Valerio Roila
One hundred and sixty-one minutes. This was how long Simone Tomasini’s championship lasted, arriving in Faenza with the stigmata of the go-to-guy of decisive moments, for the Blacks to make the definitive leap in quality. After a good season, the former Rieti player was slowed down by problems with his right knee, he also made himself available in the role of point guard, then threw in the towel and underwent surgery. Now he’s biting the brakes, working hard to get back on track. We call him just as he is training, and with old-fashioned kindness he apologizes, putting us off until a few hours later. He measures the words, Simone, weighs them carefully, taking the time to best express the concepts. A characteristic that he reverses on the parquet, when with his quick thinking and action he constructed many winning actions at the last second. With him we retrace the stages of his injury: «It was an annoyance that I had already felt in the previous season, and which then resolved. In this championship I started to feel bad right from the first matches, and I worked with the physiotherapists to soothe it. But in Padua I suffered a stroke and from then on it was an ordeal, some days I couldn’t walk. I stopped for a while, then I tried again, but the situation got worse, and I decided, after various consultations, to have surgery.”
In February he went under the knife at the Salus clinic in Reggio Emilia, with Dr. Rocchi’s team. What type of operation did he undergo and what are the recovery steps?
«They cleaned my knee and infiltrated regenerative stem cells for the cartilage. The recovery is proceeding on schedule. I spent a month on crutches, working only in the pool, and now I’m taking gradual steps to regain strength in my leg. We are now at the “return to play” phase, I hope to be able to return to training in the gym as early as June, with balanced loads established along the way.”
How much did you suffer from being off the court and not being able to lend a hand in the Blacks’ season finale?
«It was very hard. Especially after seeing the atmosphere at PalaCattani in the cartel matches and in the playoffs with Livorno. I had already experienced it as an opponent, but playing it and experiencing it with the black and green shirt on would have a different effect.”
The Blacks should start again from her and Poletti, the only players under contract, and probably from coach Garelli. If so, what type of team would you like to be set up? Is there a type that you prefer or that you consider “winning” in this championship?
«We have not yet spoken about contractual issues and my confirmation, but I would like to stay and repay the trust they have placed in me, having not yet succeeded due to reasons of force majeure. I like playing in an energetic team, with a defensive approach, and that knows how to attack in the open field. These are the characteristics in which I feel most comfortable, but the important thing is knowing how to adapt to any type.”
In these playoffs, once Faenza was eliminated, did you sympathize with a particular team? And what is your clear prediction on promotions in A2?
«I’m watching all the matches, but I’m not rooting for anyone. I saw Montecatini very well, I didn’t expect Avellino to take PL Livorno to fifth place and for Roseto to close it out 3-1 with Fabriano. And if I really have to mention only two teams by prediction, I remain on the favorites based on field factor, namely PL and Roseto”.
If this championship was more competitive than the previous one, given the reform, the next one, with two groups of 21 teams, risks being a colossal melee. How do you see it? Are there any teams you hope to face?
«I would like to find some of my former teams again, not for particular rivalries, but to see some places again, such as Legnano, Casale Monferrato, Rieti. It will be a fiery season. We have seen that this year has been complicated, every defeat has weighed enormously. In the next one, which includes many midweeks, the teams that want to reach the end will have to be longer, more balanced, with more playing time spread out, almost in Euroleague style.”
