The final of Board 2 will take place in the evening, between APU Delser Crich Udine and Ecodem Alpo (Saturday, 8.30 pm, live LBF TV). The progress of the playoffs respected the predictions on this side of the scoreboard, given that the first and second seeds in Group B will clash in the final. Udine and Alpo have therefore already met in the regular season, and the field factor has always been respected, so the head-to-head matches are at 1-1. Alpo was the only team, together with Roseto, to have beaten Udine this season and they did so at the end of a hard-fought match, in which they were colder in the last quarter. The return match was always dominated by Udine who, fresh from the victory in the Italian Cup, had subjugated Alpo for three quarters, only to then suffer a vain comeback attempt by the Venetians in the final period, which justifies the lackluster 85 -74 final. Both teams arrive at this final with four games played in the playoffs, in fact neither of them needed a Game 3 to get through their respective rounds. The paths of the two teams were very similar, with few difficulties in the quarter-finals and tighter matches in the semi-final, from which however both teams emerged with an away victory in Game 2. Udine and Alpo both play very united basketball, with many players capable of making their contribution: Alpo has four players averaging over double figures, while Udine has as many as five. The attack is in fact the strong point of the two teams, which are the ones that score the most in Group B, with an average of 73.6 (Udine) and 72.9 (Alpo), while in terms of points conceded they are not as high as their position in the standings: Udine is only fifth with an average of 60.4, Alpo is even eighth with 64. Alpo for its part plays excellent team basketball, evidenced by the 13.9 assists on average, exactly one more than its opponents, and a lot of reliance on long-range shooting: the Venetian team shoots at 35% and will try to play a lot on this fundamental, given that they do better than their opponents by five percentage points. Udine, for its part, will try to move the match closer to the basket, in fact it is the second best team in the championship in terms of two-point percentage with 47%: stopping Lydie Katshitshi will in fact be one of the main challenges for Alpo, given that the number 11 averages 13.8 points and 10 rebounds. Alpo on the other side will try to respond with Anna Turel who averages 14 points per game, also shooting 40% from three points.
(Photo Marco Picozzi)
