Trieste is back where it deserves to be, i.e. in Serie A, at the end of three playoff series where it won nine times, losing only once.
That no one could think or even hope or imagine that after the clockwork phase everything would change, everything has been said and said again, especially in these hours of infinite joy
In summary I think and say that the team showed three faces during the season.
There Before until Justin Reyes’ serious injury in which he had won a lot but convinced little. An objectively bad game, exasperated rotations, three-pointers as if it were raining and as the only offensive solution, a coach who was settling in.
There second after Reyes’ injury, until the middle of the clock phase we continued to play badly and lose more until Reyes’ return when the ranking was now compromised and we chased fifth place which would give a more affordable playoff grid and the price The humiliating defeats at home against the Roman university team and in Latina where everyone had won were the ones to pay for.
Meanwhile, the final grid materialized with Turin (overrated all year) and Forlì which, although first in the standings, lost Allen and with him certainties and quality. You could dream of a final with Cantù or Udine.
And then here is the transformation, the third, a sporting miracle in my opinion the result of a further consolidation of the group/players with technical and tactical implications and of a growth of coach Christian who understood that there is a starting five of 30 minutes each and that Candussi and Vildera could and should play together, allowing Ruzzier and Brooks to penetrate and assist the big men in the paint, the ratio between three-pointers and two-pointers was reversed and the game flowed and was enjoyable to enjoy.
And with it the victories and the ride towards promotion.
In game -4 against Cantù I saw Ruzzier do Teodosic (6 assists of which at least three no looks) and Vildera doing the Jayteh under the basket. I saw one finally aggressive defensedoubles on Baldi Rossi and Mickey, successful defensive changes.
It can be said that the Brianza team were cooked but this is part of the law of the playoffs, it applies to everyone.
In the first half Cantù collected only 20 points from the field and we scored 38 of which 35 with the starting five (and I return to what was said above).
The boys were fantastic, the public too, and now comes the best part: important sponsor on the way, the CSG project for Pallacanestro Trieste can start.
In the meantime, congratulations and thanks from the bottom of my heart to everyone (players, technical staff, athletic trainers, doctors) and a “special thanks” to Mike Arcieri who kept going even in the stormy moments, which were not few.
VITTORIO LEONE
