The tricolor expedition of the U19 Eccellenza of Allianz Derthona begins: on Monday the debut at the National Finals of Chiusi and Chianciano
In the same minutes in which Bertram Derthona will have started its important home match in Casale Monferrato with a view to qualifying for the Serie A playoffs against record holder Virtus Bologna, almost 450 km further south the U19 Excellence of the black and white club will be involved in the opening ceremony of National Finals of category. Leaves tomorrow in the direction Chiusi and Chianciano Terme the shipment ofAllianz Derthona Tortona for the tricolor tournament that is starting from Monday to Sunday 5 May in the two locations in the province of Siena. The Tortona Lions are seeded in the Group A, with debut scheduled Monday at 14am against the Human Reyer Venice, third place in Group 3, while time and opponent of the two matches of Tuesday 30 April and Wednesday 1 May against the other competitors in the group, Nex Nippon Express Fidenza e CAB Stamura Ancona, will be determined by the result of the inaugural match.
Strengthened by the victory in National Group 1 of the championship, the second place achieved in Legabasket's Next Gen Cup 2023/24 and, at senior level, the stay achieved in complete tranquility in the Interregional Serie B championship, the team coached by Luca Ansaloni aims to get to the end of the event, which would mean going through the first round, the possible play-off, the quarter-finals unscathed and playing one's chances in the two final days of Saturday and Sunday in which the semi-finals and final for the Scudetto.
The manager responsible for the youth sector of Derthona Basket, Andrea Ablatico, does not hide the team's aims: “It is the first time that we are present at the National Finals with legitimate aspirations, even if a mocking fate took away a very important player like Lamine Tandia before these Finals, the latest in a series of injuries that has dotted our entire season. But, in any case, while the other times we said that we were happy just to be present, that the important thing is the development of the players and not the results, this time we would like to pass the group and try to go further. We are among the 16 strongest teams in Italy, the first objective is to get into the top 12 and if we were among the best 8 we would be jumping for joy, then at that point there will be many factors that will come into play. As first obstacles – continues Ablatico – we will find ourselves facing three really tough teams: Venezia has an important team game, Fidenza may not be part of the great circle of national basketball as a name but it is a team that played a qualifying round in which it showed that it was among the most strong points in Italy and Ancona has prominent individuals such as Piccionne. But obviously we can play against them all. I would like to congratulate the technical staff in advance for allowing us to achieve this goal that we set ourselves at the beginning of the year. And we cannot fail to thank the Gavio family who allowed us to reach these levels. It will be up to us to make a good impression on a club that is becoming increasingly relevant in the panorama of Italian basketball."
FORMULA At the end of the three days, the final ranking of the qualifying group will promote the first place directly to the quarter-finals on Friday 3 May, second and third to get there will instead have to go through the hurdle of the play-offs on Thursday 2 against second and third of Group B, composed of Fortitudo Basket Francavilla, Pall. Varese, Pistoia Basket 2000 and Vis 2008 Ferrara. The semi-finals on Saturday 4th and the two finals for the podium on Sunday 5th, with the one for the title of Italian Champion 2023/24 scheduled for 19pm. The matches will be played between the Estra Forum in Chiusi and Chianciano Terme sports hall, the latter location where the opening ceremony scheduled for 18 pm on Sunday 28 April will be held in Piazza Italia.
MEDIA All matches will be broadcast live on YouTube and on the Italbasket Twitch channel.
ROSTER Below is the roster and staff with which Allianz Derthona will present itself at the National Finals (year of birth in brackets):
Lorenzo Baldi (2005)
Werther Bellinaso (2008)
Andrea Bresciani (2008)
Stefano Conte (2005)
Nicholas Errica (2005)
Bruno Farias (2006)
Andrija Josovic (2006)
Armin Korlatovic (2007)
Pietro Lisini (2005)
Alessandro Moro (2005)
Gloris Tambwe (2005)
Emilio Albertinazzi (2007)
Gabriele Fonio Fracchia (2007)
Tommaso Diodati (2006)
Coach: Luca Ansaloni
Assistant coach: Federico Tosarelli
Assistant coach: Dario Albasini
Athletic trainer: Marco Paccioni
Physiotherapist: Andrea Cacciatore
Accompanying manager: Diego Manassero
Manager: Vittorio Perticarini
Responsible manager: Andrea Ablatico
President of the youth sector: Claudio Coffano
U19 NATIONAL FINAL GROUPS EXCELLENCE
GROUP A
Allianz Derthona Tortona
Umana Reyer Venice
Nex Nippon Express Fidenza
CAB Stamura Ancona
GROUP B
Fortitudo Basket Francavilla
Pall. Varese
Pistoia Basketball 2000
Vis 2008 Ferrara
GROUP C
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Tiber Rome
Dolomites Energy Trento
College Basketball Borgomanero
GROUP D
Nutribullet Treviso
UCC Casalpusterlengo
Victoria Libertas Pesaro's wing
Florence Basketball Academy
GROUP A CALENDAR AND SUBSEQUENT PHASES
Monday April 29 (Estra Forum of Chiusi)
14pm Allianz Derthona Tortona – Umana Reyer Venezia (Race 00)
16 pm Nex Nippon Express Fidenza – CAB Stamura Ancona (Race 00)
Tuesday April 30 (Palasport Chianciano Terme)
14pm Winner of Game 00 – Loser of Game 1
16pm Winner of Game 00 – Loser of Game 2
Wednesday May 1
14 pm (Estra Forum of Chiusi) Winner of Race 00 – Winner of Race 1
16 pm (Palasport Chianciano Terme) Loser of Game 00 – Loser of Game 1
Thursday 2 May – Play-offs (Estra Forum of Chiusi)
14 pm 00nd Group A – 2rd Group B (Game 3)
16 pm 00nd Group B – 2rd Group A (Game 3)
18 pm 00nd Group C – 2rd Group D (Game 3)
20 pm 00nd Group D – 2rd Group C (Game 3)
Friday 3 May – Quarter finals (Estra Forum of Chiusi)
14 pm 00st Group A – Winner of Game 1 (Game 27)
16 pm Winner of Race 00 – 25st Group C (Game 1)
18 pm Winner of Game 00 – 26st Group D (Game 1)
20 pm 00st Group B – Winning Game 1 (Game 28)
Saturday 4 May – Semifinals (Estra Forum of Chiusi)
16 pm Winner of Race 00 – Winner of Race 29 (Race 31)
18 pm Winner of Race 30 – Winner of Race 30 (Race 32)
Sunday 5 May – Finals (Estra Forum of Chiusi)
16pm Final 30rd/3th place: Loser of Game 4 – Loser of Game 33
19pm Final 00st/1nd place: Winner of Race 2 – Winner of Race 33
