Bertram at the first home in the BCL Top 16: with Patras to forget the two away games at the beginning of the round. The words of Squarcina
After the two inaugural trips ended with regret both in Wurzburg and Athens on the AEK side, for Bertram Derthona Tortona the time has come for the home debut in its first Round of 16 of the Basketball Champions League. For the third and final day of the first leg of Group I, tomorrow at 20:30 at the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris in Casale Monferrato the black and white team faces the Greeks of Promitheas Patrasso Vikos Cola, the other team still at the pole of this mini-group of four. For both it is a sort of do or die to relaunch themselves towards the first two places in the standings, the only ones that ensure qualification for the quarterfinal series of the main European competition for FIBA clubs. Walter De Raffaele's team can count on the last two games at home that will follow the back-to-back next week in Patras, but a third defeat would greatly complicate their chances. Bertram arrives at the match reassured by the splendid away match in Trento against the Serie A leaders and Coppa Italia winners, who gave the Bianconeri a taste of success again with a record-breaking Justin Gorham with his 35 points, a new all-time high for a Derthona player in Serie A.
PATRAS The negative streak has yet to be interrupted by the Greek team, relegated from fourth to sixth place in the Greek championship standings due to 5 defeats in a row, the last of which last Saturday at home to Kolossos Rodi (89-85). The two defeats in the Top 16 came in a clear way in the Greek derby at home to AEK (97-76) and in a sprint on home court against Wurzburg (77-79). The last success of the Greeks coached by Ilias Papatheodorou, who feature an old acquaintance of the Italian championships like the ex-Pistoia Jordon Varnado, dates back to January 15, the day of the 2-0 in the Play-In with which they ensured continuation in the BCL by eliminating the Turkish team Karsiyaka.
NURSERY From the victory in Trento, Bertram has returned mentally but certainly not physically reinvigorated. Both left the Il T Quotidiano Arena parquet early due to injury, the presence of Christian Vital and Ismael Kamagate is highly doubtful, whose conditions will be reassessed close to the match.
WHERE TO SEE IT ON TV The race will be broadcast live on DAZN.
STATEMENTS “We need to play a match with fewer hiccups, fewer ups and downs, showing a performance that will help us reverse the trend in the Champions League to keep our hopes of qualifying alive”, says the assistant coach Iacopo Squarcina. "What we will have to be good at is having a rhythm that is truly our own, which ensures that within the game we always manage to build and never destroy the good things we create, forcing us to have to start again. When we manage to find confidence by scoring baskets and good defenses, therefore, we will have to continue to build on it and grind out the game without letting ourselves be overwhelmed by negative moments. Patras - keep it going - it's definitely well organized, it has a lot of talent in the Americans, I think of Jordan Walker (top scorer of the team both in the league, 17.2 points per game, and in the BCL, 20.0 but in only 4 games played, ed.), Jordan Davis, the returning Isaiah Reese, a shooter like Kenny Williams, Wes Iwundu, last year's teammate of our Kuhse at Rasta Vechta, and above all an all-arounder like the former Pistoia player Jordon Varnado, an intelligent and truly versatile player who has body and the ability to score. Even his Greeks, I would like to mention in particular Michalis Lountzis and the young Athanasios Bazinas, are players who put a lot of intensity and know what their role is. So it's a roster that has balance in all positions. The weak points are that it has less physicality than the other opponents we've been used to in this Champions League, so less protection of the rim with the big men and less pressure on the ball with the outside players, at the same time it also has less ability to run the court for forty minutes. It's a team that lets you play while also showing a lot of tactics, since they change the game plan from game to game, preparing the games on the characteristics of the opponents. Qualification? It must be our goal. We will have to be really focused, play as a team to fight for every ball and bring home all the victories possible to access the next round. It is a strong desire that we will try to realize on the field, deserving it".
