There will be an exceptional observer on Sunday 5 May for game 1 of the quarter-finals between Forlì and Vigevano. Luigi Garelli, Gialloblu coach in two different eras (from 2001 to 2004, and from 2008 to 2010), was the architect of the promotion to Serie A2 in 2009, winning the Serie A Dilettanti championship after eliminating Fidenza, Treviglio and Latina in the playoffs , and the following season he led the team to the promotion playoffs for the A1 with sixth place in the regular season, exiting in the quarter-finals at the hands of Reggio Emilia.
A presence that represents the last ducal appearance at this level. In 2015 he was the first coach of the newly formed Pallacanestro Forlì which will face Vigevano and this year he is at the helm of Faenza, involved in the first round of the Serie B playoffs against Libertas Livorno.
“The best memories of my career are indelibly linked to Vigevano – says Garelli -. Our journey together began in the early 2000s, when we played three high-level seasons in Serie B, always taking part in the post season. My return, however, it took me by surprise because I didn’t expect it, we even won the championship and I was named coach of the year at the end of the season. The following year in Serie A2 was complicated, we were forced to play in Novara and many things didn’t go right right despite the good regular season played by the team.
We played the playoff series, inaugurating the sports hall which today is the playing field of Vigevano but at that time it ended up forgotten, also because unfortunately the club did not register for the next championship at the end of the year”. Six years of living in Lomellina have left its mark on the life of the 62-year-old coach from Bologna: “Vigevano is a city where basketball is experienced in a visceral way and has no half measures, the fans love you or hate you. My experience was passionate, personally I connect a lot to situations and I managed to find immediate empathy and a crazy feeling with people and the public. They give you crazy fuel to keep going.” Despite participating in the Serie B championship with Faenza, Garelli followed the yellow and blue events.
“It was a season of great change due to the reform of the composition of the two groups, in my opinion it took something away from a championship that remains good from a technical point of view. In this context the team made a good impression, I congratulate to coach Lorenzo Pansa, I’m sure that this qualification for the post season will further light the spark in an environment that will then spark a fire. And let’s not forget that the club has done an excellent job.” The next obstacle will be called Forlì, a team reborn in 2015 which had Garelli as its first coach.
“They are a team with a capital S, they won’t have an important player like Allen at their disposal but they have already shown in the past that they can make up for absences by playing in a cohesive way. They come from an important path, they have a ready club behind them and a city equipped to try the leap in quality. What must Vigevano do to extend the series? Match their intensity, which is higher than the average of the other teams in the league, and hope for a positive day with their shooting percentages. The goal is to find a strong conviction interior and score at least one away shot to take away certainties from the opponents
