Coach Ramondino and Knowles present the match with Biella
It's the eve of the championship for Bertram Derthona, who await the derby with Biella scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, December 9th, at 6:00 PM at the PalaOltrepò in Voghera. The Bianconeri are coming off a week in which " we had all the players available, with the exception of Gabriele Ganeto. It's clear ," says coach Ramondino, " that the injured players' recovery is not yet complete, and this leads us to carefully manage the various athletes. However, I believe it was important to be able to have all the players in the gym to work on aspects such as continuity and consistency, where we need to make progress ."
The Bianconeri's opponent, as mentioned, is Edilnol Biella, a team with " clear hierarchies and players who accept their roles. They certainly have two Americans who are important for the championship, but also the core of Italians or players with an Italian background – continues coach Ramondino – represents a certainty for Serie A2 ." Coach Carrea's team is coming off a week of rest, due to the postponement of the match against Siena: this aspect, according to the Juventus coach, "has positives and negatives, because the players can lose match rhythm but, at the same time, can focus even more on the individual opponent ."
Among the keys to the game, coach Ramondino identifies "the focus we will have to place on their players capable of creating advantageous situations from 1-on-1 and their ability to protect our backboard, as Biella is one of the best teams in the league in terms of offensive rebounding. Limiting them in this sense will be very important to then develop a pace of play that is not necessarily controlled ."
Preston Knowles said: "This week we followed the coach's instructions, we worked hard on defense, and with the players' improved physical condition, we're preparing as best as possible for Sunday's game. Every week we're improving technically, trying to eliminate the mental errors we made in previous games to achieve the common technical language and identity we need for the rest of the season. Biella has good players under the basket and on the outside; they're a team that plays well, but I think we need to stay focused on ourselves rather than our opponents. The keys to the game will be our ability to defend strongly, communicate on the court, and be disciplined in our play ."
