UDINE. Cannon’s first at Carnera is a victory for Apu who beat Treviglio 73-65 also thanks to the new American who offers ample glimpses of the repertoire of the classic big man who decides the championships. Still without Clark, Udine wins and remains in second place. To achieve it he will most likely have to win in Cantù in three weeks at the last stage of the clock.
High mileage, perhaps too much, but Treviglio, gentlemen, is a strong team with Miaschi, Guariglia underneath, Pacher, Vitali and Sacchetti and Giuri, reminiscent of Fortitudo, from the bench. Vertemati immediately throws Cannon onto the field, making his debut at Carnera, and pairs him with Gaspardo with Arletti in place of Clark, still injured and sitting next to the bench.
Ready to go, the Lombards, Udine relies heavily on one player: Gaspardo. Which deserves a parenthesis: Coseano’s winger is the tip of the balance of the team. If he plays like in the first half of the quarter (8 points), i.e. he scores from outside and penetrates, he makes the difference, if he makes two fouls in as many minutes he removes himself from the match less.
Having said that De Laurentiis is preferred to Delia (it is to be said that he will play just 4 minutes), Treviglio is a pleasure against a somewhat confused Apu, captain Monaldi first and foremost. A spell from Da Ros, to whom the Bianconera Youth dedicates a banner, scores the score at 22-22. With Cannon with limited autonomy, Arletti and De Laurentiis did well. Attention: Treviglio is strong, but with defense and counterattack Apu, even without Clark, has the keys to victory. Easy to say, harder to do. When Vertemati’s band plays at the pace of the guests they go back down, with the coach forced into another time-out.
Someone dares: with King Midas, who buys anyone in Trapani, it’s not worth coming second. Even more wrong: in the meantime he wins and then wins again. True, Clark and his surgical ability to attack the opponents are missing and Cannon with two or three plays makes it clear why he was taken. Here comes the defense and counterattack: Apu shows the best version to those who chose live Rai instead of Sinner’s ride in Miami and finishes ahead 40-33 with a three-pointer from Monaldi and 17 points from “Gas”. Mario Blasone, a legendary coach, yes legendary because he contributed to the globalization of the game, was also applauding in the stands and was awarded at half-time.
When a referee whistles for a foul on Cannon at the start, with Vitali caught, it becomes clear why the breed of big men is dying out. If they use the physical it’s a foul. Despite too many turnovers (14 in 30′), which infuriate Vertemati, and several errors, Apu takes the lead in the match essentially thanks to Cannon. Rebounds, blocks, baskets, even “dirty” ones: what a player.
With him Udine has another dimension, the key to trying to go far. Be careful though, at the end of the third quarter the 53-46 score means that the game is far from won. Treviglio has enough veterans to stay in the match.
However, Monaldi’s third triple makes Vertemati’s former team understand that it will be complicated (56-46), the fourth that it will be almost impossible (59-46).
In the fifth, the captain, who had started badly and recovered like Pantani in Oropa (19 points at the end), the credits rolled, despite some jolts from the guests with the American Harris. Next step: see this team with Clark and Cannon with more autonomy. And it should be a nice sight.
