After the ugly and unedifying exchange with Attilio Caja which certainly will not make the atmosphere for game 3 at PalaDozza any calmer, Valerio Antonini continued his statements from the sampa room of PalaSahrk at the end of game 2 between Trapani and Fortitudo: “Rei [Pullazi] he told me that when they see me standing on the sidelines, near the LEDs, they have double the charge than they normally have when they see me sitting. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, often when they score they turn and look at me, and want me to give them a gesture of encouragement, strength, determination. They know how I am, they know that I hate losing, they know that above all I can’t stand it when you lose badly. Not giving everything on the pitch. Tonight I wouldn’t have had anything to say because if the match had gone differently, the team still fought incredibly until the end. This is proof that when you really want something in the end, if you fight and believe in it, you somehow bring it home. I think the players also felt a little bit of responsibility for this match. If you see the third and fourth periods we played significantly better than them, but at the beginning we were awkward, very tense, nervous. We made shots that we don’t usually make…. We have to give the importance of what the move to Serie A would be in the most total way possible. It would mean entering a world that this city has only seen once in its history and above all it would mean doing it with an ownership that has no intention of going to Serie A to risk returning to A2, but to try to win the scudetto straight away. . I expect the players to put 7 in their heads to go on the pitch and win, we must not give them the chance to get back into the game. We must win at all costs immediately or at least do everything we can to do so already on the 7th. I am optimistic, having not lost such a tense match today until the end, having won it at the end with those baskets which I assure you were heavy in JD’s hands Note. I think it was an extraordinary demonstration of the desire to win.”
“Oxygen tank in the finale? In the meantime I have to buy it for myself. There was a moment where I thought I was going to pass out in the last 30 seconds. I mean it seriously. I am extremely happy, first of all because I believe that what happened this year in Trapani is unrepeatable. Even going back, I don’t think it would be as perfect as it has been so far. I can see the miracle of bringing five trophies to this city in one year, of making two promotions, of creating the foundations for something strong, lasting over time. This can only make me happy. Then people’s response is something I will never forget.
I believe we are giving an unprecedented demonstration of what can be done when you build teams and projects in a serious way. We are giving the unprecedented demonstration that a team from nothing has so far effectively beaten any record there was in Serie A2. Probably, as president Petrucci also told me, the strongest A2 team of all time. Let me say that I am very proud to have built it. I cannot help but thank two people, who in my opinion have done a dark but extraordinary job this year, who are “my” Julio [Trovato], an exceptional man, and Valeriano D’Orta, who came here from Turin almost made fun of by the old president he had there, then we saw what happened to him. Instead, today he is here, an extraordinary manager. I believe these two men are the fundamental elements why the team has never lost control of the situation. I offer my final compliments to coach Diana: she took the team in the most difficult moment, with great balance, and is leading them to their goal with an elegance, with a way of doing things, training, managing the kids, that is truly extraordinary. Societies are built and results are achieved when everyone goes in the same direction and everyone respects their roles.”
“What if I entered the pitch during the match? No, only on the red part… Can’t it be done? Let the referees say so. There were decisions that were not in our favor that made me lose control, I expected more balance in the whistles in the first half. The match was rebalanced, there were balanced decisions until the end but I really don’t know why they complained. There were fouls, very clear like the last one on JD. However, there are two decisions, especially in the second quarter, that left me perplexed. Having said that, the referees are human, nothing serious enough to compromise the result happened. I will officially never take it out against the referees.”
