Here is our tournament ranking: Cantù is the designated rival. After the first phase back to the clock, then the play-offs
UDINE. The engines roar on the starting grid of the A2 series championship, presented yesterday with great fanfare in Bologna in the presence of the federal president Gianni Petrucci. Twenty-eight teams are waiting for the green light of tomorrow, and the most tempting news is that the silhouette of the Apu Old Wild West stands out clearly in the front row, with Pallacanestro Cantù at its side. On the eve of the start we try to line up the contenders, with the caveat that the tournament is long and anything can happen in the play-offs.
The teams best equipped for the category jump are concentrated in the North. We assign pole position to Udine for talent, depth of the roster and technical continuity with last season. After sowing in 2020/21, it is time to harvest.
Deep and quality roseter also for Cantù, who starts a few meters behind because he is a new team and has to adapt to the category after so many years of A1. The role of third wheel should be played by Turin, but the conditional is a must because we are talking about an open construction site: under the Mole they have changed everything, from the ownership to the technical staff, passing through a large portion of the players group.
In the first five-six positions an ambitious Orzinuovi elbow, the rampant Treviglio and a Pistoia refreshed by the triumph in the Super Cup. Poised between the play-off area and the play-out area Mantua, Urania Milano, and Bakery Piacenza, mission salvation for Assigeco Piacenza, Orlandina, Casale, Trapani and Biella.
In the Center-South the group is more leveled: many teams able to make the exploit. In the front row we see the usual Scafati, very renewed, and a Ferrara strong in technical continuity combined with targeted reinforcements. Second row for Verona and Forlì, but Ramagli and Dell’Agnello have experience and men to try to overtake. Then the possible outsiders: Rome, Cento, Chiusi, Ravenna and Latina. Saving oneself, perhaps without suffering too much, is the task that falls to Nardò, Fabriano, San Severo, Chieti and Stella Azzurra.
After the bizarre 2020/21 championship, with an odd number of teams and a bizarre second phase, we are back to normal. The first phase starts tomorrow and ends on April 10, there are no midweek shifts. Then the clock phase: 4 days from April 17th to May 1st, with a midweek shift on April 20th. Play-off with two scoreboards crossing the first 8 of the Green and Red groups: up for grabs two promotions in Serie A. Four relegations, two at the end of the clock phase and two after the play-outs.