A disappointing season. Without ifs and buts. A (red) light to illuminate mediocrity: Nico Mannion. In just 4 months, the Red Mamba has played many roles in comedy: the go-to-guy, the point guard, the team man, the front man. Simply put, he solved the problems of an “odd team”, especially after the farewell of Oliver Hanlan, who landed overnight at the foot of the Kremlin with a more than satisfactory contract (even the buy-out in favor of Varese made the front office smile).
Thus we can define in a few words the championship of an Openjobmetis that lost many of its summer bets (Cauley-Stein above all) and saved the A-1 series at the last minute. Not exactly what Luis Scola, Toto Bulgheroni and co dreamed the day before.
On her return to Europe (Fiba Europe Cup, after being eliminated in the Champions League preliminaries) she gave a smile: for 75′ the red and whites dreamed of the final of the fourth continental competition and only in the last 5′ did Bahcesehir manage to have the Better.
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Mannion 8.5: in just 4 months he found the desire to play basketball again and “the bag became less heavy”. Best Italian in the championship, leader in points, assists, above all newfound talent for Italian basketball, as never before in his previous adventures at Virtus and Baskonia.
Moretti 6.5: season between lights and shadows. Dazzling performances, unmotivated naps, a couple of injuries and the feeling of a player on the rise, especially in his defensive application.
McDermott 7: captain in progress, in his first year in Europe he proved to be the best catch of the troubled red and white summer. A few kilos, a lot of determination and just as much phosphorus. Varese will probably start again from him.
Brown 6: another European deb, he is appreciated for his athleticism and ability to pierce the opponent’s basket from the beloved corner 3s, while in defense he is a tax to pay in the missmatches against the bigger 4s (not just his fault, lacking the order to help him with doublings).
Spencer 6.5: between lights and inexplicable pauses, when he remembers he pulls up the curtain in the colored areas and has time to touch up the club record under rebounds (23 caroms captured in Pistoia, 37 years after the 22 captured by Corny Thompson against Irge Desio) .
Besson 6: shows some very good athletic qualities in the championship he played. He deserved to be seen again, but instead he says goodbye to his teammates and packs up immediately after the last match to look for new adventures.
Woldetensae 5: the most opaque of the 3 seasons in Varese. She never renounces commitment and good will, but never finds her dimension, also perhaps due to the poor feeling with the technical staff.
Gilmore 5: mysterious object of the last few matches, in the long run unjustifiable, even if the few flashes on the parquet were rather mysterious.
Okeke 6: the best news is that he is back playing basketball after the very serious injury. Technical broadcast tests for next season, with the hope that Italian basketball will find this sensational physical talent again.
Ulaneus 6: sweeps away all doubts after arriving as a replacement for the A-2. In light of the facts, the most improved player of the group. Not a basketball technique manual, but a lot of heart and positive ideas in Italy and (above all) in Europe. Nicely renamed the “Bill Walton of Garbatella” (absit iniuria verbis).
Librizzi 5.5: he has fewer opportunities to make an impact than last year. Some good performances in Europe, an excellent (and decisive) match in Pesaro. Then the double bad injury and the shoulder operation took him out.
Hanlan 7.5: the captain and leader of the team for half a season, then flies to Moscow to monetize. Player who relaunched himself in Varese, unstoppable in Europe and long-time best scorer in Serie A.
Cauley-Stein 3: Franken-Stein lands late, devotes himself to golf and has to live with his ghosts. Not even talking about basketball in all this. He arrives amidst trumpet blasts, he leaves in the shadow, the shadow of the great player that he was.
Young 3: clearly in physical shape unsuitable for playing basketball, he arrives as a replacement for the injured McDermott and leaves without regrets. Like his friend and former WCS comrade.
Shahid 4: caught in Iceland, it is the super summer bet of the red and white scouts. Lost. He moved to Juvi Cremona and made waves, but the A-1 was too big a gamble for him.
Shahid 4: caught in Iceland, it is the super summer bet of the red and white scouts. Lost. He moved to Juvi Cremona and made waves, but the A-1 was too big a gamble for him.
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Bialaszewski 5: has the merit of keeping the Grand Hotel Openjobmetis together even in the darkest moments of the season. And this is no small merit, also because the feeling is that he is there to act as a lightning rod for everyone. But from a personality point of view he never has an impact and never gives his right imprint to the team. Imagine if a competent and critical environment like that of Masnago doesn’t understand him and in fact has been booing him at every presentation since December. On his first opportunity as head coach, not exactly the best environmental conditions to work in. He suffers from the hostility of the environment and completes the season with great difficulty, but never deviates in terms of professionalism. For what he can do.
Front Office 5: the wrong choices on the summer transfer market affect the entire season. In a 5+5 you can’t miss 2 out of 5 Americans, one of whom is the highest paid on the roster (in the role least functional to the Moreyball context). A few millimeters from the impact with the iceberg it takes an old style flick from Luis Scola, with all his personality, to convince Nico Mannion to wear the red and white shirt, in one of the most sensational win-win operations of recent years in Italian basketball. But it’s clear that the season is now over. Having sold Hanlan to please the player (and collect the rich buyout from CSKA), the dreams of glory (playoffs and winning the Fiba Europe Cup) vanish. Salvation arrives after a nightmare first round and dear grace. The next market will be the litmus test for the company’s ambitions, which naturally rhyme with sustainability and a budget that is not exactly top-of-the-line, so to speak. Will Nico Mannion still be there? In Varese they dream of the confirmation of their idol, but reality says that it will be difficult, very difficult…
