Estra Pistoia Basket 2000 is ready for the playoffs. The crossroads is with Germani Brescia, an opponent that evokes distant pleasant memories (the 3-2 in the LegaDue final eleven years ago to return to Serie A) and much less in recent times, see the two defeats suffered in the regular season. Very different matches, in which Pistoia remained in the wake of coach Alessandro Magro’s talented team (in contention, together with our Nicola Brienza, for the title of best coach in the championship) only to be bitten in the final rush. This is why the red and white coach, for this playoff quarter-final, asks for concentration until the final siren.
Pistoia will be followed in Lombardy by around 200 fans for this match-1: ball at 8.45pm (live on Dazn, Eurosport1 and DMAX. Referees: Rossi from Anghiari, Baldini from Florence and Noce from Latina).
THE THEMES OF THE MATCH The Estra coach cuts things short on what to expect. “We are excited like never before – states Nicola Brienza – I, and the boys too, are just waiting for the start of the playoffs from the sound of the siren of the match won in Trento. They have been two weeks of great tension, obviously positive, because we have an incredible desire to play and it’s not true that we don’t have pressure: I read that we play light and carefree but we know that we want to win, as always. This is why we go to Brescia to play two crazy matches, knowing the quality of the opponents, but at the same time we want to try to always be at a higher level. There is certainly greater emotional stress, for example I have been getting up at 5 in the morning for six days and thinking about my friend Alessandro Magro (laughs, ed.). This is why I can’t wait for the ball to be raised to play this series.”
In the end the two teams meet who, apart from two temporary replacements at Estra, have never changed rosters during the season. “But it must be said that the strengths and potential on the pitch are very different – warns the red and white coach – in the first leg Brescia didn’t have Petrucelli here and nobody noticed, in the return there was no Gabriel and it was the same thing. It’s true that we are the same but the difference in budget and elements is evident: as I have always said, Germani is a high Eurocup team that does not play the Cups and, consequently, has talent and great depth. From our point of view, however, we were very lucky in Jordon Varnado’s moments of stoppage to be able to best fit together the temporary solutions of Basile and Blakes which made a very important difference.”
As mentioned, Brescia and Pistoia are approaching the playoff quarter-final with Germani ahead 2-0 in this year’s regular season and Estra wanting to focus on their success percentages, which are very high, away from PalaCarrara. “We have in our eyes Della Valle who, alone, scores 10-11 consecutive points and creates the groove here with us – adds coach Brienza – and the game turns in that moment, while on the return with 3’30” from the end we had the ball to move forward but they were good at not allowing us to. It means that we carry with us things that went well and others that didn’t: we talked in recent days and understood how to be concentrated for 40 minutes knowing that it’s not easy because there are important players. Germani is a deep and high-quality team: what I like most about them is that when the second unit of the quintet comes in, ironically, they are sometimes even more effective than those who started in the quintet.”
Finally, the comparison with his friend Alessandro Magro, both vying to win the title of best coach of the year in LBA. “We were two kids when we went to Bormio together for the course – confesses the Estra coach – then we found ourselves being the second assistants in Cantù and Siena when they dominated and Cantù wanted to be the protagonist. I remember when, to prepare for an Italian Cup final, we found ourselves outside our rooms at 5 in the morning after watching matches to do the best job possible and both with two huge dark circles under our eyes. There is great mutual respect and healthy friendship. However, we are 0-2 in the league for him and so now a healthy rivalry tells me that it could be the moment to break the deadlock for me too (laughs, ed.). Finally, I must say that I was pleased to read his statement on the award for the best coaches with the presence of me, him and Paolo Galbiati, that is, the new generation that is pushing to come up.”
LET’S STOP FOR A MOMENT TO… Before leaving for Brescia, the red and white coach also wanted to focus on what the LBA regular season said and, similarly, the sensational path of Estra, not only for this year.
“At the risk of being banal but it is appropriate to say again that the first four in the ranking are of a higher level than the rest of the group – adds Brienza – and I am convinced that whoever we had met would have been the same: there is a lot to give credit to these teams for the journey they have made and then being aware of the difficulty of the series.
The second reference I make is to the words of Captain Della Rosa who said this week, retracing what has happened in these three years, going from the A2 playoffs grabbed on the last day to now that we are in the A playoffs with the chance to enter Cup for next year. It is something extraordinary and unimaginable: this path has no logic if one stops to reflect. I, the undersigned, together with the sports director, believe, without presumption, that we have done a job that I consider excellent, knowing that we can count on limited budgets compared to others. And I have to give credit to the group of those who were there even before my arrival who built all this, seeing guys like Della Rosa and Saccaggi who were the playmakers of the team that entered the A2 playoffs three years ago by the skin of their teeth and today they are in the same role but to play for a potential championship semi-final. I know these are aspects we are familiar with but every now and then it is appropriate to stop and savor everything that has happened.”
