League. Jaylen Barford scored 23 points, one of seven returning players from the previous roster. Barford will also feature former captain Luca Severini, in his second year at Reggio Emilia.
Bertram also raised its head a few days ago on home soil with an 89-83 European victory over their French opponents, but compared to Reggio, they still boast a winning league debut in their match against Verona two weeks ago, also at the Nova Arena. The Lions will obviously still be without Paul Eboua, who, upon his return from the Reggio Emilia trip, will begin his gradual return to the team from a muscle injury, which will also prevent him from Wednesday's trip to Greece against Aris Thessaloniki. Edoardo Di Meo, who is also recovering from a muscle injury, will also be without him.
In the away section of the PalaBigi, Bertram will be supported by twenty fans from the organized Bianconera Area.
Previous
Derthona have consistently faced opponents in their six years in Serie A, and their league record against Pallacanestro Reggiana has seen the Bianconeri hold a 6-4 lead, all games played in the regular season. There's a peculiarity in their home games against Reggio: Bertram has only won in their first three seasons, although the first time they played was at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno due to renovations at the PalaBigi, where Derthona, in their second year, ruined the official reopening of the Reggio Emilia stadium. The red and whites have consistently won their last two head-to-head home games, the last one on April 26th when the home team's victory was clear and clear after halftime (88-69, the final score).
Analysis by Andrea Vicenzutto
"The Cup match helped us reinvigorate the atmosphere after the poor performance against Roma the previous Sunday," were the assistant coach's first words in his pre-match presentation. "We're returning to the league knowing we're heading to a tough venue for a thousand reasons. Regardless of the results of the first two matchdays, playing against a team that's largely the same as last season, and knowing their coach very well, who has been in Reggio for some time, makes the challenge more difficult for us."
We expect a high level of physicality and athleticism from Reggio. There are two key factors in playing against them. The first is doing the little things well, so we can achieve our objectives, because against their well-organized defense, filled with good defenders, the details make the difference in our offensive execution. The second aspect will be trying to do everything we can to win the battle under the boards, where they tend to excel in both defensive and offensive rebounding, so limiting their second possessions, especially when playing at home, will be one of our musts.
Their three new foreign players, Speedy Smith, Rob Edwards, and Derek Ogbeide, are very interesting and experienced players, and in my opinion, they fit well with Reggio's style of play. Smith is an excellent defender and creator of plays with the pick-and-roll and one-on-ones. Ogbeide—who already knows the Italian league, having played in Pistoia—makes his ability to roll and rebound his shots his main strength. Edwards is physically impressive, can score in a variety of ways, and has the tools to cause problems not only with his shooting but also in one-on-ones and in the low post.
(photo credit: Ciamillo-Castoria Agency)
