National B Basket, Raggisolaris Faenza, mission accomplished with bated breath: «In the playoffs we want to become the loose cannon»

Valerio Roila
Andrea Baccarini, qualification for the play-offs arrived a day early. After a bumpy track and not in the position hoped for at the beginning of the season, but can we at least rejoice for not having ruined the season?
«In the initial assumptions it was a basic objective, achieved more difficultly than we expected. However, given the situation, they had become less obvious, and we had to play them in a situation we wouldn’t have wanted: an away derby, already rich in content, and with both teams directly involved. Not the best scenario, even if San Severo then gave us a hand, losing in Bisceglie, to make the extra time less anxious.”
And Ruggi’s match against Andrea Costa was a rollercoaster of emotions, with a success pulled out of the quicksand that recalled the home match against Fabriano. More of your merit or more of your opponent’s demerit?
«Imola has given us a small gift, it’s true. It was a derby played well by both contenders and in the end the situation turned in our favor, but they must be helped, and we were in their wake. This is the good and the bad of basketball, sometimes it involves some twists that change the cards on the table.”
Sunday’s derby with Ravenna, which closes the regular season, could open the doors to an unexpected sixth place until a few days ago. Even if on social media there are those who make calculations about the playoff grid and the possibility that a seventh place is better. What do you say to those who make these conjectures?
«That calculations often backfire on those who make them. I have no particular preferences, as I still have a first round to win away against a very competitive team. Perhaps we match better with Libertas Livorno, while Montecatini seems less predictable, but these are two well-trained teams, with important rosters and very warm fans. However, we have shown that we are up for it when the level has to be raised, in overheated climates and with competitive opponents, indeed the players get excited. It’s true that, in addition to the first round, the part of the scoreboard in which you fall also has an impact, but there are many open situations on the last day; therefore, we only think about closing the season well and preparing for the playoffs during the break, which certainly doesn’t help us, because when you’re on fire you always want to play.”
Let’s launch another social media provocation. Perhaps, if you had recalled Gigi Garelli a little earlier, or if you hadn’t sacked him at all, the ranking could have been even better.
«With hindsight it is easy to judge and hypothesize different scenarios. Certain choices, even at the level of roster personnel, were made by reasoning with the situation at that moment. We opted for the options we thought were best to find a solution: this is my role, that of the management and the company. The important thing is to have managed to find a trend, a game and the best chemistry now that the championship is decided. We cannot cultivate the conspiracy of the past, we must live the present and have a clear conscience: we have tried everything to achieve this balance and tranquility brought by the results and we hope it is a good viaticum for a season finale that lives up to expectations ».
Final prediction: Which team has the best chance for you to take one of the two upstairs spots? And which one can break the bank as a crazy variable?
«The two Livorno teams start with something extra, also at the public level: the Tuscan city is in fact experiencing a renaissance, the derbies have attracted around 8,000 people to the stands. I hope we can be the surprise. Without the pressure of the start of the championship, I hope that acting as an underdog can give us the extra push to act as a loose cannon and bother everyone. I don’t think anyone, finishing second or third in the other group, will be happy to face us: they won’t underestimate us, although I hope they will.”