Bertram hosts proud Pistoia, Leoni looking for a poker of championship successes. Coach De Raffaele's words
Riding the longest positive streak of the season. The six consecutive victories equally divided between the championship and the Champions League have created an aura of invincibility for Bertram Derthona Tortona in a March as challenging as it is full of joys. Tomorrow's match against Estra Pistoia, scheduled for 17:30 at the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris in Casale Monferrato for the 23rd matchday of the Serie A Unipol, will kick off the sprint of the last week of the month which also includes the home match against Würzburg and the away match in Venice, real matches for the black and white team, in particular the one against the Germans next Wednesday with the ticket to the quarter-finals of the European cup at stake.
CROSSROADS The match against Pistoia, who close the standings with 10 points, coincides with a round in which Tortona could take advantage of a series of crossovers that are favorable on paper. The opponents for the playoffs are all engaged in direct clashes in the upper half of the standings, in particular the one that will see Reggio Emilia host Venezia, the only pursuer of the current eighth place of the Leoni, in addition to the home challenge against Virtus Bologna that will be faced tonight by Trieste, at 26 points in the standings like Bertram.
PISTOIA RECOVERING The Tuscans, coming off two defeats against league leaders Brescia and Trento (87-64 the defeat in Trentino in the last round), are in the process of readjusting after the well-known corporate events that led to the change of presidency. There is the pride of the Italian group and the strong desire not to resign themselves to relegation, as demonstrated not only by the blitz three weeks ago in Naples during the darkest moment of the red and whites, but also by the announcement this week of the hiring of the American guard Kadeem Allen. The former Forlì player will not be able to be deployed in Casale by coach Gasper Okorn, but will go to bolster a foreign department that had gradually lost Silins, Rowan and the former Derthona Christon, having instead retained Forrest, Paschall, Kemp and Cooke. In the first leg, in the pre-Christmas round, Bertram won at PalaCarrara by 93-89 with 21 points as top scorer by Christian Vital, who is now struggling with the severe chest contusion suffered in the Champions League evening on Wednesday against AEK Athens, an ailment that could deprive Tortona of its best seasonal scorer against Estra.
EX FROM AMARCORD An afternoon as an ex for assistant coach Giovanni Bassi, from Pistoia and a player between B2 and B d'Eccellenza of Pistoia Basket, of which he was also captain. In red and white, the captain from Tortona Luca Severini made his debut in Serie A when he was little more than a boy, having collected his first 41 appearances on the parquet in the top championship with the Tuscans.
WHERE TO SEE IT ON TV The race will be broadcast live on DAZN.
MATCH SPONSORS Casa Trend will be the match sponsor of the game with Pistoia. The company from Villalvernia (AL), specialized in the sale of PVC, aluminum and wood frames to private individuals and companies and also partners of Derthona Basket this season, will offer the black and white fans the cardboard clap-claps to support Bertram more loudly and the black and white club merchandising clothing to the winners of the DB Game at half time.
STATEMENTS "Pistoia is a team that plays with a knife between its teeth. We will have to focus on the importance of the individual characteristics of their talented players and on the pride of the Italian group", says coach Walter De Raffaele. "More than a specific turning point, the current 6 wins in a row represent the confirmation of the goodness of having continued our work with quality. There was the awareness of a serious group of the need to take a step further in finding new balances that have now led to a defined identity. We do not feel satisfied, of course, after the midweek commitment with AEK we certainly have to recover the energy spent, we have the problem of Vital's injury, a situation to monitor until Sunday".
BLUE DAY & DERTHONA BASKIN Also this year Lega Basket Serie A supports with its patronage the event “Basket Blue Day: A Basket for Autism”, to remember that on April 2nd the “UN World Autism Awareness Day” is celebrated all over the world. LBA will take the field alongside the teams during the games on March 23rd and 30th and April 6th to demonstrate once again how close the world of sport is to that of physical and intellectual disability. For Derthona Basket it will be the occasion to officially present its baskin team, Derthona Baskin, during the break.
