Legnano
Sport | April 22, 2024
Marco Tajana’s first assessment: “Ninth place is what we’re worth, now 10 days off and then we’ll plan the future”
Legnano – Un ninth place bitter which however represents the lesser evil at the end of a season on the roller coaster. Marco Tajana he has no doubts at the end of the Cassino matchwhich ends the 2023/24 Sae Scientifica season early. The numerical balance is below sufficient, with 32 points in 34 games resulting from 16 victories and 18 defeats, and the stoppage in overtime on the Lazio pitch – the final score was 95-98, after Legnano had also had a 14 point advantage in the fourth period – is the sixth in the sprint finals that are too often bitter for the destinies of Paolo Piazza’s team. In reality it is the most painless defeat, because the results of the other fields – victories of Piombino in Rieti, of Sant’Antimo in Omegna and of Piacenza in Caserta – had already arithmetically cut the Knights out of the playoff race when the match on the Cassino field it wasn’t finished yet.
“But it is a match that perfectly sums up our chiaroscuro season, between the handicap start, the comeback, the tear in the third quarter and the worries in managing the final. This is how we started in Montecatini (plus 18 in the second quarter, then defeated at the last shot – Ed.) and this is how we finished” states the president of Legnano, who outlines a first seasonal assessment: “The ninth place finish is what we deserved on the field, losing all the direct clashes with the top teams in the class – argues the Knights’ number 1 – The field has issued its verdict: we are worth that placement due to our own demerits, given the many opportunities missed away with searing defeats in the sprint.” But there is also a positive, albeit bitter, note in Tajana’s examination: “The age factor certainly influenced us, we discovered during the race the value of a very competitive and balanced championship for which we had built a roster that was probably too dated. With hindsight, however, I say that finishing in ninth place, avoiding worse problems with a return round that was still better than the first leg, was a good thing: this team would have risked a lot in the playouts.”.
Now we have to rebuild almost entirely a staff which in contractual terms has few constraints (agreements for next season only with coach Piazza and Nik Raivio, plus an option for Guido Scali: in view of a National B with even more pressing rhythms – a group of 21 teams with a regular season of 40 matches and 42 rounds – a breath of fresh air will inevitably be needed. “We’ll take 10 days and then we’ll start planning the future” says Tajana; the only safe date is June 27th, when PalaBorsani will host Tommy Marino and Bruno Cerella’s farewell basketball match.
Giuseppe Sciascia
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