You know an airplane that runs out of gas but eventually manages to land glide without engines because it is well designed and has valuable pilots? Here, the Old Wild West did just that. He dominates in Mantua for a quarter and a half, flies ahead by even 18 with unreal shooting percentages, taking more rebounds and playing well, he crashes slowly, loses 15 balls, looks in the mirror, but wins without even suffering so much. And always staying ahead, at least by five points.
Vittoria, summit and good news from Palumbo and Gaspardo, fan for them, and Esposito. To beat Pistoia at Carnera on Sunday, in a match that should not be mistaken for ranking reasons, Sherrill will also need to go back to scoring, Briscoe does not do the phenomenon only in the fianle and maybe Mian, even yesterday in the stands, returns to play. Because losing players in mid-November wouldn’t be the best for the club’s ambitious plans.
Smoke bombs before the game, the fog clears and the APU enters with Sherrill in the quintet and Briscoe sixth man, Mantua remains on the bench. But, after all, who do you take away? Gaspardo, one of the least convincing so far, starts with a spring load and puts 8 points in an amen with Sherrill who puts him in the firing position. Palumbo imitates him with three triples and thank goodness he was one who could go to the stands: Udine goes to +15 (23-8) practically in the middle of the first quarter, Mantua has to climb the Zoncolan. But he doesn’t have legs and neither has an electric bike. And so the theme of the match becomes the one Boniciolli worked on during the week: will the guys from the West be able to administer the advantage?
No, the problem is always the same. Udine flies to +18, rides 63% from three points, also has flashes of good play, but manages to get Mantua back into the game despite Boniciolli’s efforts to catechize his team with timely time-outs.
Woken up by Veronesi, with Miles, Ross and Cortese, the Virgilians peel their knees in defense and mark, highlighting the limits that APU still has: concentration in defense and, at times, the lack of malice in attack. In short, the killer instinct. The fact is that at the long interval Mantova closes down by 8 points (49-41), which, due to the colossal technical difference between the two teams, is already a victory. With Sherrill man assists, but zero points, and Briscoe not yet in the game, the Americans are for now Palumbo, Gaspardo and Esposito, whose progress under the boards is good news in the play-off perspective. In the usual flurry of changes Boniciolli looks for intensity and the key to closing the match. He does not find it, on the contrary, the attack jams badly. And Miles, when he scores in Nobile’s face almost at the end of a quarter in which no one made a basket, bringing his team to minus 5 (59-54), he sounds the alarm. Pellegrino 4 fouls, Sherrill wet powders, Briscoe pardoned by the referees for an evident unsportsmanlike foul: Apu starts the last quarter ahead of six points 61-55, after which there did not seem to be a match. Coach Boniciolli asks for fluency in attack and counterattack. Udine is out of rhythm but defends however and, thanks above all to Gaspardo and Palumbo (very good) and three-four pearls from Briscoe, takes home the victory. Gliding. Basically comfortable. –
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