Bertram stops in Naples. The last day of the first leg is decisive for the qualification to the Final Eight
Napolibasket – Bertram Derthona Tortona 92-83
(20-17, 43-39, 69-57)
Napoli: Pullen 28, Zubcic 8, Treier, Pangos 5, G. De Nicolao, Woldetensae 2, Saccoccia, Newman 11, Green 20, Totè 10, Maborne, Bentil 8. All. Valli.
Tortona : Zerini, Vital 18, Kuhse 10, Candi 3, Denegri 6, Strautins 12, Baldasso 16, Kamagate 8, Biligha ne, Severini 5, Borasi ne, Weems 5. Coach De Raffaele.
Referees : Lanzarini from Bologna, Paglialunga from Massafra (TA), Marziali from Viterbo.
Bertram Derthona sees its championship run stopped in Naples. At the Fruit Village Arena, the hosts of Napolibasket win 92-83 in the 14th day of the Serie A Unipol, interrupting the streak of three wins of Tortona, which must postpone the possibility of getting the ticket to the Final Eight of the Italian Cup to the last day of the first round, when it will receive the visit of Givova Scafati next Saturday at the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris.
In the capital of Naples, Bertram paid for the low percentages in long-distance shooting for most of the match, excluding the final, and the short rotations in the long sector due to the already known absence of Gorham, the unusable Biligha on the bench and the blow to the nose that at the beginning of the second half also put Zerini out of action. All this in the face of the great desire to win and the qualities of Naples, much more evident after the numerous interventions on the market made to try to get out of the last place in the standings.
After a fairly balanced first half that ended 4 points down, 43-39, Tortona suffered in particular the return from the locker rooms after the break, marked by a 14-4 of the Campania team (including an 8-0) that created a gap that was never filled, with Totè in the role of protagonist with 8 consecutive points for the 57-43 of the 26th minute, after Green had previously given the home team some energy. From then on, Tortona, after having touched -16 as the maximum disadvantage (60-44), came back under double digits of deficit several times thanks above all to the long-distance shots of Vital and Baldasso (4/7 from three), the latter fresh from being nominated as the best sixth man of the month of December in the championship. Their triples, combined with Denegri's fighting spirit in directing, produced a maximum effort of 86-81 with 28" to go, too late for any hopes of a comeback after Pullen had marked Napoli's winning second half with 19 personal points.
The sixth defeat leaves Derthona temporarily in sixth place in the standings with 16 points, waiting for the end of the round and waiting for the home match against Scafati on Saturday at 19:30, decisive to close the first leg within the "magnificent eight". But now the concentration of the black and whites returns to the Champions League for another crucial match to be played on the home parquet, Game-1 of the Play-In against Peristeri Athens, scheduled for Tuesday 7 at 20:30.
STATEMENTS “ Napoli deserved it, except for a few minutes in the first half they were always ahead in the score, above all thanks to the physicality they showed in playing a tougher defense that is not their typical style but which, due to their sense of urgency, they rightly managed to put on the pitch, something we didn't do, in a somewhat presumptuous manner ”, was the comment of coach Walter De Raffaele . After the excellent game against Trento, we thought we'd come to Naples to play just an attacking game, but given the quality Napoli has now, that's a huge mistake. I must also say that playing without big men is very tough; Gorham and Biligha were missing, and Zerini broke his nose. I can't comment on the attitude they showed, but I can criticize the game-reading skills of many of my players. It's a step in maturity we need to take if we want to perform at a high level, because right now, Napoli's roster has little to do with relegation, and they have a starting five with many players who have played in the Euroleague. We ," he concludes, " need to get back to the gym immediately. We have a very important Champions League game on Tuesday. We'll need to get back to doing the things we lacked today, in terms of physicality, collaboration, and ball-sharing. We were often tied to shooting after just one pass, which isn't my style of play."
