Valerio Roila
Coach Garelli, the opponent in the first play-off round is not indifferent to her. At Libertas Livorno she only coached one year, the one before arriving in Faenza, but it was a particular season, because the club had just returned to the basketball that matters, she hadn’t been on the bench for a few years, it was the season of post-Covid and reached the final act. What did you leave her?
«It was a sui generis vintage. The visceral passion could be felt in the city and in the media, but we played in a stadium with 8,500 spectators that was always empty due to the anti-Covid rules, except for the 500 attendances allowed in the last period. From a sporting point of view it was very good: Libertas had just acquired the rights to Serie B and it was not easy to immediately achieve results such as the Italian Cup finals and play for promotion all the way. At the end of the year I would have had the contract for another season, but despite the good relations with management and fans, there was no sharing of projects between me and the president, and I preferred not to start a championship with marked differences that could have led to big problems. Nonetheless, I have remained attached to the company and I believe I will be well received.”
And if that was a unique season in some ways, the one he is experiencing at the Blacks, for now, has been no different. Maybe there is still an ending to write to give to the story?
«We were inside a blender. Personally, taking over from whoever had replaced me was an experience that I missed and that I think few can boast. I was called back with the aim of reaching the playoffs which, given the very tough remaining calendar, were in serious doubt. The roster was built to try to aspire to the top four places in the group: we know that in our best version we can compete with the most important teams, but we will have to think in terms of series and not single matches, to be an uncomfortable seventh seed . And don’t be surprised by the environment, by their solidity and aggressiveness. The break, introduced for the first time between the regular season and the playoffs, has interrupted our positive trend, and there is always the unknown of what the recovery will be like, but we will immediately dive into a good climate: it will be like a slap for let us wake up immediately.”
How strong is the Libertas Livorno that you will face, if we compare them to the best in your group, such as Roseto or Ruvo di Puglia?
«Not only the opinions, the rosters, the investments and the numbers of fans, but also the results of the Italian Cup, demonstrated that group A this year had something more. We forced ourselves to immediately face excellence, with the worst possible opponent: a team that has won two derbies in front of eight thousand people, which has never failed against top-level rivals. Theirs is the best defense in the entire championship: tough, intense, who gets their hands on each other. We certainly won’t be able to beat them by scoring 90 points. We have defensive rules similar to theirs, even if they have applied them more effectively. If we can narrow this gap and play with confidence in attack, we will increase our hopes.”
Is there something that you are seeing now within your team that you didn’t see at the beginning of the season, that perhaps gives you hope in the possibility of subverting the prediction?
«When I returned I asked the boys to be willing to sacrifice and want to get involved, letting go of the handbrake of meandering fear, which was the constant that did not allow us to express ourselves at our best. We succeeded quite a bit, even if not with continuity, and the four victories came because the group played with a more carefree attitude, not thinking too much, letting the technical characteristics prevail rather than the tactical thought of what could happen. It is no coincidence that the most difficult victory was against Bisceglie, when we were favorites and couldn’t make mistakes. Excessive waiting made us play tight at the beginning of the season and Tomasini’s injury influenced the negative moment, gnawing at our confidence, making tension prevail. Which now remains, being in the playoffs, but we will have to channel it into the fact that we are playing against a big team, in a charged environment. We can only get out of this by playing mentally free and, on a technical level, with a high-level defensive approach.”
