The 75-73 victory in game 7 on 26 June 2015 at Reggio Emilia gave the Italian flag to the team coached by Meo Sacchetti
SASSARI. Impossible, every June 26th, not to think of the evening of PalaBigi that crowned Banco champion by closing an Italian “treble” that by right places that team among the strongest ever in Serie A basketball. Seven years have passed but the memory of that 73-75 is always alive and the heart of all Dinamo fans beats fast at the thought of him.
Die hard. That group coached by Meo Sacchetti had one characteristic: they didn’t want to lose. Precarious balances due to the turbulent nature of some foreigners, crystal-clear talent, little continuity of performance and results. But in the finals he brought out a frightening killer instinct. First the Super Cup at PalaSerradimigni against Milan, then the Italian Cup in Desio again against Milan. In the regular season only a fifth place and the feeling that, in any case, it would have been the last dance of that group not very easy to manage.
The balls were played by almost all the outsiders Jerome Dyson, David Logan and Rakeem Sanders, plus from the bench came someone like Edgar Sosa who, with the ball in his hand, could hardly deny a shot; under the basket for Shane Lawal there were only the crumbs despite dominating the painted area, even the “glue” Jeff Brooks had to settle for what passed the convent as well as their change Kenny Kadji. And then an exceptional Italian group, capable of adapting to everything because it understood that this, however, was the right way to win: captain Manuel Vanuzzo, Brian Sacchetti, Jack Devecchi, Matteo Formenti, Massimo Chessa.
Bumpy path. The constant of those playoffs, all played with the opposite home factor, was to see Dinamo always one step away from elimination. Starting with the quarter-finals against Trento, who had brushed the biancoblù twice in the regular season. He does it also in race 1, but in race 2 something happens that will change the course of the playoffs: Formenti stops the MVP of the championship Tony Mitchell, Dinamo makes the blitz and completes the work in the two Sassari races. He also wins game 1 at the Milan Forum and the two home games, 3-1, but Armani recovers, wins game 5 at home and silences PalaSerradimigni in game 6. Game 7 is a Russian roulette, just seconds from at the end of Milan is ahead by 3, Dyson goes to the line, scores the first free, misses the second and Sanders draws, then Logan bites the extra.
Epic ending. The final against Reggio Emilia is a continuous pursuit. Reggio wins the first two games, Dinamo recovers even if in Game 4 it is one step away from the knockout and saves overtime. In race 5 an unusual 2/25 from three points by biancoblù rewards Reggio 71-67. Game 6 is from tregenda, Reggio pulls twice to win the Scudetto and makes a mistake, Dinamo comes out alive after three overtime. Race 7 seems to be entirely from Reggio who closes the first quarter ahead 21-7 m and in the final minutes Sanders, Logan and Dyson carry the Banco forward. The last shot is for the great ex Drake Diener, a prayer that flies over the iron and delivers the championship to Dinamo.