His career tells us that ‘Cincia’ had the stigmata of a leader and, moreover, you are not named captain of Olimpia Milano by chance, especially if you are from Pesaro. It took him a while to fix a struggling team and maybe it won’t be enough to secure salvation, but he put his soul into it and in the last few games even something more. This is demonstrated by the fact that, at almost 38 years of age, he is still capable of being named best player and – consequently – best Italian of the day. Andrea surpassed Xavier Sneed (Happy Casa Brindisi), Mouhamed Faye (Unahotels Reggio Emilia) and the Italians Alessandro Pajola (Virtus Segafredo Bologna) and Nicolò Melli (Emporio Armani Milano) in the preferences. The first player in the history of Serie A to reach 2,000 assists, a record that is destined to remain in the annals for a long time, in the 34 minutes against Vanoli the Pesaro playmaker signed a ‘double-double’ of 14 points (4/7 per shooting, with 3/5 in triples, and 3/4 from the foul line) and 11 rebounds, adding 7 assists, 6 fouls suffered and 1 steal for a total rating of 30.
“I actually go onto the pitch with a knife between my teeth; being from Pesaro, I’m the one who cares more than anyone, because I live this shirt to the fullest. It’s my city – remembers Andrea -, so we’ll have to fight until the last match for I’ve gotten used to this scenario: last year in Reggio Emilia we saved ourselves on the last day thanks to a combination of results and this year too the situation will be more or less similar. We want salvation for everyone the costs, we have to think about winning and then we’ll see what happens on the other fields.”
It was the point guard’s third consecutive game with at least 10 points on the scoresheet, the fourth in a row with at least 7 assists on the scoreboard and the first with over 10 rebounds captured; furthermore, it is the second match in less than a month with a rating equal to or greater than 30, the fifth in a row in which he equaled or exceeded 20, and the 13th of the season in double figures. It is also the fourth match in a row – the ninth overall in this championship – in which Vuelle’s number 20 plays more than 30′ and the fifth in which he suffers more than 5 fouls. The figures recorded by Cincia this season, with one day to go, say 9.8 points on average (with 51.1% from two and 76.4% from the foul line), 6.4 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 3.7 fouls suffered, 1.9 steals and 16.6 rating average in 29.3 minutes spent in the 18 games played. He would be the leader from which to start again, regardless of the category.
Elisabetta Ferri
