A bad approach, the final yield and many mistakes in between. The debacle against Pistoia goes down in the archives as the heaviest home defeat since the Apu rose to A2 and is enclosed in the pitiless statistics at the end of the match. Some of these, in particular, highlight the current limits of a team that can’t take flight.
UNCLEAR HIERARCHIES
In the first seven days we often praised the long black and white bench, the added value of the six victories obtained. Even on Sunday the calculation is in favor of the Apu (36-23), but this time it has to be read backwards, because the first quintet from Pistoia scored 50 points against the measly 18 of the Udinese starting five.
The only two players employed for more than 30′, Briscoe and Sherrill, played ciapanò (8/27 in pairs shooting), for the others a use oscillating between 19 minutes by Mian and 9 by Mussini. Continuous rotations without being able to change the momentum of the match. In a word: confusion.
INDIVIDUALISM
Another statistic that nails the Apu on Sunday is that of assists. The calculation is 17-9 for Pistoia, almost double. Confirming the fact that Brienza is a team and plays as such, creating good conclusions, while a certain anarchy reigns at Juventus and there is too much reliance on individuality. Against a structured opponent, the knots came home to roost and in the last quarter (just 10 points scored) the deficit became even heavier due to the fragility of character of a group still looking for an identity.
WET DUSTS
Free throws aside, the shots attempted by the Apu on Sunday at the Carnera were 63. Of these, only 16 went on target, for a 25% which is the stuff of minibasketball, more than from teams with ambitions of promotion to the top flight. Udine literally fought with the basket, missing everything and even more from below (5/26 the calculation of shots in the colored area) and from outside: an unacceptable 4/21 in a team that has excellent shooters. It is not the first time that three blanks have been fired, many will remember the 2/24 which cost the defeat against Cento, but also in the victorious away game in Ferrara there was a bad 2/13. Specifically, the Apu travels with 33% from long distance and is only eleventh in the Red group. A dive compared to last year, when the Apu was the most accurate in the group with 38% from outside.
DEVALUATION
Judging by Sunday’s figures, the APU is devaluing it rather than enhancing its players. If evaluation is the statistical item that best captures a team’s performance, Sunday’s 79-50 best describes Pistoia’s dominance against Udine best. If we remove the 24 totaled by Briscoe, the other nine players used produced a miserable 26. Gaspardo and Cusin closed with the minus sign, a “phone area code” figure for Sherrill, Mian, Esposito, Palumbo and Mussini. Among the guests negative evaluation for Pollone, four in double figures and in general a good distribution of the “production” among seven men. This confirms that Pistoia is a team, Udine not yet.
PRESSURE
Two out of four home defeats is a lot. Just think of the fact that Apu lost two games at Carnera throughout the season: against Cantù and the famous play-off final match two against Verona. In this start of the championship, Boniciolli’s team lost the direct clashes with Pistoia and Cento and won only the one with the timid Fortitudo away format (only one win and three losses).
In the aftermath of Sunday’s match, the Juventus coach underlined the difficulties of his men in the challenges at the top (“when the competition at a certain level is experienced as a burden, many open shots are missed and one gets nervous”), putting bare another limit of the team. Pistoia has uncovered the vase and removed any alibi from the APU, which now has to give answers. To those who come to support her at the sports hall, but above all to herself.