
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) the 28-year-old power forward of Derthona and the Italian national team has recorded with the team of which he has been captain since this year, while 71 have been collected with Pistoia, the club with which he debuted in the top championship with his three seasons in Tuscany divided into two brackets (from 2014 to 2016 and in 2018/19). Speaking of former players, Semaj Christon stands out in the roster of the home team, 39 times in black and white in 2022/23.
WHERE TO SEE IT ON TV The match will be broadcast live on DAZN.
STATEMENTS “It's our third away game in ten days between the league and the cup, so the objective after Tuesday's match in Manresa was to recover energy,” says coach Walter De Raffaele. “Above all, we are trying to recover some players, we are in a very difficult condition, with few players who have trained. Gorham will be re-evaluated in two weeks, Vital is not at his best after the adductor problem that made him miss the game in Spain and Kuhse also stopped during the week. We are facing a high-quality opponent, especially in the first six players, and who plays at home in front of a passionate crowd that I know very well, so it will be a very tough match. Pistoia loves to run the court, shoot in a very short time, they have many dangerous shooters, Rowan, Forrest, even the big men are very atypical, they have Christon who is well known in Tortona. In short, it is a team that can easily score a lot of points”.