The journey of Bertram's ambitions continues between the islands: from the Canaries to Sassari to chase the playoffs. The words of De Raffaele
New island destination for Bertram Derthona Tortona. The black and white team travels to Sassari, where tomorrow, Sunday 13 April, they are expected at 17:30 at PalaSerradimigni by the home team Banco di Sardegna for the 26th matchday of the Serie A Unipol. Having come close to a coup in midweek in Tenerife in game-1 of the Champions League quarter-finals and awaiting the home game-2 next Wednesday in Casale Monferrato, in between for Weems and his teammates there is the important championship commitment to try to get back into that playoff zone from which they dropped out a couple of weeks ago.
PLAYOFF CHASE With five rounds remaining in the regular season, there's little room for defeat. Their current ninth-place finish means they need to finish the race with one more win than at least one of their two rivals competing for the final two spots in the postseason: Reggio Emilia, who play tonight at second-place Scafati, and Venezia, who play Trieste at home tomorrow. Sassari will be the first of a double-header away game, with Derthona playing in Treviso on Easter Saturday, before home matches against Milan and Naples, and the tournament-closing trip to Cremona.
SASSARI Banco di Sardegna is one of the most in-form teams in Serie A. Their four wins (in Treviso, at home against Cremona and Trapani, and the last one in the last round in Pistoia, 86-63) have brought the Sardinians, coached by Massimo Bulleri, into a very comfortable position with their tenth place in the standings, just one win away from mathematical safety and still with some slim hope of grabbing the playoffs, 6 points away, the gap that separates their 22 points from the 28 of the pair formed by Venice and Tortona themselves. Compared to the first leg won over five months ago 71-68 by Bertram with a personal best in points, equaled in a black and white jersey by Strautins with 22, Sassari has introduced two new faces in the last few weeks: former Reggio Emilia point guard Briante Weber and Rashawn Thomas, in his second career experience with the Sardinians and fresh from the award as Best Sixth Man of the LBA in March.
WHERE TO WATCH IT ON TV The race will be streamed live on DAZN.
QUOTES: "Sassari is one of the league's most in-form teams; their four consecutive victories have come with significant scalps. The additions, as often happens, have brought freshness and technical balance," says coach Walter De Raffaele . "We'll have to focus primarily on ourselves, trying to present ourselves in the best possible physical and technical condition after such a demanding away match as Tenerife. We'll have to try not to let them run in the open field so as not to overdo it, while also trying to match the defensive energy in every one-on-one situation. A match like the one in Tenerife ," he concludes, " gave the players the technical confidence to compete with the team's ideas and dedication, despite absences, injuries, and problems."
