Marco Picchi, president of Bertram Derthona, spoke to Tuttosport in view of tonight’s decisive Game 5 against Virtus Bologna. “At the end of December I would never have thought that we would get to play Game 5 of the quarterfinals against Virtus Bologna. At the time I had other worries. But we recovered as best we could not have. I think that’s the beauty of sport. In all four matches we demonstrated that we are competitive and that we deserve to play the “best” game. Going to their house to try to do the feat is something that stimulates us even knowing that a great performance will be needed. We have found the ideal set-up even if it is a shame to reach this point without Luca Severini, who injured his right thumb shortly before starting the playoffs. The additions of Ross and Kamagate allowed us to find the balance. The boys were good at not giving up at the first difficulties. And then there is coach De Raffaele who has great emotional energy, great experience, tactical knowledge and innate leadership.”
The club is also focusing on the youth sector, which has recorded excellent results: “We are working to grow the basketball movement in the area as a whole. Our efforts are rewarded by results. We are a young organization and therefore it is not every day that we play two national finals in the same year. There is enthusiasm and passion, we can only be satisfied. We would be even more so if on Saturday we had to find ourselves in a position to move a match due to concomitance!”
