Coach Ramondino and Garri present the match against Rieti
It's the eve of the championship for Bertram Derthona, who are looking forward to the away match against Rieti on matchday 21 of the West group of the Serie A2 Old Wild West championship. The Bianconeri are coming off a home win against Trapani and a " solid week so far in which the team has trained well. We must continue in this direction ," coach Ramondino began, " because against Trapani we saw so many good things on both sides of the pitch that we must try to replicate on the road, as we saw in the Siena match . "
The victory against the Sicilian team was also important on an emotional level and gave Bertram the confidence to continue the work we are doing, as the team has demonstrated its ability to play at a medium-high tempo: based on this ability – continues the Juventus coach – we must improve our defensive aspect in order to make the most of all offensive possessions and limit turnovers. This growth represents a good omen for the end of the season.
Derthona's next opponent is Rieti, currently sitting alone in second place in the standings and coming off six consecutive wins. The Lazio team is "a team that is currently among the favorites to win the final and whose main characteristics are toughness, physicality, and the ability to control the pace ." Among Zeus Energy Group's strengths, coach Ramondino identifies "their excellent ability to attack the paint, both with their back to the basket and through drives: this contributes to putting opponents under pressure with their style of play ."
Rieti also boasts the best defense in the group in terms of points conceded to their opponents (70.2 on average per game), which is the result of "good execution, made up of anticipating and breaking up the opponents' play, including through the use of substitutions. On our part ," maintains the Juventus coach, " there must be the will and ability to go beyond the initial offensive solution in order to avoid static situations that favor their defense ."
Luca Garri said: "Things have improved since Lydeka and Bertone arrived. They brought us enthusiasm and energy, and this was evident on the pitch. At the same time, we're aware that we still have a lot of room for improvement. The win against Trapani was crucial given the results of the other teams: a defeat would have distanced us from the safety zone, we wanted the win at all costs. Rieti is the team in the best form in the league, and their physicality is one of their strengths: they play very well and are extremely confident. It will be necessary to control the pace of the match, given that Lazio can count on significant home advantage ."
