Bertram needs an extra effort in Pistoia. Coach De Raffaele's words
Last away game of 2024 for Bertram Derthona. The black and white team is expected tomorrow at 17:30 pm at the PalaCarrara in Pistoia by the home team of Estra, in the challenge of the 12th day of the Serie A Unipol. With four rounds to go in the first half of the season, the Tortona team is looking for a precious victory to stay in the playoff zone with greater strength to qualify for the Final Eight of the Coppa Italia. The opponent, who changed technical leadership at the beginning of November, passing from Dante Calabria to the current coach Zare Markovski, is coming off five defeats in a row but all within six points, including the last round away game in Scafati lost after two overtimes (107-102). The Tuscans occupy the third-last position in the standings with 6 points, exactly half of Derthona's loot, eighth for direct clashes with the other three teams also at 12 points, Trieste, Treviso and Milan. It was precisely the victory obtained by Bertram over Milan at the beginning of the month at the Forum that made Pistoia the only team in the current championship not yet beaten at Serie A level by the Piedmontese club, stuck at 0-2 last season against the then Tuscan newcomer.
200 TIMES SEVE With tomorrow's match, Luca Severini will reach 200 appearances in Serie A. Of these, more than half (110) were made by the 28-year-old power forward from Derthona and the Italian national team with the team he captained this year, while 71 were with Pistoia, the club with which he made his debut in the top flight with his three seasons in Tuscany split into two periods (from 2014 to 2016 and in 2018/19). Speaking of former players, Semaj Christon stands out in the home team's roster, having played 39 times for Juventus in 2022/23.
WHERE TO WATCH IT ON TV The match will be broadcast live on DAZN.
QUOTES “This is our third away game in ten days, both in the league and the cup, so the goal after Tuesday's game in Manresa was to regain our energy,” said coach Walter De Raffaele . “Above all, we're trying to get some players back. We're in very difficult conditions, with only a few players having trained. Gorham will be reevaluated in two weeks, Vital isn't at his best after the adductor injury that forced him to miss the game in Spain, and Kuhse also pulled out this week. We're facing a top-quality opponent, especially their top six, and they're playing at home in front of a passionate crowd that I know very well, so it'll be a very tough match. Pistoia loves to run the court and shoot quickly. They have a lot of dangerous shooters—Rowan, Forrest, even the big men are very unusual—and they have Christon, who is well-known in Tortona. In short, they're a team that can easily score a lot of points.”
