Bertram at the PalaTiziano for the first time against BC Roma: "We'll have to be more solid throughout the entire 40 minutes."
Bertram Derthona Tortona faces its first league away game and its second of the week. From one capital city to another, from Riga to Rome, Mario Fioretti's team will face BC Roma tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. in the second matchday of the 2026-27 LBA Serie A SisalClub. The Bianconeri will look to forget the disappointment of Wednesday's BKT EuroCup debut in Latvia, which resulted in a late basket that forced them to defeat in the continental competition.
Pecchia and his teammates will inaugurate the debut on the home court of the PalaTiziano of one of the two newly formed Roman Serie A teams. Bertram will reunite with two particularly significant old acquaintances: Arturs Strautins, who spent three seasons with the Lions from 2023 to 2026, making 101 appearances and also recovering from a serious knee injury, and Riccardo Tavernelli, who recently signed a contract with the Roman team and is officially returning to Serie A in the very week when he faces a crucial moment in his career, a five-year stint from 2019 to 2024 as captain of Derthona's historic promotion to the top flight.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Basket and LBATV.
How do the two teams arrive?
Rome is still searching for its first win of the season. Their league season began with a 109-94 defeat at Treviso, followed by a 91-78 EuroCup debut defeat in Turkey at the hands of Bahcesehir Istanbul. In their first game at the PalaTiziano, Alessandro Magro's team, who previously faced Brescia and Napoli, will look to capitalize on the presence, and even curiosity, of Roman fans for the team formed this summer with the transfer of Vanoli Cremona's sporting title.
Tortona is aiming to build on the two points they earned last Sunday at the Nova Arena against Verona (101-93) to forget the 84-86 defeat at Riga Zelli and find more confidence on defense against an opponent whose strength lies in their offense, led by Nico Mannion (29 points in Turkey). Edoardo Di Meo remains absent, and Paul Eboua's presence remains a serious doubt, as he is dealing with the muscle injury that has prevented him from making his official season debut so far.
Analysis by Andrea Vicenzutto
"After the long trip to Riga, the team is feeling good. The players will have to learn to adapt to a season with a double-header, but many of them are experienced, and the coaching and physical staff are doing everything they can to give the group maximum energy ," says assistant coach Andrea Vicenzutto . "We're facing a team that's also coming off a double-header. They've played two very important games offensively, and we know their talent will be our main concern. Few teams like Roma can boast such a wide array of potential scorers."
Derthona's defense will have to make even greater progress than it has shown thus far: "Defensively, we've never been the team we'd like to be for 40 minutes. Therefore, to raise our level and performance, we know we'll have to be better and more consistent throughout the game, especially in away games where our opponents might have more confidence."
The Pordenone-born coach goes into more detail when describing his opponent: "One of Roma's key characteristics is that, in addition to the ball handlers, they also have big men and wings who can create shots for themselves and sometimes for others. This makes them extremely consistent in managing possessions. Their offensive leader is obviously Nico Mannion, who's playing at a very high level this early part of the season, scoring a lot of points. But we shouldn't underestimate players like Marko Simonovic, a big man with a great touch, Gerald Ayayi, Erik Stevenson coming off the bench, and former Trieste and Cremona player Corey Davis, who hasn't shone in the first two games but already knows Italian basketball and knows how to make himself useful. Finally, of course, there's our recent ex, Strautins; we know him well and we know how dangerous he can be from a scoring standpoint."
