In Trieste, in just one year, he left an indelible memory not only on the field. And wherever he has been they paint him as a golden boy, an exemplary professional, humble, in love with his family and basketball. That’s why Ariel Filloy, 37 years old and with a curriculum of 46 appearances in the national team, a championship, an Italian cup and a couple of promotions in A1 including the last one in Friuli with over 11 points per game on average, first purchase at home Libertas Livorno, he is the perfect player to integrate into a team that is first and foremost a group. Which, it’s true, lost Ricci, Saccaggi and Williams – the first a flag, the second crystalline talent and the third a skilled director: all decisive in the promotion to A2 -, but it still maintained its identity with Fantoni, Fratto, Bargnesi , in their third year in the Libertas jersey, and the young Allinei, Tozzi and Buca who joined last season but are already decisive and part of the amaranth family.
If the announcement of the Argentine play-guard with an Italian passport represents the first move on the transfer market, in Via Pera they are obviously not just thinking about purchases and sales. Indeed, the first thing to do is the consolidation of the structure, because beyond the club’s coat of arms, a piece of history of Italian basketball, the management of via Pera is however for the first time dealing with a superior category. He knows it well president Roberto Consigli which starts right from here in view of next season. “We are returning from an incredible championship, it is right to celebrate but we are already working to consolidate the structure. There are many things to do and we have already developed something, such as the resurfacing of the parquet in Via Pera, where we will also replace the baskets , which will allow us to return to training in our gym. It seems like nothing, but it is an investment of 40 thousand euros, basically like a player.”
Libertas in A2: first objective to consolidate the corporate structure
Next steps are the bureaucratic appointments: “There are four things to do: the first is the registration to the championship, already submitted, with a 100 thousand euro guarantee that must be paid by July 5th and the necessary documentation that Comtec will assess as suitable or not by August 10th. Then the board of directors was renewed and gave its indications: I can say that the management positions will all be maintained. Just as, the third fundamental point, is the construction of the staff: here Marco Andreazza will decide everything and if he needs an additional collaborator we will not back down”.
Finally, the team, already in the process of being set up with the confirmation of at least six players from last season (to evaluate what to do with Lucarelli when he returns from knee surgery), the painful goodbyes, and the first signing just arrived: “I will never tire of repeating it – says Consigli -, with all my heart I would have kept everyone but we had to make choices also in function of the two Americans who will arrive. I will be eternally grateful to Amos, a true libertas, to Saccabomb, who will always be at home here and to Leon who is part of our history. In my opinion it was important to maintain our identity and starting again from Fantoni and a good part of the group we will certainly maintain the soul and spirit of Libertas. A balance between experience and freshness will also be important: we have seen how fundamental this mix was in the championship just won. And then the human aspect, because whoever comes here must know that the Libertas family comes first”.
Advice: “Ariel made a gesture of love towards this company”
Was Filloy taken for this too? “Ariel comes here making a gesture of love towards this club – says Consigli -. He who has won many titles, who was decisive in Trieste’s promotion to A1 last season, who is a leader on the pitch, has done yes, a heartfelt choice, getting closer to the family, but also investing in our reality. He was struck by the colours, by the joy that surrounds Libertas, he knows what Libertas means because a certain Walter De Raffaele explained it to him and it can be said. who is already a libertarian”. Indisputable human and technical qualities, therefore: “He has Ricci’s garra and Saccaggi’s magical hand, with the added experience of a lot of A1. Off the pitch he is a reserved, humble person, in love with his family and who has just become a father He transforms himself on the pitch, he is a born leader, even when he was gregarious, someone who puts the team first and this, for us, is a fundamental characteristic.”
